National strategy and action plan needed to grow Canada’s engineering biology sector: Report

A group of scientific leaders and research funders are calling on Canada to develop a national strategy and action plan that would see the manufacturing, agri-food and health sectors share a new DNA-based technology as part of a robust and environmentally sustainable post-pandemic recovery.

“Canada needs to recognize that engineering biology is one of the disruptive technologies of the 21^st century and requires focused support from government in collaboration with industry, involving all stakeholders in the ecosystem,” said Bettina Hamelin, president and CEO, Ontario Genomics, in announcing the release of a white paper at the Canadian Science Policy Conference November 16.

Authored by the National Engineering Biology Steering Committee and sponsored by Ontario Genomics, the document says Canada already has all the ingredients needed to grow a world-leading engineering biology ecosystem, including academic and industrial expertise, as well biofoundary “factories” for researching, testing and scaling-up new genetic products. Canada currently has a fully functioning biofoundry at Concordia University.

“However, the organization of a coherent network is lacking, and the fragmented approach taken so far has hindered the realization of Canada’s full potential in this field. We need to build a cohesive and fully integrated network that encompasses the Canadian engineering biology community to facilitate the discovery-to-commercialization pipeline across sectors, the creation of innovative start-ups, the renewal of traditional industries, and the development of talent and skills required for the biomanufacturing jobs of the future,” states Engineering Biology: A platform technology to fuel multi-sector economic recovery and modernize manufacturing in Canada.

Engineering (or synthetic) biology combines genomics and molecular biosciences with computing, automation, miniaturization, artificial intelligence, and the application of engineering principles to biological systems. This emerging platform technology makes it possible to use living cell-based and gene technologies to make what the white paper describes as “useful stuff” across nearly all sectors of the economy, including health (e.g. vaccines, diagnostics, engineered antibodies, and cell therapies); low-carbon manufacturing (e.g. textiles and bioplastics), and agriculture/agri-food (e.g. crop production, livestock, fermentation, and cellular agriculture).

A trillion dollar opportunity

The potential social and economic returns are significant. Other countries—namely the US, UK, Australia, China and Singapore—have invested heavily in this emerging sector, which is forecast by the McKinsey Global Institute to generate US$2-$4 trillion in global value between 2030-2040. Released in May, that same report estimates that as much as 60% of the physical inputs to the global economy could be produced biologically, with biological materials such as wood representing about one-third of these inputs. Additional, 45% of the world’s disease burden could be addressed through engineering biology and 30% of private sector R&D could be spent on biology related industries.

The Steering Committee wants a national strategy and action plan led by a new organization called the Canadian DNA Engineering Systems Network. Can-DESyNe brings together nearly 90 small and large companies, academia, institutions, associations and government partners focused on applying bio-design and biotech processes to health, agriculture, food and industrial products sectors. With additional funding, the white paper says the network can:

• Provide small grants and investments to companies and academics for early-stage projects to generate Canadian intellectual property that can be developed and scaled up in Canada,
• Facilitate access to existing critical infrastructure, including scale-up facilities with the National Research Council and biofoundries,
• Coordinate regulation across sectors through a joint industry-government working group,
• Upskill and engage the public in collaboration with organizations like Let’s Talk Science and the Gairdner Foundation,
• Create high quality, permanent jobs for the Canadian workforce, and
• Develop and retain job-ready talent through industry internships and inter-university and college training modules.

The white paper also recommends creating legal, ethical and regulatory conditions that enable the rapid and safe approval of new technologies.

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