Synthetic Biology Advancement Act of 2025

This bill would create a National Synthetic Biology Center at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The center would fund research to help farms and food producers grow more food with less waste and pollution, and to make our food system stronger in tough times. It would share results through a user-friendly website to connect researchers and innovators . Grants would go mainly to land‑grant universities that team up with partners like nonprofits, state agencies, or national labs. Projects could focus on things like helpful microbes, gene editing, digital tools for farming, fermentation, and indoor farming. The work could include new protein sources, hardier crops, better animal health products, and using AI to speed up discoveries. The center would also work with tech transfer offices to move ideas from labs to real products .

Grants must start within one year of the law taking effect. The center must report to Congress every two years on progress and results. The bill allows $5 million per year for grants and $1 million per year for running the center from 2026–2030 .

• Who is affected: Farmers, food producers, university researchers, and related industries that could use new tools and products from this research .
• What changes: A new USDA center gives competitive grants, sets research priorities (microbiomes, gene editing, digital agriculture, fermentation, controlled environments), builds partnerships, and runs a public website to share findings .
• When: Grants begin within one year of enactment; updates to Congress every two years; funding is authorized for 2026–2030 .