Eric Schmidt, a commissioner on the federal National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology and formerly the CEO and Chairman of Google, wrote, "the next big game-changing revolution is in biology.” He cited some milestones that were reached just last year: “The U.S. approved the production and sale of lab-grown meat for the first time; Google DeepMind’s AI predicted structures of over 2 million new materials, which can potentially be used for chips and batteries; Casgevy became the first approved commercial gene-editing treatment using CRISPR.”
I’m also bullish, but I would point out that the biology/biotechnology revolution has been underway for more than half a century. In 1969, with my newly minted MIT bachelor’s degree in hand and a copy of James Watson’s “The Double Helix” in my suitcase, I headed for grad school (and eventually med school) in California.
Over the years, I've had a front-row seat at the biotech revolution. As a grad student, I did research for a time in the laboratory of Renato Dulbecco, who, several years later, would win the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for “discoveries concerning the interaction between tumor viruses and the genetic material of the cell.” In another lab, in 1971, I was the co-discoverer of the enzyme in flu virus that replicates its RNA genome.
A decade later, while an official at the FDA, I headed the team that evaluated and approved in record time the first biopharmaceutical, human insulin (Humulin). I have written dozens of articles and two books about advances in biotechnology.
Schmidt is right that the revolution is accelerating, due in large part to powerful new research technologies. He believes that we may be on the verge of a “ChatGPT moment” in biotechnology:
AI models trained on biological sequences could design novel proteins, predict cancer growth, and create other useful consumables. In the future, AI will be able to help us run through millions of theoretical and actual biological experiments, more accurately predicting outcomes without arduous trial-and-error — vastly accelerating the rate of new discoveries.
The United States has been adept at inventing The Next Big Thing but sometimes stumbles when it comes to exploiting it. From cars to electronics, solar panels, and semiconductors, this pattern has been repeated. Schmidt fears that biotechnology could be next.
How could that happen? One way is dependence on other countries for crucial parts of the process, from raw materials to data storage. We have seen that phenomenon in China’s production of many intermediates in pharmaceutical production, Taiwan’s dominance in the production of semiconductors, and in various countries’ control over rare elements used in electric vehicles’ batteries, for example.
This isn't just about convenience – falling behind would threaten both our national security and prosperity.
America can still be a leader. We need to invest - aggressively and intelligently. Building a strong domestic supply chain and training the next generation of biotech experts will be essential. The government can help in two critical ways. First, by supporting pre-commercial, basic research; second, by retooling regulation by FDA, EPA, and USDA, all of which have inhibited biotech R&D for decades.
But the initiative must mainly come from the private sector—just as the CHIPS and Science Act encouraged investment in semiconductors.
Biotech already fuels a significant portion of the U.S. economy; as of 2023, seven of the 10 best-selling drugs were biopharmaceuticals. Its potential to solve myriad problems and create additional wealth is enormous.
Eric Schmidt makes some bold but plausible predictions: Biotechnology “will disrupt every industry and fundamentally reshape our regular lives: new fertility treatments will transform parenthood; cellular reprogramming could start to reverse the aging process; biocomputing will power the computers of tomorrow.”
They are all achievable. Let’s start laying the groundwork.
A previous, shorter version of this article was published by Inside Sources.
Henry I. Miller, MS, MD
Henry I. Miller, MS, MD, is the Glenn Swogger Distinguished Fellow at the American Council on Science and Health. His research focuses on public policy toward science, technology, and medicine, encompassing a number of areas, including pharmaceutical development, genetic engineering, models for regulatory reform, precision medicine, and the emergence of new viral diseases. Dr. Miller served for fifteen years at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a number of posts, including as the founding director of the Office of Biotechnology.
