Inside STAT: Synthetic biology builds up lobbying presence in Washington

NOBEL LAUREATE FRANCES ARNOLD RECEIVED AN AWARD AT A RECENT SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY CONFERENCE — AND MADE THE COVER OF THE INDUSTRY GROUP’S NEW MAGAZINE. (SYNBIOBETA)

The free-wheeling synthetic biology community is maturing in the most old-fashioned of ways: building up its presence in Washington. Industry leaders had an event at the White House yesterday, and today will be at the Capitol to meet with staffers who work on science and technology. While synthetic biology boosters — those who print DNA and custom-design microbes — still pride themselves on a more relaxed ethos than the drug industry, they have established a lobbying coalition focused on research, trade, biosecurity, and regulatory issues. The group is initially backed by Ginkgo Bioworks, Berkeley Lights, Twist Bioscience, Inscripta, and the nonprofit BioBricks Foundation. STAT’s Nicholas Florko and Rebecca Robbins have the story for Plus subscribers here on how the industry is growing up.