George Attard on Synthetic Biology

Professor George Attard (Chemistry, Southampton University), author of two recent J. R. Soc. Interface papers*, is interviewed by Sheffield University's Professor Noel Sharkey. He pours cold water on some of the fears associated with Synthetic Biology and provides his own views on the nature and goals of the subject.

*Integrative feedback and robustness in a lipid biosynthetic network
and
Testing the hypothesis that amphiphilic antineoplastic lipid analogues act through reduction of membrane curvature elastic stress

6th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing

At next week's Sixth Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing in Montreal two breakout sessions will be devoted to Synthetic Biology. Synthetic Biology for Next Generation Biofuels, moderated by Jim Barber, includes presentations by Bill Haywood, Jonathan Wolfson, Patrick Gruber and Neil Renninger. Global Perspective on Synthetic Biology will be moderated by Sibylle Gaisser with presentations by Richard Kitney, Hubert Bernauer and Eleonore Pauwels.

Synbio Symposium: presentations now available

Presentation slides and audio from the Opportunities and Challenges symposium are now available here. The symposium auditorium was packed out for the opening keynote, given by Arden Bement, Director, National Science Foundation, recently described by New Scientist as 'one of the most powerful people in science'. Listen to Bement outline the significance of this 'transformative field'.

Assembly Required

The latest issue of the Stanford Magazine includes an article by Kara Platoni on the work of Drew Endy and Christina Smolke. The strap line reads, 'Bioengineers are applying prefab principles to nature's construction materials. Their mission: a biological revolution.'

Lloyd’s report on Synthetic Biology

A report by Lloyd's Emerging Risk Team Synthetic Biology: influencing development has just been published. Drawing upon a number of sources, including the summary of the Royal Society's synthetic biology discussion meeting, it highlights both the opportunities and concerns this field raises. It concludes that 'insurers should consider whether they wish liability products to be exposed to large scale aggregating events and, if not, whether limits should imposed or other policy amendments made. Most of all, we should take part in a broad debate on the use of this new technology before it becomes embedded.'

Synbio symposium: audio now available

You can now listen to all of last week's Royal Society/National Academies/OECD synthetic biology symposium here, split up session by session. I'll let you find you own highlights.... but tell us what they are!

Win £100 Amazon Voucher!

Share your views on the new issue of Interface Focus - Synthetic biology: history, challenges and prospects, and you could win £100 in Amazon vouchers. Simply write a short review or summary (maximum 300 words), on the entire issue or a particular article and send it to interface@royalsociety.org with the subject heading 'COMPETITION'. All acceptable entries will be posted on the Synthetic Biology Gateway and the authors will receive a complimentary copy of Interface Focus.

All the entries will be judged by an in-house panel and the winner posted on the Synthetic Biology Gateway on Monday 10th August 2009.

Closing date for submissions to the competition is Sunday 9th August 2009.