Science Policy and the Bioeconomy

Since the earliest days, the Lab has been an active contributor in policy dialogues and conversations that are related to science, technology, education and innovation at both the provincial and national. With the dearth of think tanks and policy units, the Lab realised how important this role has become. Over the years, the Lab now has an international footprint when it comes to policy impact in science, technology and innovation, especially in relation to the bioeconomy.

In partnership with the premier business and economics school in the region, the Institute of Management Science, locally referred to as IMSciences, the Lab launched the Joint Centre for Bioeconomy that has over the years undertaken numerous surveys and studies to understand the opportunities offered by biotechnology and synthetic biology in Pakistan’s broader bioeconomy context.  

In a personal capacity, the PI, Dr. Faisal Khan, has been part of numerous boards, committees and working groups serving both the provincial and federal governments on various agendas that overlap with our work. This led to the most impactful of all phases when he was tapped as the Advisor to the Minster for Science and Technology in the provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in July 2021 where he designed, developed and helped launch the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Science Agenda in October 2022 with an earmarked budget of PKR 1.5 Billion.

In 2024, Dr. Khan helped put Synthetic Biology on the agenda for consultations on emerging technologies at ISSRA based at the National Defence University, Islamabad. Dr. Khan convened the multi-stakeholder roundtable on ‘The Age of Synthetic Biology: Securing a safer and prosperous Biofuture for Pakistan’ which led to a set of recommendations that were presented to the Minister for Planning and Development and the Minister of Science and Technology and IT at the Federal Government.

On the international level, Dr. Faisal Khan has been the focal person for the Climate Change Division, Government of Pakistan to the Convention on Biological Diversity. He has also been a member of the Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology at the World Economic Forum.

The Lab has over the years developed numerous policy products in the shape of policy papers, white papers and blog posts which can be viewed on the Publications and Posters page.