June 05, 2023

This lawmaker thinks biotech is the next AI: Gene editing to help fight climate change?

AI might be getting all the hype from Silicon Valley these days, but Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass. thinks Washington ought to be doing more to promote biotech. Morgan Chalfant talks with the Congressman about his efforts on that front...This lawmaker thinks biotech is the next AI: Gene editing to help fight climate change? Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass. thinks the whole government needs to be focusing more on the potential benefits of biotechnology and sees a new initiative tucked in the pages of the CHIPS and Science Act as a great place to start. “We’re hearing a lot these days about AI and before that we heard a lot about crypto,” he told Semafor. “I think gene editing as a general purpose technology is underappreciated in how potentially seismic and transformative it can be.” Auchincloss, who represents a hub for biotechnology in Massachusetts, said he sees potential for advancement not only in healthcare, but agriculture, manufacturing, and carbon capture. But it will require ongoing attention to research investments, he said. Auchincloss is leading a bipartisan letter to the White House with recommendations on how to implement the National Engineering Biology Research and Development initiative established by the bill passed last year. The letter, shared first with Semafor, recommends the office overseeing the program be housed in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and that a career official from the Commerce Department play a leading role in managing the initiative. The letter notes that China is making its own investments in biomanufacturing in making the case for “a reinvigorated focus on driving innovation in biology and the life sciences” and calls for closely coordinating government, academic, and private sector work in the field. Funding for science research is also now under threat part due to the bipartisan agreement to limit nondefense spending agreed to by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling. Lawmakers need to appropriate money for scientific research authorized by the chips law each fiscal year. Biden insisted in his Oval Office address Friday evening that the agreement “fully protects the CHIPS and Science Act.” “I’m very worried,” Auchincloss said. “The debt limit deal is putting a little bit of the screws on basic research funding and we have to protect it.” Auchincloss said that the letter on the biology research initiative will be part of a broader effort he’s undertaking to make sure Congress plays a role in the implementation of the chips legislation. The letter is also signed by Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. and Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, who along with many other House Republicans voted against the bill last year. — Morgan Chalfant


By:  Morgan Chalfant
Source: Semafor