SSAC Report – Engineering Biology: Opportunities for Scotland

Please download full PDF version of the report.  A html version will follow but Executive Summary noted below:

Executive Summary

Engineering biology (EngBio) is a platform technology with wide-ranging applications that could enable the sustainable and just transition of key Scottish industries. It includes the design, scaling and commercialisation of biology-derived products and EngBio has significant potential to aid economic growth whilst also contributing to other ambitions outlined in the Programme for Government such as environmental goals and social wellbeing. Examples of EngBio impacts include: enabling the transition of the broader chemical industry towards more sustainable bio-based alternatives; supporting the resilience of Scottish agriculture against climate change; and creating new advanced therapies for those with previously untreatable diseases.

The Scottish Science Advisory Council (SSAC) has produced this report to inform Scottish Government on the current EngBio landscape. We highlight the opportunities and foresight of the potential challenges of utilising this increasingly important technology. Our information draws on stakeholder engagement, surveys, roundtables, and desk research. Strategic action to realise the benefits for Scotland presented by EngBio is recommended.

EngBio is rapidly developing around the world, through scientific advancements and government investments. It includes the field of synthetic biology and the technological advances in the synthesis and sequencing of DNA, which have made research and development much more economically feasible. The UK had a head start with early adoption of synthetic biology as a priority technology by the UK Government from 2013, supported by a strong life sciences sector in general. However, many more countries are now making EngBio a strategic priority (Annex H). The UK Government laid out its commitments within their National Vision for Engineering Biology in 2023 but currently EngBio is not included within the Scottish Government’s Critical Technologies. 

Scotland currently has truly world-leading academic strength in many EngBio-relevant areas, and an active core group of companies that specialise in EngBio. This group is ripe for expansion and development could be nurtured by dedicated facilities such as those proposed in the Falkirk Growth Deal that would assure Scotland’s place in the bioeconomy. To realise the potential economic, social, and environmental benefits of EngBio for Scotland, our key recommendations are: 

1. Strategy: Recognise and promote EngBio as a national strength, ensuring that its impact and value is explicitly incorporated into Scottish Industrial and Innovation Strategies.
2. Regulation: Give clarity on the regulatory future, to enable companies and entrepreneurs to plan with confidence. In particular, Scotland should consider alignment with the 2023 Precision Breeding Act of England and Wales.
3. Infrastructure and facilities: Provide infrastructure and facilities for company spin-out, start-up, growth, and manufacturing through public-private partnerships targeting follow-on space, and measures to improve the sustainability and accessibility of specialist facilities.
4. Develop a joined up public funding support pathway aligned with the needs of emerging technology through the provision of non-dilutive Proof of Concept funding, adjustment of Scottish Enterprise’s high-growth spin-out programme and the remit of the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB), and engagement of private investors.
5. Build the workforce rapidly through consolidating skills, upskilling, and re-skilling in addition to engaging those in education and maintaining strong doctoral training.
6. Natural resources: Maintain an up-to-date database of the mapped bioresources in Scotland and support technologies that enable their valorisation through EngBio and a circular bioeconomy.