Sponsors (2)
The bill directs modest federal funding to accelerate agricultural synthetic-biology research, commercialization, and workforce training—potentially boosting productivity, resilience, and jobs—while raising biosecurity and ethical risks, increasing federal spending, and tending to concentrate benefits among well‑resourced institutions and firms.
Farmers, agricultural workers, and researchers gain sustained federal funding and a Center to accelerate agricultural synthetic-biology R&D and commercialization, helping turn research into products, startups, and local jobs.
Funding is targeted at climate-resilient crops, microbiomes, and digital agriculture, which can improve farm resilience, sustainability, and long-term food-supply stability.
Students and trainees at partner land-grant institutions receive education and training in synthetic biology, strengthening the agricultural biotech workforce pipeline.
Research enabling gene editing, novel proteins, and microorganism manufacturing raises biosafety, biosecurity, and ethical risks (including dual-use and unintended ecological impacts) if not tightly regulated.
Taxpayers fund approximately $6 million per year (FY2026–2030) for grants and Center operations without specified offsets, increasing federal spending.
Prioritizing synthetic-biology investments risks diverting public funds and attention away from other agricultural programs or services that also support farmers and rural communities.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a USDA National Synthetic Biology Center to award competitive grants to land‑grant institutions for agricultural synthetic biology research and authorizes $5M/year for grants plus $1M/year for operations through FY2026–2030.
Introduced September 3, 2025 by Todd Young · Last progress September 3, 2025
Creates a National Synthetic Biology Center inside the Department of Agriculture to fund competitive synthetic‑biology research and training at 1862, 1890, and 1994 land‑grant institutions in partnership with other entities. The Center will prioritize projects that boost agricultural performance, sustainability, and resiliency, maintain a public website, coordinate technology transfer, and report to Congress. It authorizes $5,000,000 per year for grants and $1,000,000 per year for Center operations for FY2026–2030, with grant awards to begin within one year of enactment.