Chapter 04
Out-innovate our Strategic Competitors
Chapter 04
introduction
To ensure that the best research in the world continues to happen in the United States, the nation needs to reinvigorate its historic strengths in innovation. America’s technology sector has a rich history of ambitious research ideas turning into pathbreaking discoveries. The U.S.-led Human Genome Project, for example, was fueled by ambitious public investment and led to entirely new markets, starting a cascade of innovation that continues to shape biotechnology today.227
While the United States currently leads in biotechnology research and development (R&D), that lead is slipping. The United States is not meeting the moment for biotechnology because it lacks a mechanism for prioritizing high-quality data collection, sufficient support for innovative research ideas, and adequate instrumentation, facilities, and capabilities.
The following sections include recommendations to guarantee that the United States outpaces its strategic competitors while ensuring safety, security, and responsibility in biotechnology innovation both at home and abroad. This chapter explains why and how the United States must treat biological data as a strategic resource, solve challenging research problems before its competitors, and protect against the misuse of biotechnology.