Summary
American medicine is a national security asset, as vital as the defense industrial base, the energy grid, and the semiconductor supply chain. The biotechnology sector that sustains our ability to produce medicines and other critical biomaterials is increasingly contested.
Biotechnology has joined semiconductors and artificial intelligence as a domain of global power, and America's long-standing lead is narrowing. In the semiconductor industry, we invested over $50 billion to bring the sector back to our shores; in 5G telecommunications, the United States ceded ground it still has not recovered. These examples serve as a warning that leadership in a strategic sector cannot always be won back and that, even when it can, the cost is sizable.
This literature review examines U.S. biosecurity: the nation's ability to invent, manufacture, and safeguard biotechnology and its products, in order to both manage the threats from and realize the benefits of biotechnology. Viewed through a national security lens rather than a purely economic one, the literature depicts a capacity under pressure from abroad and a hollowing out at home. The window for action is narrowing — roughly two years and closing — and meeting that challenge will demand a sustained, bipartisan commitment that outlasts any single administration or budget cycle.
Contents
- Biosecurity as a National Security Imperative
- Threats From Abroad
- Vulnerabilities at Home
- National Security Implications
- Future Outlook
- Evidence Base: Annotated Literature Map
This is a synthesis of existing public literature. Sources are drawn from federal government and congressional commissions, think tanks, universities, trade and standards bodies, and management consultancies. The annotated literature map points readers to the best sources on each topic.