Megan Palmer: we must build a world where everyone, everywhere, can build with biology

Advances in synthetic biology are enabling the engineering of biological components to build applications in a wide array of fields, from medicine to manufacturing and beyond. The benefits of synthetic biology to solving global challenges are immense, but there are concerns about new forms of misuse it might enable. To safeguard our future, the executive director of bio policy and leadership initiatives at Stanford University, Megan Palmer, says we need to enable everyone to build with biology and to bake biosecurity into the pursuit of peaceful purposes. Dr Palmer sat down for a brief Q&A with LSE Business Review’s managing editor, Helena Vieira, during the World Economic Forum’s Great Narrative meeting in Dubai.