Todd Kuiken

North Carolina State University | NCSU · Genetic Engineering & Society Center

This scoping report focuses on the potential implications of new synthetic biology and genomic research trajectories on the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA or ‘Treaty’). Specifically, it provides an introductory examination of how the evolving technological, legal and institutional context surround...

The citizen-science community has a responsible, proactive attitude that is well suited to gene-editing, argues Todd Kuiken

The world’s biodiversity is in crisis. Synthetic biology has the potential to transform biodiversity conservation, both directly and indirectly, in ways that are negative and positive. However, applying these biotechnology tools to environmental questions is fraught with uncertainty and could harm cultures, rights, livelihoods and nature. Decisions...

Gene drives have already challenged governance systems. In this case study, we explore the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition's experiences in gene drive-related research and lessons in developing, revising, and implementing a governance system. iGEM's experiences and lessons are distilled into 6 key insights for future...

In recent years, the development of diverse CRISPR-based technologies has revolutionized genome manipulation and enabled a broad scientific community in industry, academia, and beyond to redefine research and development for biotechnology products encompassing food, agriculture, and medicine. CRISPR-based genome editing affords tremendous opportuni...

This chapter seeks to examine the role of the synthetic biology community in strengthening biosafety and biosecurity and safeguarding synthetic biology against accidental and deliberate misuse. It argues that biosafety and biosecurity education, awareness-raising, and outreach are essential for fostering effective bottom-up (self-governance) approa...

The speed and scale of the COVID‐19 pandemic has highlighted the limits of current health systems and the potential promise of non‐establishment research such as “DIY” research. We consider one example of how DIY research is responding to the pandemic, discuss the challenges faced by DIY research more generally, and suggest that a “trust architectu...

The fast-paced field of synthetic biology is fundamentally changing the global biosecurity framework. Current biosecurity regulations and strategies are based on previous governance paradigms for pathogen-oriented security, recombinant DNA research, and broader concerns related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Many scholarly discussions an...

Horizon scanning is intended to identify the opportunities and threats associated with technological, regulatory and social change. In 2017 some of the present authors conducted a horizon scan for bioengineering (Wintle et al., 2017). Here we report the results of a new horizon scan that is based on inputs from a larger and more international group...

Horizon scanning is intended to identify the opportunities and threats associated with technological, regulatory and social change. In 2017 some of the present authors conducted a horizon scan for bioengineering (Wintle et al., 2017). Here we report the results of a new horizon scan that is based on inputs from a larger and more international group...

Horizon scanning is intended to identify the opportunities and threats associated with technological, regulatory and social change. In 2017 some of the present authors conducted a horizon scan for bioengineering (Wintle et al., 2017). Here we report the results of a new horizon scan that is based on inputs from a larger and more international group...

Since the 1960s conservation efforts have focused on recovering island biodiversity by eradicat- ing invasive rodents. These eradication campaigns have led to considerable conservation gains, particu- larly for nesting seabirds. However, eradications are complex and lengthy endeavors and are even more challenging when humans are co-inhabitants of t...

“College students try to hack a gene – and set a science fair abuzz” (Swetlitz 2016); “Amateurs Are New Fear in Creating Mutant Virus”(Zimmer 2015); “DIY Gene Editing: Someone Is Going to Get Hurt” (Baumgaertner 2018); and “In Attics and Closets, Biohackers Discover Their Inner Frankenstein (Whalen 2009)”—these are the headlines the public reads in...

Recent statements by United Nations bodies point to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as a potential requirement in the development of engineered gene drive applications. As a concept developed in the context of protecting Indigenous rights to self-determination in land development scenarios, FPIC would need to be extended to apply to the con...

Synthetic biology is a rapidly emerging interdisciplinary field of science and engineering that aims to redesign living systems through reprogramming genetic information. The field has catalysed global debate among policymakers and publics. Here we describe how synthetic biology relates to these international deliberations, particularly the Convent...

The IUCN Task Force on Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation and its accompanying Technical Subgroup were put together to accomplish the tasks laid out in Resolution WCC-2016-Res-086 from the 2016 World Conservation Congress. This Resolution (in part) called on the Director General and Commissions to undertake an assessment to: examine th...

Introduction The international synthetic biology competition iGEM (formally known as the international Genetically Engineered Machines competition) has a dedicated biosafety and biosecurity program. Method A review of specific elements of the program and a series of concrete examples illustrate how experiences in implementing the program have help...

Invasive rodents have signifi cant negative impacts on island biodiversity. All but the smallest of rodent eradications currently rely on island-wide rodenticide applications. Although signifi cant advances have been made in mitigating unintended impacts, rodent eradication on inhabited islands remains extremely challenging. Current tools restrict...

Invasive rodents have significant negative impacts on island biodiversity. All but the smallest of rodent eradications currently rely on island-wide rodenticide applications. Although significant advances have been made in mitigating unintended impacts, rodent eradication on inhabited islands remains extremely challenging. Current tools restrict er...

This chapter will explore a series of questions related to the proposed uses of gene drives as a tool for conservation, including the philosophies behind these proposals, and issues of public trust and governance. It will not prescribe whether or not these are the “right” solutions for conservation. Instead, I would like to consider whether this bi...

Advances in biological engineering are likely to have substantial impacts on global society. To explore these potential impacts we ran a horizon scanning exercise to capture a range of perspectives on the opportunities and risks presented by biological engineering. We first identified 70 potential issues, and then used an iterative process to prior...

Advances in biological engineering are likely to have substantial impacts on global society. To explore these potential impacts we ran a horizon scanning exercise to capture a range of perspectives on the opportunities and risks presented by biological engineering. We first identified 70 potential issues, and then used an iterative process to prior...

We need technology and an ethical framework for genome-scale engineering.

To document the marketing and distribution of nano-enabled products into the commercial marketplace, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies created the Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory (CPI) in 2005. The objective of this present work is to redevelop the CPI by leading a research...

As we look toward sustaining and benefiting from the investments made worldwide in nanotechnology research and development, what systems, funding, and research agendas need to be in place to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks associated with this nanotechnology future? One key component of this future lies within how much the general publ...

Over the past few years, a debate has been taking place within the Convention on Biological Diversity regarding the risks and benefits of organisms, components, and products arising from synthetic biology techniques to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. If synthetic biology were

Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary field that brings together biology and engineering at its core. Understanding and evaluating the ecological effects of synthetic biology applications also require broad interdisciplinary convergence and the ability to adapt to rapid technological developments. This article describes a series of workshops de...

Regulatory gaps must be filled before gene drives could be used in the wild.

Synthetic biology is a field characterized by rapid rates of change and by the novelty and breadth of applications. It is also an area of basic research and application that encompasses engineering along with the natural, physical, and social sciences. In January 2014, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program on Emerging Technologies and t...

Many of today's technological and scientific developments are breaking the boundaries between nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive sciences. This chapter discusses the scope and impact of this change and how the many different data challenges that are emerging suggest the need for a new informatics era. It analyses th...

Assess the ecological risks of synthetic microbes before they escape the lab, say Genya V. Dana, Todd Kuiken, David Rejeski and Allison A. Snow.

As medicine moves toward being able to predict what you will die from and when, nanomedicine is expected to enhance human capabilities and properties and promises the ability of health care professionals to diagnose, treat, and share medical information nearly instantaneously. It promises to deliver drugs directly to the source of the disease, i.e....

In this review, we focus on environmental cleanup and provide a background and overview of current practice; research findings; societal issues; potential environment, health, and safety implications; and future directions for nanoremediation. We also discuss nanoscale zero-valent iron in detail. We searched the Web of Science for research studies...

Objective Although industrial sectors involving semiconductors; memory and storage technologies; display, optical, and photonic technologies; energy; biotechnology; and health care produce the most products that contain nanomaterials, nanotechnology is also used as an environmental technology to protect the environment through pollution prevention,...

Ecosystems that have low mercury (Hg) concentrations (i.e., not enriched or impacted by geologic or anthropogenic processes) cover most of the terrestrial surface area of the earth yet their role as a net source or sink for atmospheric Hg is uncertain. Here we use empirical data to develop a rule-based model implemented within a geographic informat...

Mercury (Hg) is recognized as a global pollutant because of elemental mercury's long lifetime in the atmosphere (~6-12 months). Hg emissions from terrestrial surfaces play an important role in the global Hg cycle and therefore Hg air/soil exchange is of a special interest. The database of Hg air/soil exchange collected in the field has been growing...

It is well known that mercury (Hg) emission from soils is largely controlled by solar radiation and soil temperature, exhibiting diel cycles that closely follow diel variations of solar radiation. To study soil Hg emission processes, we conducted experiments by measuring soil Hg emission fluxes under controlled conditions in the laboratory with a d...

This study focused on the development of a seasonal data set of the Hg air/surface exchange over soils associated with low Hg containing surfaces in a deciduous forest in the southern USA. Data were collected every month for 11 months in 2004 within Standing Stone State Forest in Tennessee using the dynamic flux chamber method. Mercury air/surface...

Mercury air/surface exchange was measured over litter-covered soils with low Hg concentrations within various types of forests along the eastern seaboard of the USA. The fieldwork was conducted at six forested sites in state parks in South Carolina, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Maine from mid-May to early June 2005. The st...

A 12-month field study was conducted consecutively from June 2003 to May 2004 to quantify temporal variations of dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) concentrations in Cane Creek Lake, a southern reservoir lake (Cookeville, TN). Diurnal changes of DGM concentrations in two periods (morning increase vs afternoon decrease with an around-noon peak) were ob...

Variations of dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) concentrations in a southern reservoir lake (Cane Creek Lake, Cookeville, TN, USA) in relation to solar radiation were investigated consecutively from June 2003 to May 2004. The daytime DGM levels in the lake exhibited a two-phase diurnal trend; the DGM concentrations rose in the morning, peaked around...

Mercury-bearing material enters municipal landfills from a wide array of sources, including fluorescent lights, batteries, electrical switches, thermometers, and general waste; however, the fate of mercury (Hg) in landfills has not been widely studied. Using automated flux chambers and downwind atmospheric sampling, we quantified the primary pathwa...

Waste distribution and compaction at the working face of municipal waste landfills releases mercury vapor (Hg(o)) to the atmosphere, as does the flaring of landfill gas. Waste storage and processing before its addition to the landfill also has the potential to release Hg(o) to the air if it is initially present or formed by chemical reduction of Hg...

Competition of photochemical reduction of Hg(II) with methylation process may reduce local Hg toxicity in aquatic ecosystems as the produced dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) can be emitted back to the atmosphere. Diel changes of DGM levels in natural freshwaters driven by sunlight have been observed widely, especially in the large northern lakes. Th...

Both field and laboratory tests demonstrated that soil Hg emission fluxes measured by dynamic flux chamber (DFC) operations strongly depend on the flushing air flow rates used. The general trend is an increase in the fluxes with increasing flushing flow rates followed by an asymptotic approach to flux maximum at sufficiently high (optimum) flushing...