Back £2 billion plan for engineering biology, UK ministers urged

Ministers must recommit to spending at least £2 billion on engineering biology over the next decade to help restore the UK’s “lost leadership” on this technology, a parliamentary committee has recommended.

Drawing on expert testimony from its inquiry into engineering biology, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee calls on the Labour government to confirm plans outlined by the previous Conservative administration to invest in what was identified as one of the UK’s “five critical technologies”.

Among the advances in engineering biology – often known as synthetic biology – in recent years include more low-cost ways to synthesise, edit and engineer DNA, with potential applications in medicine, food production, advanced manufacturing and energy.

Details of the previous government’s planned investment were confirmed in the Department for Science and Innovation (DSIT)’s National Vision for Engineering Biology, published in December 2023, with UK Research and Innovation announcing funding for two new doctoral training centres in engineering biology in March 2024.

However, while science minister Patrick Vallance said that the national vision document was a “very sensible thing to keep”, the committee’s report highlights the “limited details” and “uncertainty” regarding the £2 billion budget, with several academic witnesses wondering if the commitment amounted to “rebadged money” that might be allocated by UKRI over the years, rather than additional funds.

“Few concrete funding announcements have been made since the initial £2 billion commitment was made,” observes the report published on 14 January, on whether the figure “represents new money, or just a continuation of historic levels of investment from UKRI in engineering biology”.

“The government should, as a matter of urgency, recommit to the target set out in the National Vision for at least £2 billion of funding over the next decade,” it continues, adding “it should set out more details of how it intends to allocate this funding between R&D, skills, and infrastructure, as well as which areas of engineering biology the UK has potential to excel at and desirable outcomes it wishes to achieve from the funding.”

The committee also stresses the need for a plan for engineering biology as part of the government’s industrial strategy regarding how skills, infrastructure, investment and regulation will support the sector.

On skills, the report says “the UK needs an expanded training offer and more effective visa policies to attract top talent from abroad. UKRI should fund more doctoral training programmes for engineering biology, incorporating a year in industry, including start-ups and spinouts, and there is a gap for master’s-level graduate conversion courses.”

A loss of joined-up thinking on engineering biology was highlighted by several academic witnesses to the inquiry, with its report noting the perception that “the UK had a lead in this technology a decade ago, and had a coherent plan but that this position is now in jeopardy”.

"In the UK we were the first country to have a national plan for – at the time – synthetic biology. That road map was 10 to 12 years ago…Since 2017 it has all become a bit fragmented,” explained Tom Ellis, professor of synthetic genome engineering at Imperial College London, while the University of Edinburgh’s Susan Rosser said: “We were ahead of the game, but we have lost that leadership.”

“There is a perception in the sector that the UK was a leader in engineering biology 10 years ago,” summarises the report, adding that “inconsistent government investment has allowed other countries to overtake the UK. A long-term strategy with clear commitment to engineering biology is key,” it concludes.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com