regard. Research & development was listed by GRPS respondents as the top approach for mitigating risks from Adverse outcomes of frontier technologies (Figure 2.12). Pending such an intergovernmental agreement, which could take years, a less ambitious objective for the short term would be to establish and agree on a set of broad norms to guide government policies on biotech worldwide. Leading bioethics experts have emphasized the importance of broad-based dialogue across societies 63 to help establish such norms. Regarding human genome editing specifically, progress has already been made in this regard: the WHO in 2019 established an expert advisory committee to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges associated with it. 64 The committee in 2021 published a framework for governance65 covering the key applications of human genome editing as well as a set of recommendations. 66 This is helpful guidance for countries, many of which do not yet have a legal framework covering all human genome editing applications. B. Empower people through biotech education Biosafety rules exist and are strictly adhered to in most countries when it comes to recognized institutions undertaking work on gene editing. They include, for example, storage requirements, design of laboratories, protocols to safeguard the health of researchers and measures to prevent the escape of organisms into the environment. 67 However, individuals and communities that are outside of recognized institutions, and who are experimenting with biotech also need to be made aware of and adhere to these biosafety rules. In the years ahead, understanding the risks in the field of biotech is going to become increasingly important at an individual level. Misinformation and disinformation around biotech is a serious problem, with biohackers who are not medical professionals touting health remedies or performance-enhancing procedures based on biotech. As these uses of biotech become more ubiquitous, individuals will need to gain a more nuanced understanding of when it can be helpful to them, and when it may pose a danger to their health. A collaborative educational effort between the public sector, companies in the Biotech sector, and educational institutions should be launched to deepen citizens’ understanding of the technology and its risks. C. Incentivize biotech leaders to work in the public sector The public sector needs to continue to focus on making it attractive for the leading minds in the Biotech sector to work there, amid stiff competition from large pharma or technology companies, biotech startups or academia. The only way that regulators will be able to keep up with developments in biotech over the next decade will be to attract these top minds – if not into full-time employment then at least in the form of regular and intensive dialogue. National Cancer Institute, Unsplash Global Risks Report 2025 59