UNITED STATES: To lessen reliance on China for ingredients to produce renewable energy, weave new fabrics, and immunize populations against the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden will sign instructions on Monday to push more federal funding to the American biotechnology industry.
According to administration officials, the executive order enables the federal government to allocate funds for producing novel foods, fertilizers, and seeds using microbes and other biologically produced resources, as well as for improving the productivity of mining operations.
They did not mention the amount of money that would be available, where it would come from, or how it would be distributed. Further information is anticipated at a Wednesday White House summit on the subject.
The U.S. Federal government already funds the Department of Agriculture and other organisations for biotechnology research and development (R&D).
Since its peak in the 1950s, overall U.S. funding for R&D has decreased as a share of GDP; Biden has promised to buck this trend.
An administration official stated, “Other countries, including and especially China, are aggressively investing in this sector, which poses risks to U.S. leadership and competitiveness.”
On Monday in Boston, Biden will speak about the “Cancer Moonshot,” an initiative to advance research, develop new treatments, and reduce the death rate from this disease. He will also address the order. View More
Cancer medicines have been produced utilizing biomanufacturing, such as those made from plants or with the aid of modified immune cells.
Dr Renee Wegrzyn, a veteran science advisor who most recently worked for the biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc. (DNA.N), will also be named by Biden as the inaugural director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a U.S. government-run biomedical research organization.
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