Photo: Left to Right: Andrew Hessel, Mark Poznansky, Minister Reza Moridi
On October 20, Ontario Genomics took the Think Synthetic Biology campaign to Queen’s Park. The Honourable Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science, spoke about the need to strengthen Ontario as a powerhouse of research and innovation.
The role that synthetic biology can play in advancing research for wellbeing of Ontarians, Andrew Hessel, Distinguished Researcher, Autodesk, explained how the shift from DNA sequencing to synthesis is enabling the field of synthetic biology. He encouraged Ontarians to invest in the future, and trust in the research leaders.
Ontario’s leading scientists shared their work with Ministers, MPPs and staffers. These included:
- Dr. Ronni Cohn, The Hospital for Sick Children
- Dr. Elizabeth Edwards, BioZone
- Chris Ellen, BioAmber
- Dr. Bogumil Karas, Designer Microbes
- Dr. Justin Pahara & Julie Legault, Amino Labs
- Dr. Keith Pardee, University of Toronto
- Ben Couillard, iGEM – University of Toronto & Ayan Abukar, iGEM – University of Waterloo
The Think Synthetic Biology report makes recommendations for Ontario to take bold and decisive action to seize the opportunity to advance synthetic biology as a convergent discipline, where IT, genomics and engineering collide to drive the next industrial and social revolution.