On September 12, the Biden White House signed off on a new Executive Order called: “Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy.” The order calls for the rapid development of a “bioeconomy” to address “societal goals” like PROGRAMMING HUMAN BIOLOGY. The order refers to a bioeconomy as an “economic activity derived from the life sciences, particularly in the areas of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, including industries, products, services, and the workforce.”
Most shocking, the order directs multiple federal agencies to work with the private sector to develop genetic engineering technologies to “write circuitry for cells” and to “predictably program biology.”
Taken directly from the executive order: “For biotechnology and biomanufacturing to help us achieve our societal goals, the United States needs to invest in foundational scientific capabilities. We need to develop genetic engineering technologies and techniques to be able to write circuitry for cells and predictably program biology in the same way in which we write software and program computers.”