LONDON -- Arthur D. Little (ADL) has published The Brave New World Of Synthetic Biology, the latest in a series of leading edge reports from the company’s Blue Shift institute, which explore the impact of new technologies on business, society and people.

Synthetic Biology - SynBio for short - is a multi-disciplinary field of innovation focused on the analysis and manipulation of biological systems. SynBio has the potential to be disruptive across many industry sectors — not just life sciences, food and agriculture, but also industrial, chemicals, manufacturing, consumer goods, energy, and IT.

Based on extensive ADL research, plus interviews with global experts, The Brave New World Of Synthetic Biology aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current status and prospects for SynBio, including its definition, the present state of technological developments, the existing development market and key player landscape, current and prospective applications, and how businesses should prepare for the SynBio future.

SynBio is a hugely exciting but potentially controversial area, something the report’s provocative title acknowledges. Its impact promises to be as far-reaching as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, yet there are both ethical questions and safety concerns around its application, which the report also addresses.

The report finds that:

· SynBio is an extremely diverse field, with the maturity of its technologies ranging from the embryonic to the fully commercialized.
· SynBio technologies could have a massive transformational impact in a 20-year time frame, from DNA-based data storage to dealing with climate change.
· Many SynBio applications are poised for growth, with the current market predicted to grow from around US $15 billion in 2023 to $70 billion by 2030.
· Challenges and barriers remain high, with critical uncertainties around skills gaps, standardization of tools, ethical issues and biosecurity, investment, and scaling up.
· Companies need to ensure a suitable SynBio strategy is in place, identifying potential opportunities and developing relevant capabilities.

Dr. Albert Meige, Director of Blue Shift at ADL, comments: “Since its emergence in the mid-20th century, the field of SynBio has provided insights into some of the ‘big questions’ around life itself, while asking some new questions of its own - for example, who owns a gene or a cell? Yet while it raises ethical issues, it also presents amazing possibilities across multiple sectors for the furtherance of human development. That’s why this report doesn’t shy away from the challenges that SynBio faces, but focuses primarily on the benefits it could unlock for both business and society.”