Lords Committee hears from innovators and experts for its Engineering Biology inquiry

At 10.15, those giving evidence are:

• Dr Jim Ajioka, Chief Scientific Officer, Colorifix
• Will Milligan, Chief Executive Officer, Extracellular
• Rosemary Sinclair Dokos, Senior Vice President, Oxford Nanopore Technologies

At 11:30, the committee, chaired by Baroness Brown, will hear from:

• Mark Bustard, Chief Executive Officer, Innovation Biotechnology Innovation Centre
• Dr Martin Turner, Associate Director of Policy, Public Affairs and Investor Relations, Bioindustry Association

The evidence session will be available to watch live or on demand on Parliament TV or in person in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has said that engineering biology is one of five key technologies for the UK and published its National Vision for Engineering Biology in December 2023. The Government defines engineering biology as the design, scaling and commercialisation of biology-derived products and services that can transform sectors or produce existing products more sustainably.

The committee’s findings will inform a report which makes conclusions and policy recommendations to the Government and key organisations.

Among the questions the committee wants to address are:

• How are companies hoping to innovate on existing processes or products using engineering biology?
• What are the major challenges they face in scaling up to large-scale, industrial processes?
• What initiatives could the Government support that would help?
• How easy is it for startups to obtain investment?
• In which areas of engineering biology does the UK have the right ecosystem to scale up?
• How should the Government encourage larger companies to take up engineering biology processes or products, and does this require a broader industrial strategy?
• Are regulators sufficiently well-resourced, in terms of expertise and capacity, to regulate engineering biology?