Biorisk Management Case Study: United States Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) is a user facility that offers a variety of capabilities to the scientific community, including DNA sequencing, single cell genomics, metabolomics, and DNA synthesis/engineering biology approaches. Since 2013, synthetic biology proposals submitted to the JGI have been assessed for the broader aspects and implications of the research, beyond technical feasibility and scientific merit. It uses a qualitative approach to evaluate the broader aspects of proposals:
• Proposers submit written qualitative responses to a short set of open-ended questions as part of their application.
• The JGI takes steps to ensure the active engagement of project proposers.
• Following a review of scientific potential, proposals are evaluated by small diverse teams of three external reviewers.
• Reviewers are asked to consider a range of potential issues, including biosafety, biosecurity, ethical, legal, social, and environmental concerns.
• So far, proposals have never been rejected on broader aspects grounds, but proposers are sometimes asked to provide more information or even modify their project.

Description

Date modified February 28, 2023
Publication date February 28, 2023; February 2023

Creators/Contributors

Author Hillson, Nathan
Author Harmon-Smith, Miranda
Author Simirenko, Lisa
Author Greene, Daniel ORCiD icon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2576-8588 (unverified)
Author Brink, Kathryn ORCiD icon https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5155-9336 (unverified)
Research team head Palmer, Megan ORCiD icon https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8310-2325 (unverified)
Research team head Evans, Samuel ORCiD icon https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8547-3314 (unverified)

Subjects

Subject Risk management
Genre Other
Genre Case study

Bibliographic information

Related item
DOI https://doi.org/10.25740/rr427mq4842
Location https://purl.stanford.edu/rr427mq4842

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User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA).

Preferred citation

Preferred citation
Hillson, N., Harmon-Smith, M., Simirenko, L., Greene, D., and Brink, K. (2023). Biorisk Management Case Study: United States Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/rr427mq4842. https://doi.org/10.25740/rr427mq4842.

Collection

Visibility Initiative for Responsible Science (VIRS): Biorisk Management Casebook and Case Studies

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