On Apr. 8, 2025, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology delivered its major report and action plan to Congress. The Commission’s top assessment is that urgent Congressional action is needed to bring the full weight of American innovation to bear on the biotechnology challenge and maintain U.S. global leadership in this transformative area.

For decades, the U.S. has been the global leader in biotechnology innovation. Now, the Commission finds that the U.S. is dangerously close to falling behind China.

The Commission reports that the United States’ growing dependence on China for numerous critical supply chain elements is a national security vulnerability. Biotechnology can be the key to increasing supply chain security, resilience, and scalability, by allowing the U.S. to control its own access to critical components.

The Commission finds that emerging biotechnology is rapidly advancing, and the impact of biotechnology innovation already extends far beyond health, touching industries from agriculture and infrastructure, to manufacturing and defense. The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology is accelerating this impact.

The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology is a time-limited, high-impact legislative branch advisory entity whose purpose is to advance and secure biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and associated technologies for U.S. national security and to prepare the United States for the biorevolution.