Why Are There So Few Genetically Engineered Microbes Approved for Use in Commercial Environmental Applications?

The 1986 Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, revised in 1992 and 2017, promulgated the tenet that organisms altered with recombinant DNA follow the same laws of physics, chemistry, and biology, with no unique risks from rDNA alone. The US scientific community attested to this following Asilomar and further open discussion. The regulations evolving from statutes, such as FIFRA, TSCA and PPA, however, speak to a different narrative. Microbes modified through the use of rDNA are treated differently from their non-transformed counterparts and viewed predominantly as of higher risk to the environment and human health. In this lecture, Chris A. Wozniak, Ph.D., Wozniak Biopesticide Consulting and formerly at the Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division in the US Environmental Protection Agency, will discuss how this has resulted in the diminution of commercialization of many promising microbes due to fears of public acceptance and regulatory approval.

This event is part of the “Engineered Microbes for Environmental Release” webinar series that brings together voices from synthetic biology, ecology, policy, science and technology studies, biotechnology, ethics, and history to explore the social, technological, and environmental dimensions of these innovations. Hosted by the Baker Institute’s Science and Technology Policy Program and co-sponsored by the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute, this webinar series was supported by a grant from Schmidt Sciences and the National Science Foundation (#2223678 & #2515431).

This event is free and open to the public.