International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS)

🔬 Workshop on Synthesis Screening at the iGEM Responsibility Conference! On October 24, IBBIS hosted an interactive two-hour workshop titled "Synthesis Screening: The Future of Writing and Hacking DNA" 🌍 A central takeaway was the call to democratize biosecurity, ensuring diverse bioeconomies can adopt synthesis screening tailored to local contexts while maintaining global standards. The workshop emphasized the importance of the “Swiss cheese model” of biosecurity—layering tools, regulations, and customer verification to create robust protection against potential threats. 📊 Workshop slides and results from the predictions exercise are available here https://lnkd.in/dbaD54VT A detailed report, including insights from this session, will be released by the end of November 2024. ➡️ Read more: https://lnkd.in/dtsCT9f3 📸 Photo: from the iGEM Foundation on Flickr. #SyntheticBiology #Biosecurity #DNA #Collaboration #SynthesisScreening

Congratulations to the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) for convening an important and highly successful meeting on safeguarding the bioeconomy.

We were delighted to conduct the meeting "Safeguarding the Responsible Transition to a Biobased Economy", held at the World Economic Forum Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. In collaboration with CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) and the World Economic Forum, this meeting brought together global leaders and innovators across the industry sector to explore opportunities for promoting a #responsible and #secure #biobased economy. - Our discussions focused on: 🔹 Fostering innovation in biotechnology while ensuring safety, sustainability, and responsibility in the transition to a biobased economy. 🔹Contributing to global efforts to strengthen biosecurity, promoting best practices and the responsible use of biological technologies. 🔹 Encouraging collaboration to address global biosecurity challenges, reduce vulnerabilities, and build a resilient bioeconomy. A heartfelt thank you to all our outstanding participants for their invaluable contributions and insights. It was inspiring to engage in such meaningful conversations, driving efforts toward a safer and more sustainable future. We look forward to keeping this initiative alive! #safeguardingbio #biosecurity #bioeconomy #innovation #collaboration #industry #leaders #sustainable #future

The Paris Peace Forum's seventh annual conference was a great success this week, with a new location at Trocadero overlooking the Eiffel Tower. I’ve been a mentor this past year, with Magda Robalo, President of IGHD, for one of PPF’s scale up NGOs, the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science.  And so it was a pleasure to co-host with  Hilde Hardeman, Director-General of the Publications Office of the European Union, a session "Tech Driven Solutions for a Fairer World" with five of the Scale-Up NGOs reporting on the progress of their projects. (Details at https://lnkd.in/gdhDc6Zt) * Justice for Victims in Ukraine, led by Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) ⁠ * Using open data to combat corruption, led by ⁠Open Data Charter  * Safeguarding Gene Synthesis, led by International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative For Science (IBBIS) * Leveraging Data for Human-Centered Policies, led by UNDP and implemented by GIZ  * DALIL, led by @Siren Analytics (Dalil’s website here) The Paris Peace Forum continues to evolve and strengthen its contributions to innovative solutions to global challenges. This year’s theme, “Wanted: A Functioning Global Order,” addressed the urgent need for effective international governance in a world marked by great power rivalries, global instability, North South distrust and new transnational challenges.  Congratulations to  Justin Vaïsse and his team for their excellent forum and work throughout the year!  

Last week, Thursday 7 November, the Biosecurity Office organized the annual Biosecurity Knowledge Day in #Amersfoort. During this day, we welcomed over 100 participants from academia, industry, government, and knowledge institutes to discuss #biosecurity from different perspectives and to network, learn from each other and exchange experiences. The highlights of the plenary program were: • An update on biosecurity and the new tools developed by the Biosecurity Office by Rik Bleijs • Keynote speaker Piers Millett spoke about biosecurity aspects of artificial intelligence #AI and #DNAsynthesis.  • Short talks by Annemarie Bouma on List of animal pathogens in the new EU Animal Health Regulation, Jerome Larosch on the Dutch contributions to the BWC and Jorrit Broertjes on the epidemiology of potential bioterrorism agents in The Netherlands. After lunch, the participants split up into parallel sessions and participated in 2 of the following sessions:  • Newly launched #escaperoom: Participants enjoyed taking on the challenge to solve a biosecurity scenario, while increasing their #awareness on incident response, 8 pillars of #biosecurity, dual-use, insider threat, and #export controls.  • Dual-use: Participants discussed how to start a conversation with researchers about dual-use with the aid of an infographic.  • Diagnostics: In this session participants used case studies to discover how to deal with potential bioterrorist threats in a diagnostic setting. • E-Learnings: Several e-Learnings were demonstrated and participants discussed how to embed e-learning in the #educational curriculum and what are the experiences regarding its effectiveness and the challenges involved. • DNA sequence screening: A new methodology (International Common Mechanism for #DNA #Synthesis #Screening) for screening sequences and clients was explained and how to apply it in practice. • World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation in the Netherlands: Participants discussed the current level of implementation of #biosafety and #biosecurity in The Netherlands as input for the upcoming #WHO Joint External Evaluation in the Netherlands. The presentations of the plenary session can be found on our website: https://lnkd.in/eyM4TR84. #biosecurity #dualuse #awareness #ibbis #DNAsynthesis #JEE #eLearnings RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

Looking back on an inspiring experience at the Paris Peace Forum 2024! It was a privilege to share insights on the Common Mechanism and The International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS)’s progress towards safeguarding bioscience and biotechnology. Honored to be part of the "Tech-Driven Solutions for a Fairer World" Panel with visionary leaders, and the SCUP Gallery with our Poster! Thanks to the PPF team and all the SCUP colleagues.

Excited to Take the Stage at the Paris Peace Forum 2024! 🕊️ I’ll be sharing insights on the Common Mechanism and the incredible progress the The International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) is making to ensure the safe development of bioscience and biotechnology. Thrilled to join the "Tech-Driven Solutions for a Fairer World" panel at the 2024 edition of the Paris Peace Forum, where the focus is on building "A Functioning Global Order." 🎙️ Joining forces with an amazing lineup of changemakers: 💫 Lene Wetteland (NHC) 💫 Mercedes de los Santos (Open Data Charter) 💫 Theodore Caponis (Siren Analytics) 💫 Mariana Carrillo (GIZ) Grateful to our incredible moderators, Hilde Hardeman and John Frank, for guiding this discussion! 📅 When? Today! November 11 at 16:30 CET  💻 Watch us live: https://lnkd.in/dcfMxHZz Thank you, Paris Peace Forum for this incredible opportunity to explore how technology can drive equity and fairness worldwide and for selecting us in the 2023/2024 SCUP Program! 💠 Let´s keep Safeguarding the Responsible Transition to a Biobased Economy! #PPF2024 #ParisPeaceForum #TechForGood #Biosecurity #IBBIS #safeguardingbio

💻 ✅ Webinar Next Week 🧬💻 Are you ready to comply with the new U.S. Framework for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening? Starting in October 2024, anyone funded by the U.S. government (including those outside the United States) will need to order DNA and RNA from providers who conduct synthesis screening. This affects providers of synthetic nucleic acids, whether gene- or oligo-length, including CROs, core facilities, and biofoundries. Hear from screening tool providers Aclid, Battelle, #RTXBBN, and International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS), as well as policy and industry leaders from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Twist Bioscience and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Register here: https://lnkd.in/eqbikv42

Do you provide synthetic DNA or RNA to US federally funded researchers? Do you manufacture synthesis equipment for use in US federally funded research labs? The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security can help you understand the 6 key actions you must take starting October 26, 2024 in order to serve US-funded customers. IBBIS welcomes efforts to encourage and standardize biosecurity for synthetic nucleic acids. Our Common Mechanism, a free and open-source tool for sequence screening, is one of several tools available to support for screening orders: https://lnkd.in/dtTnG5Qg. Please reach out if you would like assistance getting started with synthesis screening, whether that's using the Common Mechanism or another tool that might be a better fit for your needs.

Last month, Piers Millett delivered a keynote speech at SBA 3.0 "The International Synthetic Biology, AI, and Biosecurity Conference" in Africa. 🔉 Why and how to screen synthetic nucleic acids 🗞️Want to learn more? read our news section! https://lnkd.in/dRZzKEdh Thanks, SynBio Africa!