A Policy Framework for International Cooperation in Space Biotechnology

Biotechnology is an indispensable tool for long-term human space exploration, especially if the goal is for humans to not only be able to survive in space, but to flourish. At the intersection of simultaneous advancements in both space and biotech is the capacity to engineer closed-loop space systems that generate food, oxygen, medicine, habitats, and other materials sustainably without having to bring everything from Earth. Future scientific, resource, and security benefits are tremendous, but there are also many ethical risks. In this report, a team of interdisciplinary experts in the fields of political science, international affairs, biotechnology, philosophy, ethics, environmental science, and chemistry, argue that deeper and deliberate international and transnational cooperation will be crucially important to expand space diplomacy and governance as the genomic and space revolutions collide.

This report is a collaboration between Carnegie Council and the Center for International Affairs & World Cultures at Northeastern University. It was supported by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York entitled, “Transnational Networks & the Future of Global Order” (PI Mai’a K. Davis Cross). Additional support for this work was provided by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation.

The authors would like to thank the Ethics Institute at Northeastern University for their collaboration, as well as Yoni Michanie, Matthew Fleming, and Diana Atoui for their research assistance in support of this project.

Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit. The views expressed within this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of Carnegie Council.