Academic report, by a Commission or a Working Group

18 Oct Synthetic Biology: scope, applications and implications

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Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) (RAEng)
2009
This report aims to define the term ‘synthetic biology’, review the state of the field and consider potential future developments and their likely technological, economic and societal impact. It also attempts to assess the requirements for the development of the field and to identify key policy issues.  The report makes the following three recommendations:  1. The Government needs to develop a national strategy for synthetic biology in the UK.  2. Investment in training and research infrastructure is required.  This should focus on funding new centres for synthetic biology which would carry out both teaching and research. 3. Synthetic biology research needs to be conducted in collaboration with social scientists and philosophers in order to raise awareness of the ethical and societal issues.
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18 Oct Synthetic Biology: public dialogue on synthetic biology

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Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) (RAEng)
2009
This report presents the findings of an exploratory public dialogue project, commissioned by the Royal Academy of Engineering and conducted by People Science and Policy Ltd (PSP) to explore uninformed and informed perceptions of and attitudes to synthetic biology in the UK. This study was carried out to complement the Academy’s inquiry into synthetic biology, published in May 2009 (www.raeng.org.uk/synbio) which recommended that: “an active and ongoing public engagement programme must be established which creates platforms for various stakeholders and publics to share their views on both the potential benefits of synthetic biology and their concerns as the technology develops”.  This report gives an early and preliminary insight into public perceptions and reactions to synthetic biology and reveals some issues and themes worthy of further exploration. The findings also provide a baseline measure of awareness in the UK which will be useful for comparing changes over time.
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18 Oct Arable crops: a source of renewable raw materials

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
2010
Once the easily accessible reserves of oil are exhausted, plants will become increasingly important as an industrial resource. For this reason there will probably be a renaissance in wood, linseed, straw and other plant products as raw materials. The objective of research and development should be to optimise the practicability of production processes and the usefulness of the end products. There is a great need for research into the relatively new area of transgenic plants which could in some cases deliver specific high quality substances. We should be thinking about bio-refineries rather than oil refineries. Our most important task will be to improve public perception of such technologies and to consider the social consequences of introducing them and their implications for the overall safety of foodstuffs, not only in industrial nations but also in developing countries.
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18 Oct Promotion of Young Professionals in Science and Technology

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National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)
2009
The shortage of young people in numerous technical professions that can be ascertained at present has been foreseeable for some time owing to various societal trends and conditions—among which the demographical development ranks first. Usually, partial aspects or highly specialized questions are pursued in such surveys, generated as a rule from a discipline-specific perspective. Hence it is not only difficult to gain an overview of the broad range of literature but especially to comprehend the numerous and complex reasons for the shortage of young people as well as the possible interdependencies. acatech aims at the development of a comprehensive strategy for the targeted promotion of young people for entry into the engineering sciences. If one wants recommended actions and suggestions of promotional measures to be well founded, one has to identify and understand the complex reasons for the shortage of young people beforehand. Hence the experts of the “Platform” deal with the causes from a multidisciplinary and problem-oriented perspective and investigate the problems that were identified as urgent in the context of five topics.
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18 Oct Biomedical engineering careers series practical engineering at the front line of the health service

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Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) (RAEng)
2012
Fellow students from his four-year MEng undergraduate course in biomedical engineering at Imperial College London are now in a very wide range of jobs, he says.
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18 Oct Establishing high-level evidence for the safety and efficacy of medical devices and systems

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Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) (RAEng)
2013
A summary of a roundtable forum held on 16 January 2013 hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering and The Academy of Medical Sciences.
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18 Oct White biotechnology and synthetic biology

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National Academy of Technologies of France (NATF)
2012
Biotechnology is the application of S&T to living organisms. White biotechnology (Bio-Based Industries - BBl) uses renewable carbon sources  in fermentation processes to produce food compounds, fuels, specialties and chemical commodities, and plastics.  Synthetic biology (SB) introduces engineering principles into biotechnology, promoting the emergence of a true bio-economy.  Although endowed with a well-developed agriculture and BBI-related research, there are only about a dozen companies engaged in applications of SB to BBl in France, including start-ups, intermediate enterprises, and Total, resulting in few industrial realisations. The sector is considered risky by investors.  A consistent effort to train  engineers and PhD-students in these areas is essential.  Regarding risks, traditional BBI-products must be distinguished from SB-products in specific sectors. Upstream from industrial SB-applications on a large scale, research on the security, safety, ethics, toxicology and ecotoxicology is vital.  The academic SB community self-regulates its conduct in an effort of openness, transparency, anticipation and prevention of potential risks. Working-group leader: Pierre Monsan, director “Toulouse White Biotechnology” and NATF Fellow.
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18 Oct Jubilee Annual of Croatian Academy of Engineering 2016

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Croatian Academy of Engineering (HATZ)
2017
The development of technical and biotechnical sciences is the basis for the overall social progress. We have witnessed that in recent years the focus of international research competitions is directed towards the applied sphere. The emphasis of innovation processes is also noticeable, as well as the recommendation of involving small and medium-sized enterprises in research activities. Because of the accelerated development of technical sciences, the answer to the question about future directions of development is not unambiguous. Croatia's Republic of Croatia, as a shortage of unclear values of quality of life and technological standards of developed EU countries, one of the high priorities should be to consider one's own relationship to the underlying principles of such development. The topics of optimal higher education and the promotion of innovation, as well as the appropriate incorporation of engineering sciences into the general social phenomena, give particular importance to the importance of analyzing the present situation and the development of guidelines for future development.
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18 Oct Engineering Power – Vol. 13(1)

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Croatian Academy of Engineering (HATZ)
2018
This issue is dedicated to the scientific work in the field of biomechanical engineering in the Laboratory for Numerical Mechanics at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. Our work concerns modeling of soft tissue behavior, particularly abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) development. We addressed the problem of intraluminal thrombus enlargement within abdominal aortic aneurysm. Our main goal was to develop a theoretical and computational biochemomechanical model of evolving properties of ILT incorporated into an initially healthy artery. We showed that thrombus-laden lesions can either arrest or rupture depending on the biochemical (e.g., concentration of elastases) and biomechanical (stiffness of fibrin) properties of the ILT. These computational results suggest that ILT should be accounted for when predicting a potential enlargement or rupture risk of AAAs and highlight some specific needs for further experimental and computational research. The scientific work within our group concerned the very first growth and remodelling model that addresses together the mechanobiology, biochemistry, and biomechanics of thrombus-laden AAAs. The herein presented results are the result of fruitful cooperation with Jay D Humphrey’s group from Yale University, USA, Gerhard Holzapfel’s group from TU Graz, Austria, Seungik Baek from Michigan State University, USA and Ivo Lovričević, Medical School, University of Zagreb. The scientific work in our group was supported by grants from the Croatian Science Foundation project IP-2014-09-7382 and Installation Grant to I. Karšaj.
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