On July 9-10, 2009, under the auspices of the National Academies (CSTL, BLS, STEP, and NAE), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Royal Society, an international symposium was held in Washington, DC to bring together the scientific, engineering, legal, and policy communities along with members of the public to explore the opportunities and challenges posed by the emerging field of synthetic biology. The symposium featured invited presentations and discussions on the myriad of legal, policy, and ethical questions that synthetic biology raises in the global enterprise.

The overarching goals of the meeting were to help foster this new community of professionals, to frame the language of the discussion and the issues, to identify issues and areas for future study, and to educate the public and policy-makers about this emerging field.