The United States has long been the global leader in biotechnology, thanks largely to an innovation ecosystem that rewards risk, and smart policies that drive innovation and support federal investments into basic science.
As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, the United States has fallen behind when it comes to biomanufacturing. Our nation's supply chains have become fragile and overstretched, with much manufacturing happening outside our borders. This has played a role in domestic shortages of essential medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients over the past five years.
As policymakers work to shore up America's domestic manufacturing capacity for pharmaceuticals, they'd be prudent to acknowledge the potential of broader biomanufacturing for food, materials, energy, agricultural inputs, and more.
Biomanufacturing is the use of living organisms to produce everything from medicines to materials to food. Just as beer is made by coaxing yeast to convert sugars into alcohol, biomanufacturing uses specially designed bacteria and biological processes to turn sugars or waste streams into a wide array of everyday products. For example, companies are already developing sustainable biofuels from algae and biodegradable plastics from plant sugars.
These innovations are just the tip of the iceberg. Biomanufacturing has the potential to secure our supply chains and provide innovative solutions for difficult challenges across fields like agriculture, health, and energy. Biomanufacturing can be distributed across the country and deployed on demand, creating a wave of new high-quality jobs and innovation hubs nationwide - and revitalizing areas that have seen traditional manufacturing decline. Further, biomanufacturing often produces less waste and consumes less energy than traditional manufacturing processes.
In agriculture, the rise of biotechnology and biomanufacturing is poised to revolutionize how we develop fertilizers, protect crops, and grow food. For example, we can produce biological versions of crop inputs, like insecticides and fungicides, reducing our dependence on synthetic chemicals. This type of innovation would not only keep American farmers competitive globally and bring new biomanufacturing jobs to our rural communities but would also strengthen our nation’s food security.
A recent survey found that 84% of respondents agreed bolstering American biomanufacturing should be a priority for Congress. To advance this effort, the U.S. government, industry, academia, foundations, and NGOs must come together to support a comprehensive strategy to grow our nation’s biomanufacturing infrastructure, workforce, and innovation ecosystem.
By ensuring direct government funding for research and development, tax credits for companies investing in biomanufacturing, and public-private partnerships to scale promising technologies, the U.S. can take an all-hands-on-deck approach toward ensuring that the most innovative technological solutions are given an opportunity to make it to market.
America’s biomanufacturing sector will also need a large workforce skilled in biology and engineering to help drive it. Investing in education and training programs, including at the community college level, will ensure that American workers from all walks of life can step into these new roles.
Lastly, we must remember that strengthening our biomanufacturing base is as much about national security as it is about economic competitiveness. By reducing our nation’s reliance on others for biotechnology and biomanufacturing, the United States can maintain its global positioning as a self-sufficient leader within these industries – safeguarding our security for years to come.
This isn’t a Democratic or Republican issue; few issues offer greater potential for broad bipartisan support than the advancement of a robust bioeconomy. Imagine the economic and civic revitalization we could see nationwide if we harness the power of biology here.
It’s time for leaders in Washington to recognize this critical moment and take the decisive action we have in eras past. A generational investment in biomanufacturing isn’t just a good idea--it’s a national imperative.
Angela Ailloni is the Vice President of Business Development, Agriculture at Ginkgo Bioworks and a Member of the Executive Committee and Board Member of the Agriculture and Environment Governing Board at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), which is the world’s largest biotech trade industry association.
