Center for Health Security Senior Scholar Dr. Gigi Gronvall Testifies at California State Legislature

June 8, 2022 – Gigi Kwik Gronvall, PhD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, provided expert testimony at a hearing at the California State Legislature on gene synthesis security today.

The hearing was convened by the California Senate Committee on Education.

Dr. Gronvall’s testimony provided an expert voice in support of legislation under consideration, Assembly Bill (AB) 1963: Gene synthesis providers.

“Many commercial gene synthesis companies already voluntarily screen customer orders but as that costs time and money, those responsible companies, largely in California as well as elsewhere in the US have been at a competitive business disadvantage, said Dr. Gronvall. “This legislation levels the global playing field so that only high-quality organizations take part in this emerging biotech field.”

Read the full testimony. (PDF)