5  RESPONSIBLE INNOVATION
Both the future of yeast research and the synthetic cell movement have wholly engaged with the discourse of responsible research and innovation. Not only has this covered biosafety, bio-ethics, biosecurity and the emerging world of cyberbiosecurity (McLennan, 2018; Peccoud et al., 2018), but it now must contemplate and develop new models of international engagement and collaboration that hedge emerging themes of geopolitical risk (Dixon, 2021). The future of biology is full of basic research questions that can only be achieved through international collaborative consortia (Hillson et al., 2019). For example, mega-projects that require modular approaches to decade-long initiatives such as developing a synthetic cell. These kinds of projects are well suited to scientific diplomacy objectives that keep communication lines open between nations that might be competing in other economic, cultural and political domains.
A Global Forum on Synthetic Biology has been proposed as a mechanism for bringing together the global leadership of synthetic biology to ensure responsible research and innovation continues to occur within meaningful international collaborations (Dixon et al., 2022). The proposed Forum has seven thematic objectives: (i) sharing information as a network hub—benefits, risks, practical steps and lessons, and leveraging scarce financial resources; (ii) developing agreed technical consensus/guidance documents for use by policymakers and regulators that do not prejudge different policy and political decisions; (iii) linking synthetic biology practitioners more closely with multilateral policymakers and international fora; (iv) facilitating increased global collaborations and co-ordination, including initiatives for addressing societal grand challenges or better integrating synthetic biology with ongoing global efforts such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (French, 2019); (v) helping to ‘de-risk’ synthetic biology, including security, governance, and finance/investment; (vi) better integrating synthetic biology with broader initiatives around the bioeconomy, sustainability, and bio-based production; and (vii) developing systemic responses to issues of diversity and inclusion in synthetic biology. Ensuring internationally engaged and collaborative approaches to these objectives both advances and future proofs yeast research at the highest levels internationally.