Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Engineering Biology 
Research and Development Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Cellular and molecular processes may be 
used, mimicked, or redesigned to develop new prod-
ucts, processes, and systems that improve societal 
well-being, strengthen national security, and con-
tribute to the economy. 
(2) Engineering biology relies on a workforce 
with a diverse and unique set of skills combining the 
biological, 
physical, 
chemical, 
and 
information 
sciences and engineering. 
(3) Long-term research and development is nec-
essary to create breakthroughs in engineering biology. 
Such research and development requires government 
investment as many of the benefits are too distant or 
uncertain for industry to support alone. 
(4) Research is necessary to inform evidence- 
based governance of engineering biology and to sup-
port the growth of the engineering biology industry. 
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(5) The Federal Government can play an impor-
tant role by facilitating the development of tools and 
technologies to further advance engineering biology, 
including user facilities, by facilitating public-private 
partnerships, by supporting risk research, and by fa-
cilitating the commercial application in the United 
States of research funded by the Federal Government. 
(5) The United States led the development of the 
science and engineering techniques that created the 
field of engineering biology, but due to increasing 
international competition, the United States is at risk 
of losing its competitive advantage if does not invest 
the necessary resources and have a national strategy. 
(6) A National Engineering Biology Initiative 
can serve to establish new research directions and 
technology goals, improve interagency coordination 
and planning processes, drive technology transfer to 
the private sector, and help ensure optimal returns on 
the Federal investment. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) BIOMANUFACTURING.—The term ‘‘biomanu-
facturing’’ means the utilization of biological systems 
to develop new and advance existing products, tools, 
and processes at commercial scale. 
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(2) ENGINEERING
BIOLOGY.—The term ‘‘engi-
neering biology’’ means the application of engineering 
design principles and practices to biological systems, 
including molecular and cellular systems, to advance 
fundamental understanding of complex natural sys-
tems and to enable novel or optimize functions and 
capabilities. 
(3) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 
the National Engineering Biology Research and De-
velopment Initiative established under section 4. 
(4) OMICS.—The term ‘‘omics’’ refers to the col-
lective technologies used to explore the roles, relation-
ships, and actions of the various types of molecules 
that make up the cells of an organism. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL ENGINEERING BIOLOGY RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall implement 
a National Engineering Biology Research and Development 
Initiative to advance societal well-being, national security, 
sustainability, and economic productivity and competitive-
ness through— 
(1) advancing areas of research at the intersec-
tion of the biological, physical, chemical, and infor-
mation sciences and engineering to accelerate sci-
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entific understanding and technological innovation in 
engineering biology; 
(2) advancing areas of biomanufacturing re-
search to optimize, standardize, scale, and deliver new 
products and solutions; 
(3) supporting social and behavioral sciences 
and economics research that advances the field of en-
gineering biology and contributes to the development 
and public understanding of new products, processes, 
and technologies; 
(4) supporting risk research, including under 
subsection (d); 
(5) supporting the development of novel tools and 
technologies to accelerate scientific understanding and 
technological innovation in engineering biology; 
(6) expanding the number of researchers, edu-
cators, and students with engineering biology train-
ing, including from traditionally underserved popu-
lations; 
(7) accelerating the translation and commer-
cialization of engineering biology research and devel-
opment by the private sector; and 
(8) improving the interagency planning and co-
ordination of Federal Government activities related to 
engineering biology. 
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(b) INITIATIVE ACTIVITIES.—The activities of the Ini-
tiative shall include— 
(1) sustained support for engineering biology re-
search and development through— 
(A) grants to individual investigators and 
teams of investigators, including interdiscipli-
nary teams; 
(B) projects funded under joint solicitations 
by a collaboration of no fewer than two agencies 
participating in the Initiative; and 
(C) interdisciplinary research centers that 
are organized to investigate basic research ques-
tions, carry out technology development and 
demonstration activities, and increase under-
standing of how to scale up engineering biology 
processes, including biomanufacturing; 
(2) sustained support for databases and related 
tools, including— 
(A) 
support 
for 
curated 
genomics, 
epigenomics, and all other relevant omics data-
bases, including plant and microbial databases, 
that are available to researchers to carry out en-
gineering biology research; 
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