KAIST

< Sang Yup Lee, Senior Vice President for Research at KAIST (Inaugural Chairman of the Korea Synthetic Biology Association) >

KAIST announced on February 27th that Sang Yup Lee, Distinguished Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Senior Vice President for Research, has been appointed as the inaugural chairman of the Korea Synthetic Biology Association (KSBA). This appointment was officially ratified during the association's 5th regular general meeting held on the 23rd.

The KSBA is a specialized consultative body established to promote cooperation in policy, industry, and research within the field of synthetic biology. Based on a network spanning industry, academia, research institutes, and government, the association supports the creation of a synthetic biology ecosystem as a national strategic technology and strengthens industrial competitiveness. It has contributed to the expansion of the domestic synthetic biology foundation through multifaceted activities such as policy proposals, international cooperation, human resource development, and industrial vitalization.

Through this appointment of the inaugural chairman, the association has established a unified leadership system and is set to formalize the operational foundation in line with the enforcement of the "Synthetic Biology Promotion Act."

At the general meeting, the 2025 business performance report was presented, and agendas for the ratification of the next chairman and the appointment of executives were resolved. Officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT also attended, expressing expectations for the association’s political role and future direction.

During the meeting, the ratification of Chairman Sang Yup Lee, who was elected by the Board of Directors in accordance with the articles of incorporation, was finally approved. Chairman Sang Yup Lee is a world-leading researcher who has pioneered the fields of synthetic biology and biotechnology. As the Senior Vice President for Research at KAIST, Head of the Metabolic Engineering National Research Laboratory, and Director of both the BioProcess Engineering Research Center and the Center for Synthetic Biology, he has led research innovation and the expansion of global cooperation. With this ratification, the KSBA has officially launched an integrated leadership system encompassing the establishment of mid-to-long-term strategies, strengthening industry-research links, and expanding global networks.

< Group photo of the Korea Synthetic Biology Association General Meeting (Chairman Sang Yup Lee, 5th from the bottom left) >

Chairman Sang Yup Lee stated, "Synthetic biology is a key strategic technology that will determine national competitiveness. We will ensure close cooperation between industry, academia, research, and government so that the purpose of laws and systems can lead to practical innovation in research and industrial fields."

Furthermore, the Board of Directors approved the appointment of directors and external auditors to enhance the accountability and transparency of organizational management, including Steering Committee Secretary Lee Seung-koo (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology), as well as Park Han-oh (Bioneer), Kim장성 (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology), Kim Dong-myung (Chungnam National University), Oh Min-kyu (Korea University), Cho Byung-kwan (KAIST), Yoon Hye-sun (Hanyang University), and Lee Do-heon (KAIST).

At this general meeting, the major contents of the "Synthetic Biology Promotion Act," scheduled for enforcement on April 23, and the corresponding legislative notice of the enforcement decree were shared. Prior to the enforcement of the law, the Ministry of Science and ICT prepared an enforcement decree specifying delegated matters and has been conducting a legislative notice for 40 days starting February 23. The enforcement decree includes: ▲Clarification of procedures for establishing the Basic Plan for Synthetic Biology Promotion and annual implementation plans ▲Establishment of standards for designating and operating research hubs and biofoundries ▲Materialization of safety management systems and inspection procedures.

The KSBA plans to actively pursue implementation strategies for each division so that the legislative intent of the enforcement decree can be practically realized in industrial and research fields.

The Policy and System Division will strengthen its policy advisory function to ensure that field opinions are reflected in the process of establishing basic and annual implementation plans. It will also continue to present directions for synthetic biology development and social infrastructure construction strategies through the ‘KSBA Policy Insight 2026’ report.

The Convergence Division aims to advance research systems based on data, AI, and automation to simultaneously secure research reliability and efficiency. It will also support the strengthening of technology standardization and safety management capabilities through the publication of convergence technology trend reports and the operation of workshops.

The Technology and Industry Division plans to specify industry-research linkage models that meet the standards for designating and operating research infrastructure such as biofoundries. It will also expand corporate cooperation networks to ensure that the implementation of the system leads to technology commercialization and manufacturing innovation.

The Education and Network Division will prepare a competition (IDEA-B) to discover next-generation talent and strengthen safety and ethics education to increase the accountability and expertise of synthetic biology research. Additionally, it plans to expand international cooperation to ensure that domestic systems harmonize with global norms.

The KSBA plans to further enhance the stability of organizational operations through this general meeting and expand its role as a hub institution connecting policy, industry, and research. In particular, under the unified leadership centered on Chairman Sang Yup Lee, it intends to serve as a bridge for private-public cooperation so that the intent of the "Synthetic Biology Promotion Act" can be practically implemented in the field.

< KSBA Policy Insight 2026 Report of the Korea Synthetic Biology Association >