Safety, Security, and the Promise of Emerging Bioscience
Dr. Gigi Gronvall

February 23, 2017

Synthetic biology and other emerging biotechnologies are poised to change the future of medicine, agriculture, and manufacturing. While these new advances promise vast opportunities and benefits, they also introduce new risks and considerations that must be addressed. These risks and considerations include biosecurity risks where actors could use these technologies to deliberately cause harm; safety risks where laboratory accidents could result in unforeseen consequences from people to the global environment; market risks to the competitiveness of nations that do not invest in these economy-spurring technologies; and socio-ethical considerations on when and how to apply these technologies. To address these issues, the U.S. will need to implement significant changes in current biosecurity and bioscience policies. Gigi Gronvall will discuss a path forward for the U.S. to not only minimize risks, but also maximize the benefits towards U.S. security, health, and prosperity.

Dr. Gronvall is a Senior Associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and Visiting Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Gronvall’s work at the Center addresses the role of scientists in health security—how they may contribute to an effective technical response against a biological weapon or a natural epidemic. She is a member of the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (TRAC), which provides the Secretary of Defense with independent advice and recommendations on reducing the risk to the United States, its military forces, and its allies and partners posed by nuclear, biological, chemical, and conventional threats. She is also the author of the book Synthetic Biology: Safety, Security, and Promise, published in fall 2016 (Health Security Press).

Safety, Security, and the Promise of Emerging Bioscience

The Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) sponsored this seminar entitled "Safety, Security, and the Promise of Emerging Bioscience" on February 23, 2017, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The seminar was presented by Dr. Gigi Gronvall, a senior associate at John Hopkins Center for Health Security.

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