Building Strong Biosafety and Biosecurity into the Expanding US Bioeconomy

The purpose of the meeting was to respond to many critical questions posed by the RFI and to provide the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Security Council (NSC), the Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), and other US government (USG) stakeholders an opportunity to obtain information and viewpoints from subject matter experts on the development of the Biosafety and Biosecurity I. [...] Context and Scope of the Biosafety and Biosecurity Innovation Initiative The Biosafety and Biosecurity Innovation Initiative USG representatives opened the meeting by framing the Biosafety and Biosecurity Innovation Initiative within current national bioeconomy policy and goals. [...] Building Strong Biosafety and Biosecurity into the Expanding US Bioeconomy | 6 Supporting Applied Biosafety Research and Incentivizing and Enhancing Biosafety Practices Supporting applied biosafety research and developing and maintaining strong biosafety systems to reduce risks while maximizing societal benefits throughout the biotechnology and biomanufacturing lifecycle should be a strategic inte. [...] Supporting Biosecurity Innovation Accelerating the identification, development, and implementation of innovative technologies and approaches that enhance the capacity of the national biosecurity system to manage biosecurity risks is critical to safeguard and boost US national security and competitiveness. [...] The evolution of diverse, comprehensive biobanks, and the associated sharing capabilities, could revolutionize biotech and biological research and enable the US to become the go-to public resource for reference genomes for the global bioeconomy.