Scott Nicholas
The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity has issued a request for information on methods and tools to detect genetically altered biological organisms, Nextgov reported Thursday.
Mohana Ravindranath writes IARPA aims to prevent the misuse of genome editing techniques that may have adverse impact on the country’s economy, public health and national security.
The IARPA RFIÂ states “detection capabilities will help guard against unintended outcomes of genome editing and expedite appropriate mitigation responses to unapproved release of edited organisms.”
Areas of interest listed in the notice include applications associated with edited microorganisms, plants and animals; methods to estimate the longitudinal stability of modifications; and methods to predict or anticipate environmental effects resulting from a release of an engineered organism.
Interested parties can submit input to IARPA through March 3.
