Compliance with the state of the art in science and technology

Compliance with the state of the art in science and technology is one of the licensing requirements that must be met both for the operation of a genetic engineering facility and for individual genetic engineering work. This arises, for example, from Section 11 Paragraph 1 No. 4 of the GenTG (Genetic Engineering Act). The term " state of the art" is frequently used in environmental law standards. However, for the GenTG, a higher level of technology is required, namely the state of the art in science and technology . This, in turn, means that for genetic engineering work in genetic engineering facilities, not only the necessary technical precautions must be in place. Rather, the required safety level and the resulting safety measures must also be based on the state of the art in science. Accordingly, new scientific findings require a new evaluation of donor and recipient organisms and vector systems as part of the risk assessment. This requires project managers (PL) and biological safety officers (BBS) to constantly monitor scientific findings, for example through relevant publications. This also applies to international publications and findings. A risk assessment that is not based on these scientific findings makes it incorrect.