Future of Engineering Biology: Trust matters

There’s a crucial need to demystify bio-engineering solutions to demonstrate their value, gain public trust and understanding, and drive adoption and economic growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a moment in history, when global governments, private institutions, academia, and society as a whole, coalesced around the need and to benefit global wellbeing. When a vaccine was produced and rapidly approved through extraordinary measures, the collective relief was palpable, but there was an unexpected problem.

Public trust in science, representation, and a lack of bio-literacy around mRNA vaccine technology challenged the progress of the global vaccination program. Governments worldwide invested hundreds of millions in fighting disinformation about bio-engineering solutions.

For a new innovative solution to be adopted, the people it serves must trust that it will work in their best interests, and trust that those developing solutions have their best interests at heart. In the case of such new and emerging deep-tech as bio-engineering solutions, with their implications to natural evolution, building trust and understanding is more important than ever.

There are clear steps we can take to build this trust, to drive adoption of bio-engineering solutions and related socio-economic growth.

Low levels of literacy and trust: policy makers, citizens, and markets must better understand bio-engineering solutions to unlock their potential

Recent data from the Capgemini Research Institute highlighted the growing divide between industry innovation and public understanding: 96% of companies reported active engagement with, or plans to develop, bio-solutions. And yet, research by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) showed that 76% of UK respondents feel they lack sufficient information to make informed decisions about bio-based products. The same report found that 61% have never heard of engineering biology. Although these findings are UK-specific, similar trends are evident globally. For example, the CRI report also revealed that 65% of startups and corporations view low public bio-literacy as a significant barrier to adoption.

The consequences of this gap are profound. One recent study showed that decades-old public resistance to the distinct domain of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) shaped overly cautious regulatory frameworks that impede advancements in plant genome editing to this day. As a result, solutions to critical challenges, such as food security, continued to be delayed. More recently, hesitancy around mRNA vaccines has shown how a lack of communication can erode trust and create a vacuum for misinformation to grow. Without proactive public engagement, societally-valuable bio-based innovations such as bio-based plastics, precision farming, and sustainable fuels risk similar skepticism, potentially stalling their adoption. Governments and industries must act collaboratively, ensuring consumers feel like active participants in this journey, not passive spectators.

Business and government: shared responsibility to unlock economic growth through engineering biology vision

The challenge of bridging the gap between innovation in bio-engineering solutions and public understanding is a shared responsibility. It demands coordinated action from both businesses in industry and policymakers.

Businesses must go beyond simply creating innovative bio-products – they should actively engage citizens and a broad stakeholder group throughout the development process by employing user-centered and co-design techniques. This not only builds trust and understanding with consumers but of course ensures stronger market fit and a greater chance of commercial success.

To unlock the economic growth potential of bio-engineering solutions, policy makers also need to engage in similar user-centered and co-design techniques early in the policy making process through techniques like ‘Policy Labs.’ Policy Labs help rapidly map ‘policy whitespace’ where a new emergent theme or technology means there are few existing policy ideas or policies to build on. If policy teams become blocked due to a lack of understanding of complex new technologies, this prevents private markets from progressing due to a lack of support or legislation and regulation that unnecessarily blocks development. 

The importance of Policy Labs

Policy Labs are a proven technique to test early policy hypothesis, to ensure policy solutions will work for all stakeholders. For instance, if there’s to be a proposed investment by the Department of Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) into alternative proteins or GM crops, the farming industry should be engaged to test early policy hypothesis to see whether proposed solutions, services, regulations or legislations are likely to empower farmers with new economic means. Or disempower them by creating new competition in the markets or an even more complex post-Brexit funding landscape.

A Policy Labs approach also ensures better cross-departmental working and inputs from the relevant government bodies that should be involved, across such a broad problem space. For example, in the UK, the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) or Department of Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) might work with DEFRA to provide a better holistic approach and collaborative understanding to launching new solutions by data sharing agreements. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and private sector specialists in Engineering Biology could also be engaged through the policy labs process to ensure policy ideas are technologically viable, operationally feasible, and economically scalable in markets.

Open and honest dialogue

Governments should also be creating an ongoing dialogue with citizens to ask what assurances they need to feel confident about bio-engineering solutions (products and services) and how perceived risks can be addressed. Transparent, accessible communication mechanisms are key, alongside independent oversight to ensure safety and accountability. As the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) puts it: ‘Public engagement, improvement of public perception, and building trust are critical factors for the growth of the bio-economy and market.’

A call to action for bio-economy solutions

Engineering biology has the potential to solve some of the world’s most pressing population scale challenges, from climate change to healthcare. But without better collaboration between governments, industry, and the markets they serve, progress on bio-engineering solutions will stall. By employing co-design both in the product development and policy making lifecycles, we will build better understanding and trust among stakeholders and citizens, while enabling policymakers and businesses to ensure bio-solutions not only innovate but also meet public needs.

At Capgemini, we provide end-to-end support in Engineering Biology and AI for Science strategy, helping public and private sector clients accelerate bio-solutions while addressing the challenges outlined here. From fostering public bio-literacy and engaging citizens to building transparency into innovation and driving growth through regulatory collaboration, we leverage our insight drawn from practical laboratory bio-engineering, to advise our clients on delivering impactful, trusted, and scalable outcomes. Together, we can draw up a bio-economy strategy that maximizes public trust in the solutions that will shape the world for years to come.

The time is now to act. Together, we can do more than just create bio-solutions; we can create a bio-ready society. Get in touch to explore how we can help accelerate your engineering biology journey.

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