JOE WEINGARTEN (Germany) - PRELIMINARY DRAFT REPORT
16 April 2024
Synthetic biology is one of the most disruptive emerging technologies. This third-generation biotechnology is a multi- and interdisciplinary field that applies engineering principles to biology. It enables the modification of existing organisms and the creation of new ones and is, therefore, no longer limited to the gene sequences found in nature. The technology has a wide range of potential applications and commercial products are already available in agriculture, food, medicine and electronics. However, technological, scalability and funding challenges, as well as ethical regulatory issues, still need to be resolved before synthetic biology can be widely used.
These observations from the civilian sector also apply to the area of security and defence. Synthetic biology opens up new possibilities for armed forces in areas such as energy storage and generation, novel and advanced materials, sensing, medical treatments and human enhancement. As is the case for most emerging disruptive technologies, there are security risks, as actors can use the technology for malicious purposes. These risks include, for example, the possibility of using synthetic biology to (re)create and modify pathogens. As in the civilian sphere, many of these opportunities and risks still lie in the future. There is, nonetheless, no time to lose to accelerate efforts on synthetic biology.
This preliminary draft report contributes to the quest to embrace the promise and avoid the perils of synthetic biology. Building on existing efforts, NATO and its Allies should pursue a set of measures that follow several guiding principles: act in a forward-looking manner, recognise the dual-use characteristic of the technology, balance synthetic biology’s opportunities and threats, place ethical questions at the centre of any debate and draw on the resources and expertise of NATO, the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS Programme) and the NATO Science and Technology Organization (NATO STO). More concretely, NATO, Allies, and NATO Parliamentarians should work towards a joined-up approach, engage in awareness-raising efforts, prepare the ground for the future, monitor developments and engage with external actors.
