Synthetic biology in the UK-An outline of plans and progress

Synthetic biology is capable of delivering new solutions to key challenges spanning the bioeconomy,both nationally and internationally.Recognising this significant potential and the associated need to facilitate its translation and commercialisation the UK government commissioned the production of a national Synthetic Biology Roadmap in 2011,and subsequently provided crucial support to assist its implementation.Critical infrastructural investments have been made,and important strides made towards the development of an effectively connected community of practitioners and interest groups.A number of Synthetic Biology Research Centres,DNA Synthesis Foundries,a Centre for Doctoral Training,and an Innovation Knowledge Centre have been established,creating a nationally distributed and integrated network of complementary facilities and expertise.The UK Synthetic Biology Leadership Council published a UK Synthetic Biology Strategic Plan in 2016,increasing focus on the processes of translation and commercialisation.Over 50 start-ups,SMEs and larger companies are actively engaged in synthetic biology in the UK,and inward investments are starting to flow.Together these initiatives provide an important foundation for stimulating innovation,actively contributing to international research and development partnerships,and helping deliver useful benefits from synthetic biology in response to local and global needs and challenges.

Responsible research and innovation training programmes:implementation and evaluation of the HEIRRI project

Responsible research and innovation,or RRI,is a concept that aims to bring together society and science for a better future.There are six key elements of RRI:public engagement,gender equality,science education,open access,ethics and governance.Higher Education Institutions and Responsible Research and Innovation(HEIRRI)project aimed to bring the concept of RRI into the educational system.Using state-of-the-art review of good practices,HEIRRI team developed 10 training programmes on RRI for different higher education institution educational levels,including a summer school and a massive open online course(MOOC).We conducted pilot of the trainings and evaluated participants’experiences.Satisfaction with HEIRRI training programmes on responsible research and innovation was high,both for participants and for the trainers,and trainings raised awareness of RRI.Participants’feedback was used to identify areas that need improvement and provided for recommendations for final versions of the HEIRRI training programmes.In order to equip researchers with skills to recognize and apply RRI values,RRI should be included in their education.HEIRRI training is suitable for a range of different disciplines,including forensic science,and is free to use and adjust for specific contexts(available from:https://rri-tools.eu/heirri-training-programmes).

Politicizing Responsible Innovation:Responsibility as Inclusive Governance

This paper aims to provide the historical and conceptual bases underlying the inclusionary transition of European innovation policy,and critical analysis of the difficulties relating to the political nature of this transition.In the 50s and 60s of last century,linear innovation models operated on the basis of a clear division of roles among the different actors in innovation and fundamentally economistic‐based strategies.The following decades saw innovation policies progressively recognize the multi‐dimensional and complex nature of innovation and the need to make adjustments,but always in explicit response to the competitiveness imperative.More recent RRI(Responsible Research and Innovation)strategy within the European Union,in contrast,demands opening up the whole innovation process(including values and motivations)to collective decision,i.e.,approaching responsible innovation as inclusive innovation.This paper appraises this important development primarily on the basis of in‐depth analysis of the main policy literature on innovation,and also on the grounds of related academic literature.As a result,we conclude that the bid for collaboration models cohabits constitutively with another set of dynamics aimed at strengthening centralized and prescriptive forms of innovation.In other words,that inclusionary or political eagerness represented through RRI must grapple with the strategic imperative of competitiveness and economic development.Hence,fundamental tension exists,which should be elucidated in light of the objectives,demands and considerations that are integrated,and cease to be integrated,in innovation dynamics and trajectories.

Exploring the social,ethical,legal,and responsibility dimensions of artificial intelligence for health-a new column in Intelligent Medicine

This essay is the starting point of a new column in Intelligent Medicine that invites interdisciplinary perspectives on the social,ethical,legal,and responsibility aspects of the use of artificial intelligence(AI)in medicine and health care.Papers in this column will examine the practical,conceptual,and policy dimensions of the use of AI for health-related purposes from comparative and international perspectives.We invite contributions from around the world in all application areas of AI for health,including health care,health research,drug development,health care system management,as well as public health and public health surveillance.The column aims to provide a forum for reflective and critical scholarship that contributes to the ongoing academic and policy debates about the development,use,governance,and implications of AI in medical and health care settings.To launch the column,we first provide an overview of recent approaches that have been developed to identify and address the effects and potential impacts of science and technology innovations on human societies and the environment.These include ethical,legal,and social implications/aspects(ELSI/A)research,responsible research and innovation(RRI),sustainability transitions research,and the use of international standard-setting instruments for responsible and open science issued by the United Nations Educational,Scientific,and Cultural Organization(UNESCO),the World Health Organization(WHO),and other international bodies.In Part Two of this essay,we discuss some of the central challenges that arise with regard to the integration of AI and big data analytics in medical and health care settings.This includes concerns regarding(i)the control,reliability,and trustworthiness of AI systems,(ii)privacy and surveillance,(iii)the impact of AI and automation on health care staffemployment and the nature of clinical work,(iv)the effects of AI on health inequalities,justice,and access to medical care,and(v)challenges related to regulation and governance.We end the essay with a call for papers and a set of questions that could be relevant for future studies.

Responsible Research and Innovation and Its Implications for China

Responsible research and innovation （RRI） represents a new evotvtng approach to governing research and innovation that takes into account potential impacts on the environment and society. Most published studies on RRI focus on the social benefits of research and innovation through examining RRI＇s definitions and approaches for its implementation. In contrast, the present study addresses the influence of RRI on economic growth, and discusses the situations in which RRI will benefit economies. Our study finds that for its implementation to be successful RRI needs to meet certain conditions, and that its implementation is not always beneficial to economic growth. To achieve a better result from RRI as part of an innovation policy, each country should balance the push and pull power of RRI to make sure that it becomes a building block rather than a stumbling block for innovation, economic growth and social welfare. To assure that RRI can be successfully implemented, China needs to strengthen and improve the participation mechanisms for stakeholders in major scientific and technological innovative activities.

The social as the heart of social innovation and social entrepreneurship:An emerging area or an old crossroads?

This paper aims to contribute to the conceptual debate on the connection between social innovation and social entrepreneurship,considering the role of the‘social’within this connection.Supported by a systematic literature review(SLR)with an in-depth analysis of 34 articles from Scopus-indexed and Web of Science databases journals,this paper identifies,analyzes and describes the difficulties and opportunities in the social innovation and social entrepreneurship literature.Little is known about the link between both concepts and the influence of the‘social’in their development and implementation.This SLR was conducted to identify and describe definitions and patterns.Results show that the connection between social innovation and social entrepreneurship is in its take-off phase,but it still is a fragmented field with a huge lack of consensus.Thus,it will be important to see where the field will head,as this paper aims to be a first step in the understanding of social innovation and social entrepreneurship through a collective and integrated perspective,providing an elucidation of the different perspectives of the literature.