Press Release Details
Twist Bioscience Announces Synthetic DNA Biosecurity Publication in Frontiers
-- Peer-Reviewed Publication Details Next Steps for Access to Safe, Secure DNA Synthesis --
“Manufacturing synthetic DNA at increased scale and complexity holds
tremendous promise to advance the progress in the grand challenges
facing our world,” said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of
Adding to the ongoing biosecurity screening of sequences and customers Twist implements for all incoming orders, the publication encourages the synthetic biology community as a whole to conduct the following activities:
- Red teaming: hiring an expert group to identify vulnerabilities in internal biosecurity screening systems, similar to a third-party audit;
- Screening oligo-length sequences: as the availability of large quantities of short DNA increases, the publication posits these, too, should be subject to screening (currently, guidance calls for all sequences over 200 base pairs to be screened);
- Shared responsibility for assessing risk through research funding by governments and institutions;
- Democratizing access to sequence screening across large and small organizations through open source software algorithms and data sources to improve accuracy and affordability to carry out screening; and
- Continuing to raise awareness of biosecurity best practices including ‘know your customer’ from the 2010 Health and Human Services Screening Framework Guidance for Providers of Synthetic Double-Stranded DNA.
The full text of the publication can be viewed here.
“We believe that, together, this multifaceted approach to advance
technology, policy, education and social environments will ensure
screening and security practices scale - in terms of the rapidly growing
number of global synthesis requests as well as evolving with increasing
knowledge of biological systems and functional components – and will
help guard against potential misuse,” commented
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Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements
other than statements of historical facts contained herein are
forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and
expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but
not limited to, the potential promise of Twist Bioscience’s
manufacturing synthetic DNA at increased scale and complexity. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause Twist
Bioscience’s actual results, performance, or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, performance, or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risks and
uncertainties of the ability to attract new customers and retain and
grow sales from existing customers; risks and uncertainties of rapidly
changing technologies and extensive competition in synthetic biology
could make the products
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190425005278/en/
Source:
Investor Contact:
Argot Partners
Maeve Conneighton
212-600-1902
maeve@argotpartners.com
Media Contact:
Angela Bitting
925- 202-6211
media@twistbioscience.com