An expert panel explored the power of synthetic biology at the most recent Parliamentary Friends of Science event at Parliament House.
The longstanding group of Federal Parliamentarians - co-convened by former Industry and Science Minister Karen Andrews and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles - heard from a leading expert panel on the potential of synthetic biology to drive a thriving bioeconomy for our nation.
Science & Technology Australia CEO Ryan Winn welcomed guests to the event and introduced Ngunnawal custodian Serena Williams. Serena warmly Welcomed us to Country and acknowledged passionate science and education advocate and one of the expert panel members-Torres Webb, a proud Far North Queenslander and Indigenous man from the Torres Strait (Erub, Darnley Island).
Our expert panel included Indigenous Research Projects Advisor at CSIRO and published author Torres Webb, the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology and Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science Professor Ian Paulsen, Adjunct Professor of Synthetic Biology at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder at Senseory Plants Claudia Vickers, and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at QUT and the Queensland Government's Biofutures Industry Envoy Professor Ian O'Hara. The panel was moderated by Academy of Technological Science and Engineering CEO Kylie Walker.
A massive thanks to the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology for the outstanding support as sponsor of this event; this event was made possible with their generous contribution.
Mrs Andrews welcomed guests and spoke about the history of Parliamentary Friends of Science, which has been running for 12 years, and the importance of these events for Parliamentarians and scientists alike.
"Richard Marles and I are both STEM graduates, and science is very near and dear to our hearts," Mrs Andrews said as she spoke about their motivations to establish the Parliamentary Friends of Science group 12 years ago.
"The first Parliamentary Friends of Science event-we had basically a master class in astronomy. We had Professor Brian Scmidt come and take us onto the roof of Parliament House with a telescope," she continued.
"It was a fabulous night, and it demonstrated to all our parliamentary colleagues, not just, how important science is, but how interesting science is. And since then, along with our sponsors, we've had numerous events. We try to make sure that they're topics that our parliamentary colleagues are going to be keen to hear about."
Minister for Industry and Science Hon Ed Husic MP took the stage after Mrs Andrews, and extended his gratitude and thanks to her and Deputy Prime Minister Marles for their sustained leadership of this longstanding group. Minister Husic spoke about Australia's synthetic biology industry over the coming years, highlighting data from CSIRO.
"CSIRO is predicting, given the right support, that our own synthetic biology sector in this country could generate about $30 billion in annual revenue and create about 50,000 jobs by 2040," Minister Husic said.
"And that'll extend well beyond economic and productivity growth. We want to be able to see it play an important role in helping us achieve a circular economy, build more resilient supply chains, and help us solve some of the more important industrial health and environmental challenges."
"If we get this right, in terms of synthetic biology, it will be massive for the planet. And I think we are well poised as Australians to be at the forefront here. I think the more we talk up the achievements we've got in this and other areas, the better and the easier it will become."
The panel discussed the challenges and the opportunities for synthetic biology to transform various industries, including sustainable agriculture, medical diagnostics, biosecurity, green tech, waste management and minerals processing. And as Australia progresses with this new cutting-edge technology, it's imperative the benefits are shared across our whole community - deep engagement with First Nations people and communities will be critical to ensure an equitable future for all Australians.
"Synthetic biology is like the operating system that we use to recode biology to get it to do useful things. It's fundamentally applied - it's using biology to engineer solutions," said Associate Professor Claudia Vickers.
She described a real-world application of synthetic biology for insulin production - a process we've used for many years. This process replaced the unsustainable and unpleasant process of extracting insulin from the pancreatic glands of pigs.
"One in 20 Australians have diabetes. And we're using insulin, and that is a synthetic biology-based process. This technology has been around for 50 years now, and we have yet to see any real dangers from it."
Professor O'Hara discussed an awe-inspiring example of taking waste from a process to instead produce a high-value product while mitigating environmental harm.
"One of the great examples is an amazing company that's taking the waste gases from steel mills-these steel mills pump horrible waste gases in the atmosphere and create all sorts of environmental harm-and they're able to capture these gases, feed them to bacteria and produce alcohols that can then be converted to a sustainable aviation field," Professor O'Hara said.
"We take something that was causing some level of environmental harm and are transforming it into something that's actually a positive environmental benefit, and also creating jobs, creating revenue, and helping to create a low carbon travel experience for customers."
Indigenous Research Projects Advisor Torres Webb's spoke of recent conversations on synthetic biology with communities in far North Queensland and across a lot of regional and remote areas of Australia.
"The conversations that we had with the community on environmental management, particularly around feral cats and how they're causing havoc around turtle nesting sites, and for our native birds' species, the communities were quite excited about other opportunities to manage and take care of Country."
Professor Ian Paulsen spoke about some of the start-ups to come out of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology. He also showed a hand cream sample where the oils and fats were made from yeast fermentation and produced by a start-up company founded by one of his PhD students.
"Samara Eco is doing plastic recycling. I know we have one of the founders from Number8bio here tonight, they're making cattle feed that will greatly mitigate methane emissions from cattle and sheep. We might have founders from New Era Bio, they're making sustainably produced fabric dyes from microbial fermentation," Professor Paulsen explained.
Professor Vickers discussed her hopes for the future of synthetic biology.
"We're now on the slope of enlightenment where we are able to reasonably predict what we can and can't do with this technology. And I find that incredibly exciting because we know what we can achieve with it.
"I'm looking for ways that I can impact meaningfully at a planetary scale. And one of the areas that I'm looking at for that is the construction space because construction is about 20% of global greenhouse emissions. If we can impact a small amount on something that has such a massive global effect, then we can really have a huge planetary effect."
Professor O'Hara emphasised this technology is already here, and it will have real impacts beyond our wildest dreams. He highlighted synthetic biology's ability to build upon existing technologies and enable us to do more with things we already know how to do, and he had a question for Australia.
"The question for all of us is, what do we do now to make sure that Australia, has not just a seat at the table, but actually benefits vastly from this revolution that is underway?"
Mr Webb spoke of the transformative effective synthetic biology could have on public health, especially in the control and eradication of diseases found in non-native invasive mosquito species.
"We see a great opportunity in utilising genetic biocontrol to really look at, not only the public health for our people, but an opportunity for economic development, jobs, skills and meaningful employment for the people in the Torres Strait where we're exploring these opportunities to create jobs for people and to self-determine their health for the future," Mr Webb said.
Professor Paulsen detailed his dreams for synthetic biology, "There's such tremendous potential in decarbonisation and circular economy that I think the dream is that we can basically replace everything we get from fossil fuels with sustainably produced biological alternatives. Synthetic biology is the only conceivable path forward."
Echoing Mrs Andrews sentiments from the beginning of the event, Deputy Prime Minister Marles expressed appreciation to the expert panel and parliamentary colleagues for attending.
"Firstly, let me acknowledge Ed [Husic] and Paul [Fletcher]. Thank you both for being here and the other MPs who are here this evening. Thank you all for coming and visiting parliament, and [the panel] for giving what was a completely invigorating conversation," Deputy Prime Minister Marles said.
"For Karen and me, it's been our enduring challenge and a pleasure, and a privilege really, to be involved with the academies and with Science & Technology Australia to try and raise the science literacy of this building, which is a really important task so that we can debate public policy better. What I'd really like to say is that listening to this panel and experiencing the fundamental curiosity which underpins all of our love in science is an utterly invigorating thing."
We thank CEO of the Australian Academy of Science Anna-Maria Arabia for closing statements highlighting synthetic biology's potential as a solution to the grand challenges we are facing as a nation and across the globe.
"It's a pleasure for us to come together to be able to bring science, technology, engineering maths and all that goes with it to audiences like you and beyond. And you have our commitment that we will continue to do that," Anna-Maria said on behalf of the organisers, Science & Technology Australia, in partnership with the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Australian Academy of Science.
"We saw tonight that synthetic biology is far from a static issue - it's part of the solution to many of the grand challenges that are facing our nation and our globe. Of course, we can't do it alone. We need our researchers, our industries, our media, our parliamentary representatives, our leaders across the ecosystem to come together so that we can bring science and technology … to the service of the nation."
On an extremely busy sitting night for both the House and the Senate, we were thrilled so many Parliamentarians and advisors could be in attendance. In addition to Deputy Prime Minister Marles, Mrs Andrews and Minister Husic, we were joined by Shadow Minister for Science Paul Fletcher MP, Zaneta Mascarenhas MP, Dan Repacholi MP, Libby Coker MP, Graham Perrett MP, and advisors from offices across the Parliament. We thank them for attending alongside our other guests, including scientists and researchers, industry representatives, STEM sector leaders and senior public servants.
The event was organised for the co-chairs by Science & Technology Australia in partnership with the Academy of Technological Science and Engineering and the Australian Academy of Science.
We look forward to seeing you at the next Parliamentary Friends of Science event.
