Ontario Genomics Report: Think Synthetic Biology in Ontario
Ontario Genomics is pleased to introduce this report on synthetic biology in Ontario. Biology holds the key to all of humanity’s industrial, environmental and health challenges. What is left for us to do is pinpoint the right solutions from the genomes of millions of living organisms and put them to use in our factories, our hospitals and our homes. Accelerating, automating and industrializing this process is the discipline of synthetic biology. Synthetic biology is one of a few viable ways through which we will be able to maintain our standard of living and improve our wealth and well-being without compromising the health of the planet we live on.
And that’s why Ontario Genomics wants you to Think Synthetic Biology.
Over the coming 10 years, this technological upheaval will transform the world much like the IT revolution. Many leading universities in the US and Europe like MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Imperial College London have established departments and institutes dedicated solely to synthetic biology. Together the US government and the UK government have made over $1 billion of investment to drive synthetic biology as a distinct discipline. Tech giants like Microsoft and Autodesk have initiated R&D efforts to be the first to market. It’s not too late for Ontario’s universities, government and industries to join the ranks of this forward thinking cluster.
The global economy (including many of Ontario’s driver industries) cannot continue on the same course of productivity and wealth generation. We can either invest in home-grown high-tech solutions to overcome this sustainability challenge or become a consumer of a multi-billion dollar foreign synthetic biology industry.
Learn More
- Read the report on synthetic biology in Ontario
- Watch the videos on our synthetic biology website
- Attend an event at MaRS featuring synthetic biology thought-leader, Andrew Hessel