On 11 November 2022, NXPO Vice President Dr. Kanchana Wanichkorn presided over the opening of SynBio Forum 2022: SynBio for Sustainable Development Goals. The event was held at Thailand Science Park and streamed online.
In her remarks, Dr. Kanchana stated that this event reflected a strong commitment of 17 organizations representing the public, private and academic sectors in Thailand that form the Synthetic Biology (SynBio) Consortium to advance biotechnology research and to strengthen regional and global collaboration to drive the synthetic biology development. She also introduced the new synthetic biology roadmap formulated by SynBio Consortium. The roadmap defines frameworks and goals for the development of synthetic biology in Thailand and the region in the next 8 years (2022-2030) with a vision to create a new economy and achieve the sustainable development goals in accordance with the Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) model.
The global synthetic biology market is projected to be worth USD 30.7 trillion by 2026. This potential has prompted both the government and industry of various countries such as China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the US to pay great attention to investment and human resource development in this emerging field. Synthetic biology not only holds promise for the economic development, but also offers pathways to resolve other challenges such as climate change, value creation in agriculture, drug discovery, and novel solutions to environmental issues.
Thailand is strategically located in one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. Blessed with rich natural and biological resources, Thailand can employ synthetic biology to unlock the potential of these resources and create new s-curve industries. Examples of products in Thailand that were developed with synthetic biology include stevia sweeteners, mRNA vaccines, protein fibers and microorganisms for waste treatment.
Dr. Kanchana further revealed that Thailand ranks 44th out of 141 countries in publishing synthetic biology research articles and most of the work are in lab scale. Thailand therefore needs to push for more application and commercialization of synthetic biology. This can be achieved through a triple helix model that forges university-industry-government collaboration with an aim to create deep tech startups and unicorns.
The BCG Action Plan emphasizes, among others, the development of future industries and synthetic biology is one of the focused fields. The Board of Investment offers investment incentives and benefits to business activities engaging in the BCG areas, including bioindustry. In term of infrastructure, the Thai government established the Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation (EECi) with platforms to foster innovation including Biopolis which represents a platform for biotechnology and life science.
SynBio Forum 2022 consisted of a seminar on SynBio and SDGs: How to Link Global SynBio with Thai Economy and five breakout group discussions: 1) Research to Market & DeepTech Startup Development, 2) RDI Infrastructure, 3) General Legal & Regulation, 4) Investment & Strategic Funding, and 5) SynBio Academy.
