The 2018 activity report of the ZKBS

The annual activity report published by the Central Commission for Biological Safety (ZKBS) for 2018 once again provides interesting insights into the development of genetic engineering in Germany. In this and the next newsletter, we will provide you with a brief overview of the ZKBS's advisory activities in the past year. In 2018, the ZKBS received a total of 38 applications for safety classification of genetic engineering work or for the assessment of the necessary safety measures. The ZKBS processed these applications in 37 opinions. The total number of genetic engineering facilities in Germany increased slightly to 6,619 in 2018. Overall, the total number remains largely stable in the five-year trend. Over 70 percent of the facilities are S1 safety level facilities (4,702 facilities), and approximately 26 percent are S2 level facilities (1,745 facilities). In addition, there are 105 S3 facilities and just five S4 facilities in Germany. Compared to the previous year, six new S1 facilities, 37 S2 facilities, four S3 facilities, and one new S4 facility were approved. In the next issue of the AGCT-Gentechnik.report , we will discuss further practical activities of the ZKBS in the past year.