Sequence-Based Classification of Select Agents: A Brighter Line

Abstract

development of policy relevant to these fields; leaders in fundamental structural, evolutionary, and computational biology and bioinformatics; scientists dedicated to the study of pathogenic viruses and bacteria; and experts from the commercial biotechnology sector.Many committee members were personally involved either directly or indirectly in research on plant or animal pathogens designated as Select Agents and thus had first-hand experience in dealing with the relevant regulations and security requirements implemented in recent years to reduce the risk of misuse.We were especially fortunate to have a senior scientist and executive in the biotechnology industry who was able to offer a unique perspective on the role of industry in implementation of current and future steps that might be taken to reduce the risk of misuse of synthetic biology.We were informed by the shared expertise of many professionals in synthetic biology, security, public health, human and animal medicine, the life sciences, informatics and several other relevant fields as we grappled with our challenging task.Specifically