ISBR2023

Coming at a time when the contribution of biotechnology to society has never been more important, and against a background of rapid advances in new technologies, we are excited that the rescheduled 16th ISBR Symposium (ISBR2023) has taken place in St Louis, Missouri from 30 April to 4 May 2023.

ISBR2023’s program will be developed around the central theme of Advancing science in support of sustainable bio-innovation and will offer attendees a unique opportunity to engage with the world’s leading experts on the diverse range of topics relevant to sustainable bio-innovation. The symposium theme will be expounded through plenary sessions focusing on four sub-elements of sustainable bio-innovation, namely society, risk analysis, governance and technology under the session themes –

  • Ensuring social license for bio-innovation.
  • Fit-for-purpose governance frameworks for sustainable bio-innovation.
  • Risk analysis for persistent engineered genetic traits.
  • Sustainable biotechnologies for a changing world.

Invited keynote speakers for ISBR2023 include:

  • Dr. Joe Cornelius (CEO, Gates Ag One) 
  • Prof. Jeantine Lunshof (Harvard Wyss Institute for Biologically inspired Engineering),
  • Prof. Joseph Jez (Washington University in St Louis),
  • Dr. Sheila Ochugboju (Alliance for Science, USA),
  • Dr. Andrew Newhouse & Prof. Bill Powell (State University of New York)

In addition, a wide range of topic-specific parallel sessions and workshops will be presented. Most of these will be directly proposed and organized by ISBR members and other interested parties, while some will be compiled from the individual papers submitted by attendees under the open call for abstracts. The ISBR’s tradition of offering open calls for organizing parallel sessions and workshops helps ensure the relevance and quality of the program and representation from all relevant stakeholders and sectors. While parallel sessions offer a more structured opportunity to communicate the latest scientific findings and developments, workshops provide opportunities for more interaction and deeper exploration of a specific topics. 

Abstract submission topics for ISBR2023 are listed below and encompass more traditional focus areas like GMOs, food & feed safety, ERA and IPM, as well as more recent ones like genome editing, gene drives and science communication & engagement.

  • Gaining social license for bio-innovation
  • The ethics of biotechnology research, development, and application
  • Ensuring the sustainability of bio-innovation
  • Risk communication in regulatory risk analysis
  • Discovery science in support of risk analysis
  • Elevating science in regulatory frameworks: Moving toward trait-based regulation
  • Advancing problem formulation for effective decision-making
  • Data requirements for risk characterization and monitoring
  • The purpose and practice of post-market monitoring
  • The role of public and private standards in the governance of biotechnology
  • The pros and cons of regulatory harmonization for bio-innovation
  • Bio-innovation for reducing and mitigating climate change
  • Bio-innovation for public and personal health
  • Bio-innovation for food security and sovereignty

We warmly welcome you and sincerely hope that you enjoy this Symposium and have a pleasant stay in St. Louis

Dr. Joe Smith Dr. Karen Hokanson
ISBR President Symposium coordinator and local organizer

Please note that presentations from ISBGMO23 are only available to active ISBR members.

If you are a member please log in here or if you wish to become a member please email ISBR admin here.