BY KATHARINE SHILCUTT
A group of 140 scientists made history 50 years ago as they gathered on the California coastline for an intense debate of the existential and moral implications of early biotechnology research. The 1975 Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA marked one of the first times scientists independently convened to discuss creating guidelines that would facilitate safe and protected experimentation with rDNA technology, which could unintentionally create harmful or deadly pathogens.
The conference took place a half-year after a moratorium was declared on rDNA research, championed by such experts as Paul Berg, a pioneer in biochemistry who helped organize the Asilomar gathering. Among the attendees were Nobel laureates James Watson, Sydney Brenner, David Baltimore and Joshua Lederberg, as well as a press corps and a contingent of Soviet researchers. Discussions at Asilomar resulted in the 1976 creation of the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules.
We live at a time when there is a great anti-science attitude developing in society and government. It is very important that the way we move does not offend this situation any more. Is there a chance that in this issue we can be allowed to be trusted to regulate ourselves?
—Sydney Brenner, Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA, February 25, 1975
Half a century later, Rice — a modern leader in synthetic biology research — has organized a 50th anniversary conference on the site of the original Asilomar conference in Pacific Grove, California.
The summit, titled “The Spirit of Asilomar and the Future of Biotechnology” will be held Feb. 23-26, 2025, and will address five current research issues fraught with their own questions about responsible use in the face of potential hazards: artificial intelligence, pathogens research and biological weapons, deployment of biotechnologies beyond conventional containment, new frontiers in synthetic cells and framings of biotechnology.
Luis Campos, Rice’s Baker College Associate Professor for History of Science, Technology and Innovation, spearheaded the Spirit of Asilomar conference. It will feature working group sessions and address global perspectives for its 300 attendees, who are drawn from 80 universities (half American and half international), a dozen parts of the United States government, a dozen agencies from around the world and 100 other research institutes, foundations, organizations and corporations.
“The focus of the conference is to do work, not just to inform and educate,” said Campos, who worked with colleagues at Stanford University and the Science History Institute to convene the gathering.
“We want to take advantage of the legacy of the meeting and the mythical name of this event to get people to see this is not the kind of classic, typical meeting you might expect,” Campos said. “We’re looking at questions that cross the realm of scientific and social concerns.”
The conference was sponsored in part by Rice’s School of Humanities, the Ken Kennedy Institute, the Rice Sustainability Institute and the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute (RSBI), the latter of which houses a Ph.D. program in Systems, Synthetic and Physical Biology — a cross-disciplinary program unlike any other in the U.S.
“The Spirit of Asilomar summit is a rare and crucial opportunity to engage with leaders bringing in diverse perspectives on the ethical and social questions that are part and parcel of disruptive technologies such as synthetic biology,” said Shalini Yadav, RSBI’s executive director. “These dialogues are timely and essential for ensuring that our innovations not only advance science but also address challenges facing humanity in a responsible and inclusive manner.”
RSBI is sponsoring six Rice graduate students to attend as well as four scholars from minority-serving institutions in the southern U.S., aligning with RSBI’s support of inclusivity in science and the participation of early-career researchers in ethical discussions around synthetic biology. This is especially important as one of the criticisms of the original Asilomar conference was its exclusion of young scientists.
The 2025 Spirit of Asilomar conference was preceded by four international conferences on the history of science policy related to genetic engineering organized by Campos in 2023 and 2024.
“What we’re trying to do with the Spirit of Asilomar is to find a way to change the conversation from thinking about these things as science and technology issues alone to thinking about them as social and political issues at the same time,” Campos said. “That space in between is something I’m trying to build here at Rice — and Rice has the resources to take this beyond the campus and to make it a national and international conversation with Rice at the center.”