Australia’s national science agency, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), has invested $25 million up to 2027 in a new programme that will harness the building blocks of life to solve intractable problems.

Advanced Engineering Biology (AEB) is the latest of CSIRO’s Future Science Platforms (FSP) programme, which is aimed at discovering future breakthroughs in new and emerging areas of science.

The programme will integrate engineering and biology to develop solutions for broad-ranging issues from the environment and energy transition to food security and human health.

It will focus on new biomanufacturing capabilities, as well as developing the very technologies that underpin engineering biology, to make it faster, more predictable, and higher performing.

It will also conduct detailed research on the public’s expectations, attitudes, and perceptions to help guide the responsible development of biotechnology.