II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3734 

To provide for a coordinated Federal research initiative to ensure continued 

United States leadership in engineering biology. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2020 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. GARDNER) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide for a coordinated Federal research initiative to 

ensure continued United States leadership in engineering 

biology. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bioeconomy Research 

5 and Development Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Cellular and molecular processes may be 

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1 ucts, processes, and systems that improve societal 

2 well-being, strengthen national security, and con3 tribute to the economy. 

4 (2) Engineering biology relies on a workforce 

5 with a diverse and unique set of skills combining the 

6 biological, physical, chemical, and information 

7 sciences and engineering. 

8 (3) Long-term research and development is nec9 essary to create breakthroughs in engineering biol10 ogy. Such research and development requires govern11 ment investment as many of the benefits are too dis12 tant or uncertain for industry to support alone. 

13 (4) Research is necessary to inform evidence14 based governance of engineering biology and to sup15 port the growth of the engineering biology industry. 

16 (5) The Federal Government has an obligation 

17 to ensure that ethical, legal, environmental, safety, 

18 security, and societal implications of its science and 

19 technology research and investment follows policies 

20 of responsible innovation and fosters public trans21 parency. 

22 (6) The Federal Government can play an im23 portant role by facilitating the development of tools 

24 and technologies to further advance engineering biol25 ogy, including user facilities, by facilitating publicVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3734.IS S3734

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1 private partnerships, by supporting risk research, 

2 and by facilitating the commercial application in the 

3 United States of research funded by the Federal 

4 Government. 

5 (7) The United States led the development of 

6 the science and engineering techniques that created 

7 the field of engineering biology, but due to increas8 ing international competition, the United States is 

9 at risk of losing its competitive advantage if does not 

10 invest the necessary resources and have a national 

11 strategy. 

12 (8) A National Engineering Biology Initiative 

13 can serve to establish new research directions and 

14 technology goals, improve interagency coordination 

15 and planning processes, drive technology transfer to 

16 the private sector, and help ensure optimal returns 

17 on the Federal investment. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) BIOMANUFACTURING.—The term ‘‘bio21 manufacturing’’ means the utilization of biological 

22 systems to develop new and advance existing prod23 ucts, tools, and processes at commercial scale. 

24 (2) ENGINEERING BIOLOGY.—The term ‘‘engi25 neering biology’’ means the application of engineerVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3734.IS S3734

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1 ing design principles and practices to biological sys2 tems, including molecular and cellular systems, to 

3 advance fundamental understanding of complex nat4 ural systems and to enable novel or optimize func5 tions and capabilities. 

6 (3) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 

7 the National Engineering Biology Research and De8 velopment Initiative established under section 4. 

9 (4) OMICS.—The term ‘‘omics’’ refers to the 

10 collective technologies used to explore the roles, rela11 tionships, and actions of the various types of mol12 ecules that make up the cells of an organism. 

13 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ENGINEERING BIOLOGY RESEARCH AND 

14 DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 

16 Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall implement 

17 a National Engineering Biology Research and Develop18 ment Initiative to advance societal well-being, national se19 curity, sustainability, and economic productivity and com20 petitiveness through— 

21 (1) advancing areas of research at the intersec22 tion of the biological, physical, chemical, data, and 

23 computational sciences and engineering to accelerate 

24 scientific understanding and technological innovation 

25 in engineering biology; 


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1 (2) advancing areas of biomanufacturing re2 search to optimize, standardize, scale, and deliver 

3 new products and solutions; 

4 (3) supporting social and behavioral sciences 

5 and economics research that advances the field of 

6 engineering biology and contributes to the develop7 ment and public understanding of new products, 

8 processes, and technologies; 

9 (4) improving the understanding of engineering 

10 biology of the scientific and lay public and sup11 porting greater evidence-based public discourse 

12 about its benefits and risks; 

13 (5) supporting risk research, including under 

14 subsection (d); 

15 (6) supporting the development of novel tools 

16 and technologies to accelerate scientific under17 standing and technological innovation in engineering 

18 biology; 

19 (7) expanding the number of researchers, edu20 cators, and students with engineering biology train21 ing, including from traditionally underrepresented 

22 and underserved populations; 

23 (8) accelerating the translation and commer24 cialization of engineering biology research and devel25 opment by the private sector; and 


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1 (9) improving the interagency planning and co2 ordination of Federal Government activities related 

3 to engineering biology. 

4 (b) INITIATIVE ACTIVITIES.—The activities of the 

5 Initiative shall include— 

6 (1) sustained support for engineering biology 

7 research and development through— 

8 (A) grants to individual investigators and 

9 teams of investigators, including interdiscipli10 nary teams; 

11 (B) projects funded under joint solicita12 tions by a collaboration of no fewer than two 

13 agencies participating in the Initiative; and 

14 (C) interdisciplinary research centers that 

15 are organized to investigate basic research 

16 questions, carry out technology development 

17 and demonstration activities, and increase un18 derstanding of how to scale up engineering biol19 ogy processes, including biomanufacturing; 

20 (2) sustained support for databases and related 

21 tools, including— 

22 (A) support for curated genomics, 

23 epigenomics, and all other relevant omics data24 bases, including plant and microbial databases, 


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1 that are available to researchers to carry out 

2 engineering biology research; 

3 (B) development of standards for such 

4 databases, including for curation, interoper5 ability, and protection of privacy and security; 

6 (C) support for the development of com7 putational tools, including artificial intelligence 

8 tools, that can accelerate research and innova9 tion using such databases; and 

10 (D) an inventory and assessment of all 

11 Federal Government omics databases to identify 

12 opportunities for consolidation and inform in13 vestment in such databases as critical infra14 structure for the engineering biology research 

15 enterprise; 

16 (3) sustained support for the development, opti17 mization, and validation of novel tools and tech18 nologies to enable the dynamic study of molecular 

19 processes in situ, including through— 

20 (A) research conducted at Federal labora21 tories; 

22 (B) grants to investigators at institutions 

23 of higher education and other nonprofit re24 search institutions; and 


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1 (C) through the Small Business Innovation 

2 Research Program and the Small Business 

3 Technology Transfer Program, as described in 

4 section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 638); 

6 (4) education and training of undergraduate 

7 and graduate students in engineering biology, in bio8 manufacturing, in bioprocess engineering, and in 

9 areas of computational science applied to engineer10 ing biology and in the related ethical, legal, environ11 mental, safety, security, and other societal issues; 

12 (5) activities to develop robust mechanisms for 

13 tracking and quantifying the outputs and economic 

14 benefits of engineering biology; and 

15 (6) activities to accelerate the translation and 

16 commercialization of new products, processes, and 

17 technologies by— 

18 (A) identifying precompetitive research op19 portunities; 

20 (B) facilitating public-private partnerships 

21 in engineering biology research and develop22 ment; 

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1 neurship education and training opportunities; 

2 and 

3 (D) supporting proof of concept activities 

4 and the formation of startup companies includ5 ing through programs such as the Small Busi6 ness Innovation Research Program and the 

7 Small Business Technology Transfer Program. 

8 (c) EXPANDING PARTICIPATION.—The Initiative 

9 shall include, to the maximum extent practicable, outreach 

10 to primarily undergraduate and minority-serving institu11 tions about Initiative opportunities, and shall encourage 

12 the development of research collaborations between re13 search-intensive universities and primarily undergraduate 

14 and minority-serving institutions. 

15 (d) ETHICAL, LEGAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY, 

16 SECURITY, AND SOCIETAL ISSUES.—Initiative activities 

17 shall take into account ethical, legal, environmental, safe18 ty, security, and other appropriate societal issues by— 

19 (1) supporting research, including in the social 

20 sciences, and other activities addressing ethical, 

21 legal, environmental, and other appropriate societal 

22 issues related to engineering biology, including inte23 grating research on such topics with the research 

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1 seminated, including through interdisciplinary engi2 neering biology research centers described in sub3 section (b)(1); 

4 (2) supporting research and other activities re5 lated to the safety and security implications of engi6 neering biology, including outreach to increase 

7 awareness among Federal researchers and federally 

8 funded researchers at institutions of higher edu9 cation about potential safety and security implica10 tions of engineering biology research, as appropriate; 

11 (3) ensuring that input from Federal and non12 Federal experts on the ethical, legal, environmental, 

13 safety, security, and other appropriate societal issues 

14 related to engineering biology is integrated into the 

15 Initiative; and 

16 (4) ensuring, through the agencies and depart17 ments that participate in the Initiative, that public 

18 input and outreach are integrated into the Initiative 

19 by the convening of regular and ongoing public dis20 cussions through mechanisms such as workshops, 

21 consensus conferences, and educational events, as 

22 appropriate. 

23 SEC. 5. INITIATIVE COORDINATION. 

24 (a) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The President, act25 ing through the Office of Science and Technology Policy, 


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1 shall designate an interagency committee to coordinate en2 gineering biology, which shall be co-chaired by the Office 

3 of Science and Technology Policy, and include representa4 tives from the National Science Foundation, the Depart5 ment of Energy, the Department of Defense, the National 

6 Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Insti7 tute of Standards and Technology, the Environmental 

8 Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the 

9 National Institutes of Health, the Bureau of Economic 

10 Analysis, and any other agency that the President con11 siders appropriate (in this section referred to as the 

12 ‘‘interagency committee’’). The Director of the Office of 

13 Science and Technology Policy shall select an additional 

14 co-chairperson from among the members of the Inter15 agency Committee. The Interagency Committee shall over16 see the planning, management, and coordination of the 

17 Initiative. The Interagency Committee shall— 

18 (1) provide for interagency coordination of Fed19 eral engineering biology research, development, and 

20 other activities undertaken pursuant to the Initia21 tive; 

22 (2) establish and periodically update goals and 

23 priorities for the Initiative; 

24 (3) develop, not later than 12 months after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, and update every 3 


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1 years, a strategic plan submitted to the Committee 

2 on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

3 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

4 Science, and Transportation of the Senate that— 

5 (A) guides the activities of the Initiative 

6 for purposes of meeting the goals and priorities 

7 established under (and updated pursuant to) 

8 paragraph (2); and 

9 (B) describes— 

10 (i) the Initiative’s support for long11 term funding for interdisciplinary engineer12 ing biology research and development; 

13 (ii) the Initiative’s support for edu14 cation and public outreach activities; 

15 (iii) the Initiative’s support for re16 search and other activities on ethical, legal, 

17 environmental, safety, security, and other 

18 appropriate societal issues related to engi19 neering biology including— 

20 (I) an applied biorisk manage21 ment research plan; 

22 (II) recommendations for inte23 grating security into biological data 

24 access and international reciprocity 

25 agreements; and 


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1 (III) an evaluation of existing 

2 biosecurity governance policies, guid3 ance, and directives for the purposes 

4 of creating a unified, adaptable, evi5 dence-based framework to respond to 

6 emerging biosecurity challenges cre7 ated by advances in engineering biol8 ogy; 

9 (iv) how the Initiative will move re10 sults out of the laboratory and into appli11 cation for the benefit of society and United 

12 States competitiveness; and 

13 (v) how the Initiative will measure 

14 and track the contributions of engineering 

15 biology to United States economic growth 

16 and other societal indicators; 

17 (4) develop a national genomic sequencing 

18 strategy to ensure engineering biology research fully 

19 leverages plant, animal, and microbe biodiversity to 

20 enhance long-term innovation and competitiveness in 

21 engineering biology in the United States; 

22 (5) propose an annually coordinated interagency 

23 budget for the Initiative that is intended to ensure— 


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1 (A) the maintenance of a robust engineer2 ing biology research and development portfolio; 

3 and 

4 (B) that the balance of funding across the 

5 Initiative is sufficient to meet the goals and pri6 orities established for the Program; 

7 (6) develop a plan to utilize Federal programs, 

8 such as the Small Business Innovation Research 

9 Program and the Small Business Technology Trans10 fer Program as described in section 9 of the Small 

11 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), in support of the ac12 tivities described in section 4(b)(3); and 

13 (7) in carrying out this section, take into con14 sideration the recommendations of the advisory com15 mittee established under section 6, the results of the 

16 workshop convened under section 7, existing reports 

17 on related topics, and the views of academic, State, 

18 industry, and other appropriate groups. 

19 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning with fiscal year 

20 2020, not later than 90 days after submission of the Presi21 dent’s annual budget request and each fiscal year there22 after, the interagency committee shall prepare and submit 

23 to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 

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1 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

2 that includes— 

3 (1) a summarized agency budget in support of 

4 the Initiative for the fiscal year to which such budg5 et request applies, and for the then current fiscal 

6 year, including a breakout of spending for each 

7 agency participating in the Program and for the de8 velopment and acquisition of any research facilities 

9 and instrumentation; and 

10 (2) an assessment of how Federal agencies are 

11 implementing the plan described in subsection 

12 (a)(3), including— 

13 (A) a description of the amount and num14 ber of awards made under the Small Business 

15 Innovation Research Program and the Small 

16 Business Technology Transfer Program (as de17 scribed in section 9 of the Small Business Act 

18 (15 U.S.C. 638)) in support of the Initiative; 

19 and 

20 (B) a description of the amount and num21 ber of projects funded under joint solicitations 

22 by a collaboration of no fewer than 2 agencies 

23 participating in the Initiative. 

24 (c) INITIATIVE OFFICE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 

2 an Initiative Coordination Office, with a Director 

3 and full-time staff, which shall— 

4 (A) provide technical and administrative 

5 support to the interagency committee and the 

6 advisory committee established under section 6; 

7 (B) serve as the point of contact on Fed8 eral engineering biology activities for govern9 ment organizations, academia, industry, profes10 sional societies, State governments, interested 

11 citizen groups, and others to exchange technical 

12 and programmatic information; 

13 (C) oversee interagency coordination of the 

14 Initiative, including by encouraging and sup15 porting joint agency solicitation and selection of 

16 applications for funding of activities under the 

17 Initiative; 

18 (D) conduct public outreach, including dis19 semination of findings and recommendations of 

20 the advisory committee established under sec21 tion 6, as appropriate; 

22 (E) serve as the coordinator of ethical, 

23 legal, environmental, safety, security, and other 

24 appropriate societal input; and 


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1 (F) promote access to, and early applica2 tion of, the technologies, innovations, and ex3 pertise derived from Initiative activities to agen4 cy missions and systems across the Federal 

5 Government, and to United States industry, in6 cluding startup companies. 

7 (2) FUNDING.—The Director of the Office of 

8 Science and Technology Policy shall develop an esti9 mate of the funds necessary to carry out the activi10 ties of the Initiative Coordination Office, including 

11 an estimate of how much each participating agency 

12 described in subsection (a) will contribute to such 

13 funds, and submit such estimate to Congress no 

14 later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act. 

15 (3) TERMINATION.—The Initiative Coordination 

16 Office established under this subsection shall termi17 nate on the date that is 10 years after the date of 

18 the enactment of this Act, unless a determination is 

19 made by the President that such Office is necessary 

20 to meet the economic or national security goals of 

21 the Program. 

22 SEC. 6. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 

24 Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall designate 

25 or establish an advisory committee on engineering biology 


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1 research and development (in this section referred to as 

2 the ‘‘advisory committee’’) to be composed of not fewer 

3 than 12 members, including representatives of research 

4 and academic institutions, industry, and nongovernmental 

5 entities, who are qualified to provide advice on the Initia6 tive. 

7 (b) ASSESSMENT.—The advisory committee shall as8 sess— 

9 (1) the current state of United States competi10 tiveness in engineering biology, including the scope 

11 and scale of United States investments in engineer12 ing biology research and development in the inter13 national context; 

14 (2) current market barriers to commercializa15 tion of engineering biology products, processes, and 

16 tools in the United States; 

17 (3) progress made in implementing the Initia18 tive; 

19 (4) the need to revise the Initiative; 

20 (5) the balance of activities and funding across 

21 the Initiative; 

22 (6) whether the strategic plan developed or up23 dated by the interagency committee established 

24 under section 5 is helping to maintain United States 

25 leadership in engineering biology; 


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1 (7) the management, coordination, implementa2 tion, and activities of the Initiative; and 

3 (8) whether ethical, legal, environmental, safety, 

4 security, and other appropriate societal issues are 

5 adequately addressed by the Initiative. 

6 (c) REPORTS.—Beginning not later than 2 years 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre8 quently than once every 3 years thereafter, the advisory 

9 committee shall submit to the President, the Committee 

10 on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep11 resentatives, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

12 and Transportation of the Senate, a report on— 

13 (1) the findings of the advisory committee’s as14 sessment under subsection (b); and 

15 (2) the advisory committee’s recommendations 

16 for ways to improve the Initiative. 

17 (d) APPLICATION OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM18 MITTEE ACT.—Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Com19 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory 

20 Committee. 

21 SEC. 7. EXTERNAL REVIEW OF ETHICAL, LEGAL, ENVIRON22 MENTAL, SAFETY, SECURITY, AND SOCIETAL 

23 ISSUES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National 


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1 Science Foundation shall seek to enter into an agreement 

2 with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

3 and Medicine to conduct a review, and make recommenda4 tions with respect to, the ethical, legal, environmental, 

5 safety, security, and other appropriate societal issues re6 lated to engineering biology research and development. 

7 The review shall include— 

8 (1) an assessment of the current research on 

9 such issues; 

10 (2) a description of the research gaps relating 

11 to such issues; 

12 (3) recommendations on how the Initiative can 

13 address the research needs identified pursuant to 

14 paragraph (2); and 

15 (4) recommendations on how engineering biol16 ogy researchers can best incorporate considerations 

17 of ethical, legal, environmental, safety, security, and 

18 other societal issues into the development of research 

19 proposals and the conduct of research. 

20 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The agreement entered 

21 into under subsection (a) shall require the National Acad22 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to, not later 

23 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act— 

24 (1) submit to the Committee on Science, Space, 

25 and Technology of the House of Representatives and 


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1 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans2 portation of the Senate a report containing the find3 ings and recommendations of the review conducted 

4 under subsection (a); and 

5 (2) make a copy of such report available on a 

6 publicly accessible website. 

7 (c) ALTERNATE CONTRACT SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZA8 TION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Director is unable to 

10 enter into an agreement described in subsection (a) 

11 with the National Academy of Sciences before the 

12 date specified in such subsection on terms acceptable 

13 to the Director, the Director shall seek to enter into 

14 such an agreement with another appropriate sci15 entific organization that— 

16 (A) is not part of the Government; 

17 (B) operates as a not-for-profit entity; and 

18 (C) has expertise and objectivity com19 parable to that of the National Academy of 

20 Sciences. 

21 (2) TREATMENT.—If the Director enters into 

22 an agreement with another organization as described 

23 in paragraph (1), any reference in this subsection to 

24 the National Academy of Sciences shall be treated as 

25 a reference to the other organization. 


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1 SEC. 8. AGENCY ACTIVITIES. 

2 (a) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.—As part of 

3 the Initiative, the National Science Foundation shall— 

4 (1) support basic research in engineering biol5 ogy through individual grants and through inter6 disciplinary research centers; 

7 (2) support research on the environmental, 

8 legal, ethical, and social implications of engineering 

9 biology; 

10 (3) provide support for research instrumenta11 tion for engineering biology disciplines, including 

12 support for research, development, optimization and 

13 validation of novel technologies to enable the dy14 namic study of molecular processes in situ; 

15 (4) support curriculum development and re16 search experiences for secondary, undergraduate, 

17 and graduate students in engineering biology and 

18 biomanufacturing; and 

19 (5) award grants, on a competitive basis, to en20 able institutions to support graduate students and 

21 postdoctoral fellows who perform some of their engi22 neering biology research in an industry setting. 

23 (b) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.—As part of the 

24 Initiative, the Director of the National Institute of Stand25 ards and Technology shall— 


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1 (1) establish a bioscience research program to 

2 advance the development of standard reference ma3 terials and measurements and to create new data 

4 tools, techniques, and processes necessary to advance 

5 engineering biology and biomanufacturing; 

6 (2) provide access to user facilities with ad7 vanced or unique equipment, services, materials, and 

8 other resources to industry, institutions of higher 

9 education, nonprofit organizations, and government 

10 agencies to perform research and testing; and 

11 (3) provide technical expertise to inform the po12 tential development of guidelines or safeguards for 

13 new products, processes, and systems of engineering 

14 biology. 

15 (c) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.—As part of the Ini16 tiative, the Secretary of Energy shall— 

17 (1) conduct and support research, development, 

18 demonstration, and commercial application activities 

19 in engineering biology, including in the areas of syn20 thetic biology, advanced biofuel development, 

21 biobased materials, and environmental remediation; 

22 (2) support the development, optimization and 

23 validation of novel, scalable tools and technologies to 

24 enable the dynamic study of molecular processes in 

25 situ; and 


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1 (3) provide access to user facilities with ad2 vanced or unique equipment, services, materials, and 

3 other resources, as appropriate, to industry, institu4 tions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, 

5 and government agencies to perform research and 

6 testing. 

7 (d) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—As part of the Ini8 tiative, the Secretary of Defense shall— 

9 (1) conduct and support research and develop10 ment in engineering biology and associated data and 

11 information sciences; 

12 (2) support curriculum development and re13 search experiences in engineering biology and associ14 ated data and information sciences across the mili15 tary education system, to include service academies, 

16 professional military education, and military grad17 uate education; and 

18 (3) assess risks of potential national security 

19 and economic security threats relating to engineering 

20 biology. 

21 (e) NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINIS22 TRATION.—As part of the Initiative, the National Aero23 nautics and Space Administration shall— 

24 (1) conduct and support basic and applied re25 search in engineering biology, including in synthetic 


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1 biology, and related to Earth and space sciences, 

2 aeronautics, space technology, and space exploration 

3 and experimentation, consistent with the priorities 

4 established in the National Academies’ decadal sur5 veys; and 

6 (2) award grants, on a competitive basis, that 

7 enable institutions to support graduate students and 

8 postdoctoral fellows who perform some of their engi9 neering biology research in an industry setting. 

10 (f) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.—As part of the 

11 Initiative, the Secretary of Agriculture shall— 

12 (1) support research and development in engi13 neering biology, including in synthetic biology and 

14 biomaterials; 

15 (2) award grants through the National Institute 

16 of Food and Agriculture; and 

17 (3) support development conducted by the Agri18 cultural Research Service. 

19 (g) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.—As 

20 part of the Initiative, the Environmental Protection Agen21 cy shall support research on how products, processes, and 

22 systems of engineering biology will affect or can protect 

23 the environment. 

24 (h) DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERV25 ICES.— 


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1 (1) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH.—As 

2 part of the Initiative, the Director of the National 

3 Institutes of Health shall— 

4 (A) support research and development to 

5 advance the understanding and application of 

6 engineering biology for human health, including 

7 in synthetic biology, cell and tissue engineering, 

8 computational biology, and artificial intel9 ligence; 

10 (B) support and accelerate the application 

11 of biomedical research and technologies through 

12 cross-disciplinary collaboration and training 

13 programs; 

14 (C) support research on ethical, legal, safe15 ty, and societal implications of emerging bio16 technologies; and 

17 (D) award grants on a competitive basis, 

18 that enable institutions to support graduate 

19 students and postdoctoral fellows who perform 

20 some of their engineering biology research 

21 across multiple disciplinary departments. 

22 (2) FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION.—As 

23 part of the Initiative, the Commissioner of Food and 

24 Drugs shall— 


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1 (A) support research and evaluation of 

2 safety, potency, and efficacy of novel biologic 

3 products and biomanufacturing technologies; 

4 and 

5 (B) ensure the timely development of 

6 screening methods to evaluate safety and secu7 rity of new biological products and processes. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS