Board on Life Sciences

Meeting Closed

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development - Committee Meeting #8b

December 16, 2025

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (EST)

Upcoming

About

The committee will meet to discuss topics related to continuing to draft the report.

This meeting will be held over zoom.

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Institution Closed

Organizing Project

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development

Contact

Trisha Tucholski

ttucholski@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development - Committee Meeting #8a

December 15, 2025

2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (EST)

Upcoming

About

The committee will meet to discuss topics related to continuing to draft the report.

This meeting will be held over zoom.

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Institution Closed

Date of posting of Closed Session Summary:

December 01, 2025

Organizing Project

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development

Contact

Trisha Tucholski

ttucholski@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

Proposal Evaluation for Allocation of Supercomputing Time for the Study of Molecular Dynamics, Sixteenth Round: Meeting # 3

December 12, 2025

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (EST)

Upcoming

About

This meeting is closed entirely.

Organizing Project

Proposal Evaluation for Allocation of Supercomputing Time for the Study of Molecular Dynamics, Sixteenth Round

Contact

Thomasina Lyles

TLyles@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

Proposal Evaluation for Allocation of Supercomputing Time for the Study of Molecular Dynamics, Sixteenth Round # 2

December 8, 2025

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (EST)

Upcoming

About

The meeting is closed to the committee.

Organizing Project

Proposal Evaluation for Allocation of Supercomputing Time for the Study of Molecular Dynamics, Sixteenth Round

Contact

Thomasina Lyles

TLyles@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development - November Subgroup Meeting 1b

November 21, 2025

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM (EST)

Past

About

The committee held part 2 of a two-part subgroup meeting to finalize content related to specific sections of the draft report.

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Institution Closed

The following committee members were present at the closed sessions of the event

Staff:
Trisha Tucholski
Sabina Vadnais
Committee Members:
Peter Carr (Chair)
Kate Adamala
Richard Murray
India
Emma
David Gilium

The following topics were discussed in the closed sessions:

Draft Report

Date of posting of Closed Session Summary:

December 01, 2025

Organizing Project

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development

Contact

Trisha Tucholski

ttucholski@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development -November Subgroup Meeting 1a

November 20, 2025

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (EST)

Past

About

The committee held part 1 of a two-part subgroup meeting to finalize content related to specific sections of the draft report.

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Institution Closed

The following committee members were present at the closed sessions of the event

Staff:
Trisha Tucholski
Sabina Vadnais
Committee Members:
Peter Carr (Chair)
Cameron Kim
Jason Delborne

The following topics were discussed in the closed sessions:

Draft Report

Date of posting of Closed Session Summary:

December 01, 2025

Organizing Project

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development

Contact

Trisha Tucholski

ttucholski@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

Proposal Evaluation for Allocation of Supercomputing Time for the Study of Molecular Dynamics, Sixteenth Round: Meeting #1

October 31, 2025

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (EDT)

Past

About

This meeting was entirely closed.

Organizing Project

Proposal Evaluation for Allocation of Supercomputing Time for the Study of Molecular Dynamics, Sixteenth Round

Contact

Thomasina Lyles

TLyles@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting

Board on Life Sciences Fall Board Meeting 2025: Enabling Scientific Insights in the Life Sciences and Biotechnology through AI

October 30, 2025

12:10 PM - 4:00 PM (EDT)

Past

Discussion

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Agenda

Download the Agenda

About

The overall goal of the Fall 2025 board meeting of the Board on Life Sciences (BLS) was to understand future opportunities and needs for using AI and other computational tools for scientific discovery in the life sciences and biotechnology, including improving and validating models, designing experimental approaches for generating data, and sustaining digital biological datasets.

On October 30, the Board on Life Sciences will discussed on the use of artificial intelligence in the life sciences and biotechnology, specifically focusing on current capabilities, trends, and opportunities for accelerating discovery and knew knowledge about biological molecules and systems, design of experimental systems to generate data to inform model development and data analyses, and risks, implications, and sustainability of biological databases.

Session Descriptions

AI as a Discovery and Design Multiplier

This discussion will focus on current capabilities, trends, and opportunities for accelerating discovery and new knowledge about biological molecules and systems.

In Silico – Experimental Feedback Loop: Experimental Systems for Verifying and Improving Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Biological Tools

This discussion will focus exploring the feedback between using AI-enabled biological tools and developing experimental systems for generating the data to validate the outputs of the tools and for improving the design and analytic capabilities of the tools for life sciences research.

Existing and AI-Ready Biological Datasets: Current Threats and Future Opportunities

This discussion will focus on AI-ready data infrastructure, specifically generating and sustaining AI-ready biological datasets and converting existing biological datasets for use in AI models to address research, health, economic growth, and other objectives.

October 30, 2025

12:10pm-4:00pm ET

The sessions were recorded and is available to view event webpage.

Contact

Board on Life Sciences

(202) 334-3360
BLS@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development - Committee Meeting #7a

October 22, 2025

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (EDT)

Past

About

The committee will meet to discuss topics related to the draft report.

This meeting will be held over zoom.

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Institution Closed

The following committee members were present at the closed sessions of the event

Roni Reiter-Palmon, David Gillum, Peter Carr, Emma Frow, Kate Adamala, Felicia Wu, Maria Chavez, Robin Scheffler, Richard Murray, India Hook-Barnard, David Dunning, Zara Summers, Chris Cummings, Cameron Kim, Jason Delborne

The following topics were discussed in the closed sessions:

They committee discussed topics to draft the report text and evidence base of study topics.

The following materials (written documents) were made available to the committee in the closed sessions:

N/a

Date of posting of Closed Session Summary:

October 22, 2025

Organizing Project

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development

Contact

Layla Garyk

lgaryk@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development - Committee Meeting #6

September 24 - 25, 2025

Past

Materials

About

The committee will meet for its third information gathering session and to discuss report organization and contents.

This meeting will be held in a hybrid format for committee members and invited speakers. The public will be able to view the open sessions of the meeting via livestream below.

Abbreviated Agenda - Open Sessions, 9/24 (all times in ET):

9:00am - Welcome

9:05am-10:30am - Exploring Benefits and Risks of Synthetic Cells Applied to Agriculture

10:30am-10:45am - Break

10:45am-12:00pm- Decision Making and Risk Management in the Context of Synthetic Cells

12:00pm-1:00pm - Lunch

1:00pm-2:30pm - Moderated Roundtable Discussion

2:30pm - Adjourn

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Partially Closed

The following committee members were present at the closed sessions of the event

Kate Adamala, Peter Carr, Maria Chavez, Chris Cummings, Jason Delborne, David Dunning, Emma Frow, David Gillum, India Hook-Barnard, Cameron Kim, Richard Murray, Roni Reiter-Palmon, Robin Scheffler, Zara Summers, Felicia Wu

The following topics were discussed in the closed sessions:

The committee discussed topics related to the draft report

The following materials (written documents) were made available to the committee in the closed sessions:

N/A

Date of posting of Closed Session Summary:

October 22, 2025

Organizing Project

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development

Contact

Layla Garyk

lgaryk@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Workshop

Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – DNA Synthesis

September 18, 2025

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (EDT)

Past

About

The foundational technologies enabling DNA synthesis include solid-phase synthesis using phosphonamidite chemistry to add individual bases one at a time and using enzymes to synthesize short fragments of DNA. More recently, companies are developing thermal methods that use temperature to control DNA synthesis, double-stranded oligonucleotide pools to create libraries of larger DNA fragments, microarrays using silicon microarray chips that can create and elongate tens of thousands of DNA fragments, and DNA amplification in the presence of a precisely designed template and primer. As these and other techniques are developed, companies are seeking to scale up production, as evidenced using microarray chips to synthesize numerous DNA pieces simultaneously. However, concerns about synthetic genomics and data security have been raised.

Organizing Project

Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – A Workshop Series

Contact

Sarah Juckett

(202) 334-3961
sjuckett@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Workshop

Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – The Use of Multi-Omic Data to Affect Crop Improvement

September 17, 2025

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (EDT)

Past

About

The integration of multi-omic data has the potential to revolutionize agriculture by enhancing crop improvement strategies. The use of in silico modeling and bioinformatic approaches allows for the precise prediction and manipulation of crop traits, improving yield, and resistance to diseases. However, this emerging biotechnology also presents challenges in terms of data security, regulatory frameworks, and ethical considerations, especially with regard to biodiversity and food security.

Organizing Project

Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – A Workshop Series

Contact

Sarah Juckett

(202) 334-3961
sjuckett@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Workshop

Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – The Use of Multi-Omic Data to Affect Human Health

September 10, 2025

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (EDT)

Past

About

The field of multi-omics has revolutionized our ability to understand and influence human health. The integration of these datasets through in silico modeling and other bioinformatic approaches is enabling a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying diseases and informing the development of personalized medicine. However, this emerging biotechnology presents significant ethical, legal, and social implications due to its dual-use potential and the risks associated with data security, privacy, and misuse.

Organizing Project

Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – A Workshop Series

Contact

Sarah Juckett

(202) 334-3961
sjuckett@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development - Committee Meeting #5b

August 28, 2025

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (EDT)

Past

About

The committee will meet to discuss topics related to the draft report.

This meeting will be held over zoom.

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Institution Closed

The following committee members were present at the closed sessions of the event

Roni Reiter-Palmon, Maria Chavez, David Gillum, Jason Delborne, Emma Frow, Kate Adamala, Richard Murray, David Dunning, India Hook-Barnard

The following topics were discussed in the closed sessions:

They committee continued to discuss topics related to the draft report

The following materials (written documents) were made available to the committee in the closed sessions:

N/A

Date of posting of Closed Session Summary:

September 08, 2025

Organizing Project

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development

Contact

Layla Garyk

lgaryk@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Board on Life Sciences

News and Updates

External Review of Environmental, Biosafety, and Biosecurity Considerations for Synthetic Cell Research and Development - Committee Meeting #8b

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