--- kind: "section" citation: "42 U.S.C. § 19132" title: "42" title_heading: "The Public Health and Welfare" number: "19132" heading: "National Engineering Biology Research and Development Initiative" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/42/19132" units: - "Chapter 163 — Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation" - "Subchapter IV — Bioeconomy Research and Development" --- # §19132. National Engineering Biology Research and Development Initiative - (a) **In general—** The President, acting through the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall implement a National [Engineering Biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) Research and Development [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1) to advance societal well-being, national security, sustainability, and economic productivity and competitiveness through the following: - (1) Advancing areas of research at the intersection of the biological, physical, chemical, data, and computational and information sciences and engineering to accelerate scientific understanding and technological innovation in [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6). - (2) Advancing areas of [biomanufacturing](/usc/42/18901.md?p=4) research to optimize, standardize, scale, and deliver new products and solutions. - (3) Supporting social and behavioral sciences and economics research that advances the field of [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) and contributes to the development and public understanding of new products, processes, and technologies. - (4) Improving the understanding of [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) of the scientific and lay public and supporting greater evidence-based public discourse about its benefits and risks. - (5) Supporting research relating to the risks and benefits of [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6), including under [subsection (d)](#d). - (6) Supporting the development of novel tools and technologies to accelerate scientific understanding and technological innovation in [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6). - (7) Expanding the number of researchers, educators, and students and a retooled workforce with [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) training, including from traditionally underrepresented and underserved populations. - (8) Accelerating the translation and commercialization of [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) and [biomanufacturing](/usc/42/18901.md?p=4) research and development by the private sector. - (9) Improving the interagency planning and coordination of Federal Government activities related to [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6). - (b) **Initiative activities—** The activities of the [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1) shall include the following: - (1) Sustained support for [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) research and development through the following: - (A) [Grants](/usc/42/19291.md?p=5) to fund the work of individual investigators and teams of investigators, including interdisciplinary teams. - (B) [Projects](/usc/42/13641.md?p=2) funded under joint solicitations by a collaboration of not fewer than two [agencies](/usc/42/8262.md?p=1) participating in the [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1). - (C) Interdisciplinary research [centers](/usc/42/18901.md?p=17) that are organized to investigate basic research questions, carry out technology development and demonstration activities, and increase understanding of how to scale up [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) processes, including [biomanufacturing](/usc/42/18901.md?p=4). - (2) Sustained support for databases and related tools, including the following: - (A) Support for the establishment, curation, and maintenance of curated genomics, epigenomics, and other relevant [omics](/usc/42/19131.md?p=2) databases, including plant, animal, and microbial databases, that are available to researchers to carry out [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) research in a manner that does not compromise national security or the privacy or security of information within such databases. - (B) Development of standards for such databases, including for curation, interoperability, and protection of privacy and security. - (C) Support for the development of computational tools, including [artificial intelligence](/usc/42/18901.md?p=1) tools, that can accelerate research and innovation using such databases. - (D) An inventory and assessment of all Federal government [omics](/usc/42/19131.md?p=2) databases to identify opportunities to improve the utility of such databases, as appropriate and in a manner that does not compromise national security or the privacy and security of information within such databases, and inform investment in such databases as critical infrastructure for the [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) research enterprise. - (3) Sustained support for the development, optimization, and validation of novel tools and technologies to enable the dynamic study of molecular processes in situ, including through the following: - (A) Research conducted at [Federal laboratories](/usc/42/18901.md?p=9). - (B) [Grants](/usc/42/19291.md?p=5) to fund the work of investigators at institutions of higher education and other [nonprofit](/usc/42/300s–3.md?p=3) research institutions. - (C) Incentivized development of retooled industrial sites across the country that foster a pivot to modernized [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) [initiatives](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1). - (D) Awards under the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (as described in [section 638 of title 15](/usc/15/638.md)). - (4) Support for education and training of undergraduate and graduate students in [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6), [biomanufacturing](/usc/42/18901.md?p=4), bioprocess engineering, and computational science applied to [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) and in the related ethical, legal, environmental, safety, security, and other societal domains. - (5) Support for a national network of testbeds based on open standards, interfaces, and processes, including by repurposing existing facilities such as those specified in [paragraph (3)(C)](#b-3-C), that would enable scale up of laboratory [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) research. - (6) Activities to develop robust mechanisms for documenting and quantifying the outputs and economic benefits of [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6). - (7) Activities to accelerate the translation and commercialization of new products, processes, and technologies by carrying out the following: - (A) Identifying precompetitive research opportunities. - (B) Facilitating public-private partnerships in [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) research and development, including to address barriers to scaling up innovations in [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6). - (C) Connecting researchers, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows with entrepreneurship education and training opportunities. - (D) Supporting proof of concept activities and the formation of startup companies including through programs such as the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program. - (c) **Expanding participation—** The [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1) shall include, to the maximum extent practicable, outreach to primarily undergraduate and historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, and [minority-serving institutions](/usc/42/18901.md?p=19) about [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1) opportunities, and shall encourage the development of research collaborations between research-intensive universities and primarily undergraduate and historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, and [minority-serving institutions](/usc/42/18901.md?p=19). - (d) **Ethical, legal, environmental, safety, security, and societal issues—** [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1) activities shall take into account ethical, legal, environmental, safety, security, and other appropriate societal issues by carrying out the following: - (1) Supporting research, including in the social sciences, and other activities addressing ethical, legal, environmental, and other appropriate societal issues related to [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6), including integrating research on such topics with the research and development in [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6), and encouraging the dissemination of the results of such research, including through interdisciplinary [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) research [centers](/usc/42/18901.md?p=17) described in [subsection (b)(1)(C)](#b-1-C). - (2) Supporting research and other activities related to the safety and security implications of [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6), including outreach to increase awareness among Federal researchers and federally-funded researchers at institutions of higher education about potential safety and security implications of [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) research, as appropriate. - (3) Ensuring that input from Federal and non-Federal experts on the ethical, legal, environmental, safety, security, and other appropriate societal issues related to [engineering biology](/usc/42/18901.md?p=6) is integrated into the [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1). - (4) Ensuring, through the [agencies](/usc/42/8262.md?p=1) and [departments](/usc/42/19291.md?p=2) that participate in the [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1), that public input and outreach are integrated into the [Initiative](/usc/42/19131.md?p=1) by the convening of regular and ongoing public discussions through mechanisms such as workshops, consensus conferences, and educational events, as appropriate. - (5) Complying with all applicable provisions of Federal law. ## Source credit (Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title IV, § 10402, Aug. 9, 2022, 136 Stat. 1599.)