Thursday 19 November to Sunday 22 November 2009
Conference
National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (Irvine, CA)
This year's NAKFI Conference brought together top researchers, as well as individuals from funding and government agencies, industry and the science media to explore the engineering, scientific and social impact aspects of synthetic biology. The objectives of the conference were to:
1. Develop a common understanding of the goals related to synthetic biology for the collective advancement of the field.
2. Explore tools that make biology easier to engineer.
3. Discuss applications and the future of synthetic biology.
4. Consider Social Impact: Explore policy, ethical, risk management, and “open source” issues, as well as perspectives on synthetic biology.
A number of interviews were conducted before the meeting with leading synthetic biologists before the meeting, including Wendell Lim, Craig Venter, Ron Weiss, Jay Keasling and Drew Endy. These are now available online as podcasts.
