The National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC is pleased to announce that it has received an award from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to develop standards and deliver metrology training for engineering biology.

Engineering biology has the potential to offer solutions to a range of societal challenges, including food, biomedicines, clean growth and the environment. Standards and metrology are critical to creating more reliable engineering biology products, services, and production processes, helping to de-risk innovation and facilitate translation into industry. Their importance has been recognised within the UKRI National Engineering Biology Programme, where they are identified as one of the cross-cutting areas necessary to unlock the full impact of engineering biology for the UK.

In partnership with BBRSC and the UK standards and accreditation bodies, BSI and UKAS, this programme, which runs from 1 October 2022 to 31 December 2023, aims to increase awareness and engagement with metrology and standards across the engineering biology research community, developing common best practice to ensure reliability and comparability of data.

Dr Julian Braybrook, Director of Measurement Science at the NML, said, “We look forward to working closely with the UKRI-funded centres to create standards and metrology champions, bringing the centres together around this core activity to help them realise the full impact of their research and support growth and sustainability for the UK.”

Dr Ian Lewis, Head of Transformative Technologies at BBSRC, said, “It’s an incredibly exciting time for engineering biology in the UK. We are delighted to be working with NML on this project, which will help upskill and equip engineering biology researchers, aiding collaboration, interoperability and ultimately the uptake and adoption of novel products and processes into industry.”

About LGC

LGC is a leading, global life science tools company, providing mission-critical components and solutions into high-growth application areas across the human healthcare and applied market segments. Its high-quality product portfolio is comprised of mission-critical tools for genomics and for quality assurance applications, which are typically embedded and recurring within its customers' products and workflows and are valued for their performance, quality and range.

LGC's tools play a key role in customer workflows from discovery applications through to commercial manufacture and enable its customers to: bring new diagnostics and therapies to market; progress research and development; optimise food production; and continuously monitor and enhance the quality of food, the environment and consumer products.

LGC's 180 years of scientific heritage, combined with a track record of innovation and value-enhancing acquisitions, has enabled the company to build its product portfolio and expertise, and develop deep relationships with customers, industry partners and the global scientific community.

LGC's core purpose of Science for a Safer World and its core values of passion, curiosity, integrity, brilliance and respect, drive its culture. As of 31 July 2022, it employs over 4,100 employees, of which 27% hold PhD and/or master's degrees. Its products and services are delivered by highly qualified and experienced teams, operating from a global network of accredited sites that showcase its scientific and manufacturing capabilities.

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