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Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§19135 Agency Activities

Title 42 › CHAPTER 163 — RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, COMPETITION, AND INNOVATION › SUBCHAPTER IV — BIOECONOMY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT › § 19135

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires many federal agencies to fund and support engineering biology and biomanufacturing work. The National Science Foundation must pay for research, centers, tools, and cyber systems, study social and ethical issues, help develop school and university courses, offer graduate fellowships and traineeships, and give competitive grants so institutions can support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who do some research in industry. Other agencies have specific roles. The National Institute of Standards and Technology must create standards, measurements, and data tools and give access to special facilities and technical help. NOAA must do omics and ecosystem research and work with other agencies on environmental risks. The Department of Energy must fund bio-related R&D (like synthetic biology, biofuels, materials, and cleanup), build scalable tools, provide advanced facilities and secure computing, and help move research to industry. The Department of Defense must support biology research, teach it across military schools, and assess security risks. NASA must fund space- and earth-related bio research and similar competitive student/postdoc industry grants. The Department of Agriculture, the EPA, and the Department of Health and Human Services must support relevant research, environmental studies, and health-related work and oversight, with HHS actions consistent with programs in effect on the day before August 9, 2022.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §19135

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)National Science Foundation
As part of the Initiative, the National Science Foundation shall carry out the following:
(1)Support research in engineering biology and biomanufacturing through individual grants, collaborative grants, and through interdisciplinary research centers.
(2)Support research on the environmental, legal, ethical, and social implications of engineering biology.
(3)Provide support for research instrumentation, equipment, and cyberinfrastructure for engineering biology disciplines, including support for research, development, optimization, and validation of novel technologies to enable the dynamic study of molecular processes in situ.
(4)Support curriculum development and research experiences for secondary, undergraduate, and graduate students in engineering biology and biomanufacturing, including through support for graduate fellowships and traineeships in engineering biology.
(5)Award grants, on a competitive basis, to enable institutions to support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who perform some of their engineering biology research in an industry setting.
(b)Department of Commerce
(1)National Institute of Standards and Technology
As part of the Initiative, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall carry out the following:
(A)Advance the development of standard reference materials and measurements, including to promote interoperability between new component technologies and processes for engineering biology and biomanufacturing discovery, innovation, and production processes.
(B)Establish new data tools, techniques, and processes necessary to advance engineering biology and biomanufacturing.
(C)Provide access to user facilities with advanced or unique equipment, services, materials, and other resources to industry, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies to perform research and testing.
(D)Provide technical expertise to inform the potential development of guidelines or safeguards for new products, processes, and systems of engineering biology.
(2)National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
As part of the initiative, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall carry out the following:
(A)Conduct and support research in omics and associated bioinformatic sciences and develop tools and products to improve ecosystem stewardship, monitoring, management, assessments. and forecasts, consistent with the mission of the agency.
(B)Collaborate with other agencies to understand potential environmental threats and safeguards related to engineering biology.
(c)Department of Energy
As part of the Initiative, the Secretary of Energy shall carry out the following:
(1)Conduct and support research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities in engineering biology, including in the areas of synthetic biology, advanced biofuel and bioproduct development, biobased materials, and environmental remediation.
(2)Support the development, optimization and validation of novel, scalable tools and technologies to enable the dynamic study of molecular processes in situ.
(3)Provide access to user facilities with advanced or unique equipment, services, materials, and other resources, including secure access to high-performance computing, as appropriate, to industry, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies to perform research and testing;.
(4)Strengthen collaboration between the Office of Science and the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office to help transfer fundamental research results to industry and accelerate commercial applications.
(d)Department of Defense
As part of the Initiative, the Secretary of Defense shall carry out the following:
(1)Conduct and support research and development in engineering biology and associated data and information sciences.
(2)Support curriculum development and research experiences in engineering biology and associated data and information sciences across the military education system, including the service academies, professional military education, and military graduate education.
(3)Assess risks of potential national security and economic security threats relating to engineering biology.
(e)National Aeronautics and Space Administration
As part of the Initiative, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall carry out the following:
(1)Conduct and support research in engineering biology, including in synthetic biology, and related to Earth and space sciences, aeronautics, space technology, and space exploration and experimentation, consistent with the priorities established in the National Academies’ decadal surveys.
(2)Award grants, on a competitive basis, that enable institutions to support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who perform some of their engineering biology research in an industry setting.
(f)Department of Agriculture
As part of the Initiative, the Secretary of Agriculture shall support research and development in engineering biology through the Agricultural Research Service, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture programs and grants, and the Office of the Chief Scientist.
(g)Environmental Protection Agency
As part of the Initiative, the Environmental Protection Agency shall support research on how products, processes, and systems of engineering biology will affect or can protect the environment.
(h)Department of Health and Human Services
As part of the Initiative, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, as appropriate and consistent with activities of the Department of Health and Human Services in effect on the day before August 9, 2022, shall carry out the following:
(1)Support research and development to advance the understanding and application of engineering biology for human health.
(2)Support relevant interdisciplinary research and coordination.
(3)Support activities necessary to facilitate oversight of relevant emerging biotechnologies.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 19135

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110