Submitted by S.A. Norwood on Fri, 29/04/2022 - 17:22
The Synthetic Biology Interdisciplinary Research Centre (SynBio IRC) has recently undertaken a name change to the Engineering Biology Interdisciplinary Research Centre (EngBio IRC). This decicion has been made to better reflect the broard range of research, ideas and activities undertaken by the IRC and its members, and to better support its members in applying for grants and support from UKRI's new National Engineering Biology Programme (NEBP).
What is engineering biology?
As outlined in the Royal Academy of Engineering's recent Engineering Biology: A Priority for Growth Report, engineering biology "encompasses the wider capabilities that support the exploitation of synthetic biology knowledge for economic and public benefit. To understand engineering biology, it’s vital to recognise synthetic biology which serves as the foundation for the programme. Synthetic biology is the design, engineering and re-engineering of biologically based parts, devices and systems.
As an emerging technology, it has the potential to transform many sectors and help address major global grand challenges including:
- decarbonisation
- health and wellbeing
- energy
- food security
- environmental management.
From enabling new vaccines for medicine, new materials for defence and transport, plastic-free packaging, improved fibres for sports clothing, and opportunities for bioremediation and agricultural production, engineering biology has application across many sectors."
'Engineering Biology in the context of this study' from Engineering Biology: A Priority for Growth.
We hope that this change in focus helps better reflect the wide ranging scientific activities carried out by our network, as well as our long-established focus on impact and application-driven research, bioethics and the responsable use of synthetic biology in wider society. Practically, we will continue to run many of the same activities under the new name of "EngBio" (e.g. EngBio Fourms, EngBio Postdocs), and aim to use this opportunity to expand our offering and engage more widely with the local engineering and biotehcnology communities, across the university and beyond.