Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Cost-Benefit Analysis of Synthetic Nucleic Acid Screening for the UK, published in December 2025 by The Centre for Long-Term Resilience.

DSIT regularly engages the Centre for Long-Term Resilience (CLTR), including through their membership of the Engineering Biology Responsible Innovation Advisory Panel. CLTR was invited to present this Cost-Benefit Analysis to DSIT and members of the Advisory Panel in January 2026.

DSIT agrees that synthetic nucleic acids are a core building block of the UK’s bioeconomy and this is why we published voluntary guidance on Synthetic Nucleic Acid Screening in 2024. DSIT continues to monitor uptake of this voluntary guidance and assess its impact and effectiveness.