Establish a National Biotechnology Coordination Office

Congress must establish a National Biotechnology Coordination Office (NBCO) in the Executive Office of the President (EOP) with a director, appointed by the President, who would coordinate interagency actions on biotechnology competition and regulation.

The U.S. government has previously tried to coordinate biotechnology efforts across agencies, but these efforts have generally not kept pace with scientific discovery occurring outside of government.¹¹⁰ Additionally, none of these efforts designated a senior official to oversee and advocate for biotechnology efforts in the federal government.

To coordinate interagency actions and unify the American effort to retain its lead in biotechnology, Congress must establish a National Biotechnology Coordination Office (NBCO) in the EOP. The NBCO would oversee interagency activities related to promoting, protecting, and regulating biotechnology. The NBCO would be headed by a director, appointed by the President, to serve as the principal advisor on biotechnology. The director would manage a small staff that would be responsible for the operations of the NBCO and an interagency committee. The director should be jointly appointed as a principal assistant director within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to oversee biotechnology-related budgets across the federal departments and agencies.

The director of the NBCO would primarily be responsible for:

• creating and maintaining a national biotechnology strategy;
• assessing the national security implications of emerging biotechnologies, including any major needs or gaps;
• providing long-term strategic guidance on biotechnology R&D;
• streamlining regulation of biotechnology products in coordination with regulatory agencies (see recommendation 2.1a);
• enabling public-private partnerships with academia and industry through an economic development consortium;
• identifying biotechnology workforce and training gaps across the federal government (see recommendation 5.1a); and
• creating and maintaining a federal website for the biotechnology community (biotech.gov) that would offer information about biotechnology for the public, open opportunities for researchers, guidance on biotechnology regulations for developers, and more.

The NBCO, as a part of its responsibilities, would submit an annual report to relevant Congressional committees with information on federal efforts related to biotechnology, a summary of federal biotechnology spending, and the NBCO’s plans for the following year. Congress could authorize the establishment of the director and the NBCO by either amending existing legislation or passing a new bill. The EOP should house the NBCO, and Congress should authorize and appropriate funds to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its administration. There is precedent for this model, which would provide consistent staffing and resources over time.¹¹¹