The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will cooperate with the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) and the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) to plan and organize a workshop to explore potential biosecurity concerns posed by genome editing technologies. The number and range of potential applications for genome editing tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 are rapidly expanding as scientists continue to refine those tools. However, these advances are outpacing the capability of domestic and international security communities to coordinate and develop evidence-based policies. A workshop that brings together experts across the globe in genetic engineering, security studies, and public policy to discuss mechanisms/policies/strategies to mitigate or prevent potential misuse is needed.

The planning and convening of the workshop will be led by a committee under the auspices of IAP in cooperation with the Academies and EASAC. The committee will develop the agenda for the workshop and identify and invite speakers and discussants to address the following issues:

(1) the range of genome editing applications in human and non-human organisms and their technical requirements for development in order to better understand the potential for misuse

(2) the evidence-base for near-, middle-, and long- term security considerations that may arise from these applications;

(3) technical, operational, regulatory and governance strategies that may aid the scientific and security communities in preventing or mitigating the identified biosecurity concerns.

A proceedings of the discussions during the workshop will be produced by IAP according to its policies and procedures.