Dear Participants,

In decision 14/19 on synthetic biology, the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity requested the Executive Secretary to collaborate and convene discussions, including through the Network of Laboratories for the Detection and Identification of Living Modified Organisms, for sharing experiences on the detection, identification and monitoring of organisms, components and products of synthetic biology. Preliminary discussions were established from the discussions on Topic 6 of the Open-ended online forum on Synthetic Biology in March 2019. I invite you to review the previous discussions: https://bch.cbd.int/synbio/open-ended/discussion/?threadid=9603.

Under these discussions, I encourage you to share information related to experiences with the detection, identification and monitoring of organisms, components and products of synthetic biology
Participants are kindly requested to be as specific as possible, and to provide examples of methodologies and strategies related to the development, adaptation or use of existing or new tools for the detection, identification and monitoring of organisms, components and products of synthetic biology. Some guiding questions could be:
- Which tools are currently available for detecting, identifying and monitoring organisms, components and products of synthetic biology?
- Does the novelty that some organisms, components and products of synthetic biology might present, require the development of additional detection, identification and monitoring tools, other than those that already exist?
- Could the current analytical techniques be used to distinguish between products of synthetic biology and their naturally occurring or chemically synthesized counterparts?

When posting this information; kindly provide the source, and indicate if it is coming from a publication, your own work, or any other source. In addition, if you would like to respond to another post, we request that you mention the # of the post you are responding to, for example: “in response to post # XXXX, …”. This will also facilitate the understanding of others. Please post your responses under this thread. We also advise you to review the general guidelines for the forum posted on the main webpage of the discussion.

Best regards,
Shakirat Ajenifujah-Solebo

Mexico is currently working to define the regulation or surveillance of synthetic biology products, so the implementation of laboratory methodologies has not been required for analysis. However, it is of special interest to know the experience of other countries in this area, and the possibility that they can share their protocols or even better if the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity  could organize training specifically on methodologies for detection, identification and monitoring of organisms, components and synthetic biology products.

Distinguished Colleagues,

The Detection and Identification Online Discussions 2019 provides an opportunity to update and share our experiences on current trends in the detection and identification of LMOs and emerging issues in the detection, identification and monitoring of organisms, components and products of synthetic biology. Also open for discussions are the current and existing capacities for the detection and identification of LMOs.
The feedback on these issues will be summarized as a resource for the network of laboratories for the detection and identification of LMOs.
We still have some time and therefore encourage meaningful engagements among participants. The Secretariat echoes the moderator’s invitation to participants to contribute to the discussions while thanking those that have done so already..

Best regards,
Shakirat Ajenifujah-Solebo