Synthetic biology landscape and community in Germany

Nicolas Krink; Anne C Löchner; Hendrik Cooper; Chase L Beisel; Barbara Di Ventura

doi:10.1016/j.biotno.2021.12.001

Synthetic biology landscape and community in Germany

Biotechnol Notes. 2021 Dec 31:3:8-14. doi: 10.1016/j.biotno.2021.12.001. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Nicolas Krink^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Anne C Löchner^{1

2}, Hendrik Cooper⁷, Chase L Beisel^{3

8

9}, Barbara Di Ventura^{3

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Co-founder German Association for Synthetic Biology, Germany.
² Previous Steering Committee German Association for Synthetic Biology, Germany.
³ Advisory Board German Association for Synthetic Biology, Germany.
⁴ Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Germany.
⁵ Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Germany.
⁶ The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.
⁷ Steering Committee German Association for Synthetic Biology, Germany.
⁸ Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research, Germany.
⁹ Medical Faculty, University of Würzburg, Germany.
¹⁰ Signaling Research Centres BIOSS and CIBSS, University of Freiburg, Germany.
¹¹ Institute of Biology II, University of Freiburg, Germany.

Abstract

Despite its start in the early 2000s, synthetic biology is still overall perceived as a young discipline. In some countries, such as the US, synthetic biology is academically and industrially established, while in others, including Germany, it is still an upcoming field of research. Issues with funding schemes, commercial translation of technologies, public perception, and regulations need to be addressed to establish synthetic biology as a key discipline of the 21^st century. This perspective article reviews the German and European synthetic biology landscape and how the German Association for Synthetic Biology (GASB) is addressing the above-mentioned challenges with its events and community-building activities.

Keywords: Association; Community; Europe; Germany; Research landscape; Science & politics; Science communication; Synthetic biology.