2025工程生物学愿景

[Type here] Preface This report is about the power of engineering biology todrive economic growth and deliver enduring solutions to awide range of complex problems in areas such ashealthcare, environmental sustainability, agriculture andenergy. Put simply, engineering biology is the application ofengineering principles to biological systems in ways thatallow us to harness and control biology in predictable and useful ways. For example, to create novel products and processes that are safer, cleaner and moreefficient. As with other emerging technologies, communicating the benefits of engineeringbiology can be challenging due to the complex terminology involved.Ourexperience from previous Foresight projects is that a good way to cut through thisbarrier to greater understanding is to focus on the practical benefits and solutionsoffered by a technology via narratives that capture the imagination. I have therefore commissioneda set of five evidence-based case studies coveringa diverse range of sectors and applications. The papers are intentionallyaspirational in terms of their outlook for the future of engineering biology andfocus on providing an optimistic, yet realistic,vision of what engineering biologycan do to help solve some of our enduring challenges. The aim is that theseexamples, together with their supporting chapters,willact as a source ofinspiration across government and the public, for what might be possible if we canharness the opportunities offered by engineering biology. I hope that this report will demonstrate the breadth of engineering biology’stransformative potential to solve real-world problems and help to communicatethe benefits of engineering biology beyond communities already familiar with thetechnology. Finally, I want to thank the experts who wrote the papers and whocontributed more broadly to this report. Professor Dame Angela McLean,Government Chief Scientific Adviser Contents Preface02Contents03Executive Summary04 Executive Summary Engineering biology (EngBio)is a fast-moving field of science with thecapabilitytoprovide solutions to many of society’s enduring problems. This report highlights the potential applicationsofEngBioacross a range ofsettings via a set of expert-authored ‘aspiration papers’. These papers areintended to give the reader an optimistic overview of what the future ofEngBiomight look like across five distinct areas,and how it could help to transformmultiple industry sectors over the coming years. Background EngBioisaform of biotechnologythatcombines principles from biology,engineering and computer sciencetodesign, construct and commercialise new ormodified biology-derived products and services. The goal is to create organismsor biological systems with novel functions that can address challenges in areassuch as medicine, agriculture, and environmental sustainability. EngBiois closely related to synthetic biology, the field ofscience in whichbiological components such as organisms and bio-molecules are redesigned tohave new characteristics,using tools such as geneediting.EngBiotakes theproducts of synthetic biology and applies principles drawn from the world ofengineering, such as the ‘design, build, test, learn’(DBTL) cycle,tocreatealternative and novel products and processes across a range of industrial sectors. However,EngBiois not just about the application of synthetic biology—it alsodraws on techniques from other disciplines,such as metabolic engineering,tomodify existing organisms. Likewise,while genetic modification is a major tool inengineering biology,not allEngBioinvolves genetic modification. The field alsoincludes non-genetic techniques, such as bioprocess engineering,to manipulateand optimise biological systemsvia processessuch asfermentation, withoutaltering the genetic makeup of the organisms involved. EngBiohas the potential tomanufacturenew products in ways thatarekinder tothe environment and that offer greater efficiencies when compared to moretraditional methods. Examples includealternatives for fossil fuels,industrial dyesand clothesthat are less harmful to the environment, more effective medicines,greener ways of feeding ourselves,andmethods toconvert or recyclewaste intouseful products. In short,EngBiois thescienceof manipulatingbiologyto createsolutions to theproblemsthatpeople and the planet face, now andtomorrow. Approach The aim of this report is to communicate the potential benefits thatEngBiomightbring to our society and economy over the next 10 years and beyond.To do this,we commissioned leading experts to write five casestudiesexploring what weconsider to be among themost exciting and potentially transformativeapplicationsofEngBio. These case studies have been deliberately selected tocover a diverse range of sectors and applications,and demonstrate the breadth ofEngBio’stransformative potential to solve real-world problems. Each paper begins with an aspirational statement describing the goals ofEngBioand envisioning