Industry has welcomed the European Commission’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing initiative, but now wants to see some action

The EU biotech and biomanufacturing initiative due to be published later this month is an opportunity to take urgent and immediate action to support the scale up of the sector

MEPs have approved plans to loosen regulations around crop plants that are improved using gene editing, but a move to ban patenting of plants that are modified using these techniques could stand in the way of a final agreement

The head of a biotech start-up tells how the war has upended his company and the wider Israeli ecosystem. The normal rules of capitalism have been relaxed, with rival start-ups and venture capitalists now helping each other out

As part of measures regulating artificial intelligence, Washington will move to improve surveillance of mail-order DNA. Scientists have long warned the current global system is full of loopholes. Now, the US government says the risks are ‘potentially made worse by AI’

The Commission is set to update legislation on genetic engineering of crops, with its proposal to be presented in July. There will be opposition from environmental groups that want the 2001 blanket ban to be retained

As it gets easier to engineer deadly pathogens, the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science wants tighter controls on custom-order DNA companies, and an end to the current ‘checkbox’ approach to lab safety

As elections near, Biden promotes ‘whole-of-government’ effort to cut cancer death rates and strengthen the biopharma and biotech sectors. International partners welcome, up to a point

WHO is creating new guidelines to stop lab leaks and the development of bioweapons. But scientists, focused on projects and funding, see only the benefits, rather than the risks, of their work, report warns.

Opening Europe up to gene edited crops would be good for start-ups, but clumsy deregulation could cost Europe dear