Bioengineering horizon scan 2020.
Luke KempLaura AdamChristian R BoehmRainer BreitlingRocco CasagrandeMalcolm DandoAppolinaire DjikengNicholas Greig EvansRichard HammondKelly HillsLauren A HoltTodd KuikenAlemka MarkotićPiers MillettJohnathan A NapierCassidy NelsonSeán S ÓhÉigeartaighAnne OsbournMegan J PalmerNicola Joan PatronEdward PerelloWibool PiyawattanamathaVanessa Restrepo SchildClarissa Rios-RojasCatherine RhodesAnna RoessingDeborah ScottPhilip ShapiraChristopher SimuntalaRobert D J SmithLalitha S SundaramEriko TakanoGwyn UttmarkBonnie WintleNadia B ZahraWilliam J SutherlandPublished in: eLife (2020)
Horizon scanning is intended to identify the opportunities and threats associated with technological, regulatory and social change. In 2017 some of the present authors conducted a horizon scan for bioengineering (Wintle et al., 2017). Here we report the results of a new horizon scan that is based on inputs from a larger and more international group of 38 participants. The final list of 20 issues includes topics spanning from the political (the regulation of genomic data, increased philanthropic funding and malicious uses of neurochemicals) to the environmental (crops for changing climates and agricultural gene drives). The early identification of such issues is relevant to researchers, policy-makers and the wider public.