A strategy for Quad biotechnology collaboration
INL scientist Yoshiko Fujita works with two colleagues. Image: Idaho National Laboratory
In this paper, Dirk van der Kley and Daniel Pavlich discuss the importance of biotechnology, how the Quad countries and can leverage each other’s’ strengths to advance their capabilities and provide recommendations on the areas of collaboration.
Key points
- Modern biotechnology includes the ability to easily edit the DNA of all living organisms like single cell organisms (such as yeast), viruses, plants and humans. It is the ability to edit life itself cheaply, quickly, and easily which will cause significant economic and social disruption.
- The global industrial system will be transformed as the world substitutes chemical and extractive manufacturing processes with biological alternatives in a wide array of key industries such as medicine, industrial chemicals, food, fuels, environmental cleanup, construction materials and clothing.
- The countries and firms which control the intellectual property (IP) and manufacturing for biotechnology products will have the opportunity to leverage it for strategic gain.
- Most of the global biomanufacturing capacity and IP to meet this transformation is yet to be created. The Quad, due to its powerful but limited membership, is a suitable body for governments to multilaterally develop biotechnological IP and biomanufacturing to ensure that is not controlled by others.
- The environmental and human security risk to accidental or intentional misuse of biotechnologies, particularly the gene editing of viruses, is potentially catastrophic. This needs transparent rules for control of new biotechnologies. The opacity of single party states cannot be trusted to deliver this.
- Current Quad biotechnology collaboration at the research, industrial and government level is limited and should be improved.
Policy recommendations
Quad governments should jointly contribute funding for the following initiatives:
- A biomanufacturing construction fund to shore up the future of biotechnology supply chains in Quad countries. Each Quad country already has some government funds going to biomanufacturing. A portion of these could be pooled to avoid duplication and be more strategic in the allocation of those funds.
- A Quad genetic engineering research and commercialisation fund to develop the underlying IP for future biotechnological products. There are already funds available in each country, but this IP will be so consequential – and the commercialisation challenging enough – that it is worthwhile for Quad countries to each contribute money to a Quad-specific fund.
- Quad governments should undertake the following actions to boost Quad biotechnology collaboration:
- Establish a biotechnology research collaboration office to reduce barriers to Quad biotechnology research collaboration. Should it prove successful, the research office could, in time, expand to cover other critical technologies.
- Appoint a national bioeconomy coordinator in each Quad country.
- Establish a Quad biotechnology hub in India to fuel collaboration on research and development (R&D) through to manufacturing.
- Establish an office for the harmonisation of biomanufacturing processes and regulations.
- The Quad should pursue early wins on specific projects, such as:
- Joint disease surveillance, building on US-India collaboration.
- RNA-based biopesticides, building on a collaboration between the University of Queensland and the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company.
- Biorefinement projects, building on pilot project between US company Mercurius and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) that produces bio-based fuels.
About the series
This paper has been written for the Quad Tech Network Dialogue, as part of the Quad Tech Network (QTN) initiative. QTN is an initiative of the NSC, delivered with support from the Australian Government. It aims to establish and deepen academic and official networks linking the Quad nations – Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – in relation to the most pressing technology issues affecting the future security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.
