Breckenridge, Palmer: To support national security, invest in bio-production – Daily Independent

By Veronica Breckenridge and Paul Palmer

It’s been four years since COVID-19 brought global trade to a standstill. Months of empty store shelves and shortages of strategic staples such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and semiconductors have revealed how dependent the United States is on other countries, especially China.

Our reliance on other countries for the products that fuel our economy seriously threatens our security. Yet China remains the factory for the U.S. Last year, we imported $427 billion worth of goods from China.

We must become a country that gets things done. The burgeoning field of biomanufacturing offers a way to restore the production of everything from food and fuel to medicine and electronics—and to do so with local, environmentally friendly sources.

Consider medicine. Nearly three-quarters of the facilities that manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for use in the US are located overseas. Thirteen percent are in China.

Fortunately, biomanufacturing can produce the drugs we need here cost-effectively. Scientists at the University of Texas recently developed a technology that could help perfect a technique known as “biosynthesis.” This process can turn bacteria into “drug factories” that turn basic compounds like sugar into complex pharmaceutical molecules of our choice.

This “greener” technology can replace methods that rely on intensive cropping and oil that generate waste.

Then there’s energy. Biofuels can boost America’s economy and national security by reducing our energy dependence on foreign countries. Researchers at Northwestern and Yale universities and the Department of Energy recently collaborated to create specially engineered microbes capable of producing carbon-neutral versions of commonly used fuels. One company, Visolis, ferments biomass waste like wood chips to make 100% sustainable, cost-effective jet fuel.

Other companies are working on solutions that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and create sustainable raw materials. By extracting oil from algae instead of petroleum, we can produce polyurethane plastic, used in everything from foam pillows and shoes to military body armor and cell phone cases, without leaving behind harmful microplastics. A San Diego-based startup, Algenesis, has begun using bio-derived plastic in pipe linings, which could have a huge effect on the sanctity of our water supply.

Organic products can strengthen food security. Scientists have now figured out how to produce tasty and nutritious proteins – including beef, chicken and egg whites – with only a fraction of the resources required to conventionally grow these products.

Producing more of our food organically will help tackle the climate-warming emissions emitted by conventional agriculture. In the event of geopolitical conflict, bio-based foods can help ensure that the US population has a stable domestic supply chain to turn to.

Biomanufacturing can help us make semiconductors. Researchers recently split plant biomass from birch leaves into carbon quantum dots for use in semiconductor production. The same “pressure cooking” method can be used with other plants, promising future innovations.

Unfortunately, America’s capacity to produce bio-based products is far behind where it should be. Even as revolutionary advances in synthetic biology occur on U.S. soil, companies are increasingly looking abroad to commercialize these discoveries.

It’s an eerily familiar story. A recent report by the Council of Science and Technology Advisors warned: “Like the US semiconductor industry, which turned to countries in Asia to bring its products to commercial scale, China is rapidly becoming a leader in bio-based manufacturing.”

We cannot repeat the mistakes we made with semiconductors.

The good news is that through public and private sector investment, we can build shared facilities for large-scale bioproduction and significantly flatten the cost curve for commercialization. Initiatives like the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act will also help support the highly skilled workforce and R&D infrastructure needed to challenge China’s lead in biomanufacturing.

We too must get out of our own way. Too often, onerous regulatory review processes for natural products stall or halt commercialization and production. That’s why the National Security Committee on Emerging Biotechnologies is calling on the Department of Defense to outline critical chemicals for biomanufacturing — and to coordinate those needs with Congress and the private sector.

As the President’s Council of Science and Technology Advisers noted, the world is on the “threshold of a new industrial revolution.” Biotechnology is at the forefront of this revolution.

Investing in the infrastructure needed to produce them is imperative to our long-term security.

Editor’s note: Veronica Breckenridge is the managing partner of First Bight Ventures. Paul Palmer is the CEO of BioWell. Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcome [email protected].