[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 189 (Wednesday, September 30, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58704-58705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24734]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Synthetic Biology Standards Consortium--Planning and Progress 
Workshop

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards & Technology, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public workshop.

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SUMMARY: NIST announces the Synthetic Biology Standards Consortium 
(SBSC)-Planning and Progress Workshop to be held on Tuesday November 3, 
2015 from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Pacific time. The SBSC is a standards 
setting consortium focused on the shared standards development needs of 
consortium participants. It will provide a forum for collaborative work 
through the formation of technical standards-setting working groups. 
Working groups are organized around a clear vision of specific 
metrology products--standards, including reference materials; reference

[[Page 58705]]

data; reference methods; and documentary standards--that will enable 
interoperability and reproducibility. At this workshop the working 
groups will collaboratively develop work products.

DATES: The Synthetic Biology Standards Consortium (SBSC)--Planning and 
Progress Workshop will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 from 9:00 
a.m.-5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Quadrus Conference Center, 
2400 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025. To register, go to http://jimb.stanford.edu/sbsc-registration. There is no registration fee. 
Space is limited so please register early. For additional meeting 
details, including travel and parking information, visit http://jimb.stanford.edu/sbsc-1115-workshop.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact 
Matthew Munson, Sarah Munro, and Marc Salit by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A robust metrology infrastructure for the 
field of synthetic biology will enable coordination of labor and reuse 
of materials, driving economic growth. Metrology products--standards, 
including reference materials; reference data; reference methods; and 
documentary standards--can enable business-to-business transactions at 
scale. The intent of the NIST-hosted Synthetic Biology Standards 
Consortium (SBSC) is to collectively establish infrastructure to 
support a fully integrated global synthetic biology enterprise. NIST 
will provide standards development support for some consortium 
activities, as well as facilitation and technical leadership.
    The SBSC has been convened as a standards setting consortium 
focused on the shared standards development needs of consortium 
members. It will provide a forum for collaborative work through the 
formation of technical standards-setting working groups. Successful 
working groups will be organized around a clear vision of specific 
metrology products that will enable interoperability and 
reproducibility.
    Examples of metrology products include a reference material such as 
a standard proteome set from whole cell lysates to be used as a 
benchmark for mass spectroscopy; reference data such as a DNA watermark 
repository; a reference method for DNA sequence verification; and a 
documentary standard for minimum information standards for biological 
protocol interoperability.
    The goals of the workshop are to discuss working group progress and 
plans with the broad consortium, develop a timeline of deliverables for 
metrology products to be produced by each working group, and 
collaboratively design and draft relevant documents.
    The SBSC Planning and Progress Workshop will be held on Tuesday, 
November 3, 2015 from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Pacific time. The workshop 
will be held at the Quadrus Conference Center, 2400 Sand Hill Road, 
Menlo Park, CA 94025. To register, go to http://jimb.stanford.edu/sbsc-registration. There is no registration fee. Space is limited so please 
register early. For additional meeting details, including travel and 
parking information, visit http://jimb.stanford.edu/sbsc-1115-workshop.
    There is no cost for participating in the consortium or the 
workshop. No proprietary information will be shared at the workshop.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 272(b) and (c).

Richard Cavanagh,
Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2015-24734 Filed 9-29-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-13-P