拜登发问智囊团 中美合成生物学竞争升级

美国第46任当选总统拜登-哈里斯在给总统科学顾问和白宫科技政策办公室(OSTP)主任 埃里克·兰德的任命信中强调:

从人工智能到合成生物学,新技术的更迭周期正在加快,特别是在中国大力扶持新兴科技产业的情况下,如何在科技和产业的国际竞争中保持领先地位对美国未来经济发展和国家安全至关重要。

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021年1月16日,第46任美国当选总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)宣布任命遗传学家、麻省理工学院教授埃里克·兰德为总统科学顾问和白宫科技政策办公室(OSTP)主任,并在历史上首次将总统科学顾问升至总统内阁级别。

“将这一职位升入内阁,清楚地预示着这一届政府计划将科学专业性融入政策制定的每个方面。”美国科学促进会(AAAS)执行主席苏蒂普·帕里克(Sudip Parikh)在一份回应声明中称。

拜登在给埃里克·兰德的任命信中就中美合成生物学竞争发问:

在对美国的经济繁荣和国家安全至关重要的未来技术和产业中,美国如何确保自身处于世界领先地位,特别是在与中国的竞争中?

从人工智能到合成生物学,新技术更迭的周期越来越快,有望改变我们的生活。每一项技术都带来不同的承诺和挑战,每一项都有可能带来对工作岗位、平等和国家安全的极大影响。

其他国家,特别是中国,正在进行空前的投资,并竭尽全力促进新兴产业的增长,掩盖住美国在科技方面的领导地位。我们的未来取决于我们是否有能力,在这些决定未来经济的领域之中,与我们的竞争对手保持同步。

美国的正确策略必然与我们的竞争对手不同,但也可能与我们过去的战术有所不同。正确的国家投资标准是什么?什么是能够迅速推动关键技术研发的国家战略的支柱?需要什么结构,基础设施和政策来加速从研发实验室到开发项目再到市场的道路?我们如何加强和扩大学术界,工业界和政府之间的联系,这在历史上是否也一直是推动技术进步和保护国家安全的关键因素?更重要的是,我们如何确保创造更多的技术进步而不是减少高质量的就业机会?

被提名和任命的科学成员名单:

白宫科技政策办公室主任、总统科学顾问:

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埃里克·兰德(Eric Lander)是麻省理工学院生物学教授和哈佛医学院系统生物学教授,麻省理工学院-哈佛大学博德研究所(Broad Institute)的主席和创始人,人类基因组计划(Human Genome Project)的主要领导者之一。

白宫科技政策办公室副主任:Alondra Nelson

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社会科学研究委员会主席和高级研究所社会科学学院的Harold F. Linder主席

是科学、政策和社会不平等交叉领域的专家

白宫科技政策办公室主管:Kei Koizumi

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Kei Koizumi是美国国家科学基金会机构审评团队的负责人

美国科学技术政策办公室(OSTP)机构审评团队的成员

白宫科技政策办公室立法事务主任:Narda Jones

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Narda Jones是美国参议院商业、科学和运输委员会(Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation)民主党人士的高级技术政策顾问

总统科学顾问委员会联合主席:Frances H. Arnold

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Frances H. Arnold是第一位获得诺贝尔化学奖的美国女性

现任Linus Pauling化学工程、生物工程和生物化学教授,加州理工学院Rosen生物工程中心主任

总统科学顾问委员会联合主席:Maria Zuber

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Maria Zuber是地球物理学教授,麻省理工学院副院长

首位领导美国国家航空航天局(NASA)航天器任务的女性,也是首位领导麻省理工学院(MIT)科学系的女性

美国国立卫生研究院院长:Francis S. Collins

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Francis S. Collins是美国国家医学研究院和美国国家科学院的当选议员

2007年11月被授予总统自由勋章

2009年获得美国国家科学勋章

2020年被选为英国皇家学会的外国成员,并获得第五十届邓普顿奖


给埃里克·兰德博士的任命信全文如下:

Eric S. Lander, 

Ph.D.President and Founding Director

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Dear Dr. Lander:

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authored a letter to his science advisor, Dr. Vannevar Bush, posing the question of how science and technology could best be applied to benefit the nation’s health, economic prosperity, and national security in the decades that would follow the Second World War. Dr. Bush’s response came in the form of a report, titled Science—the Endless Frontier, that would form the basis of the National Science Foundation and set the course of scientific discovery in America for the next 75 years.

Those years have brought about some of the most consequential scientific advancements in human history with America leading the way. But three quarters of a century later, the contours of our lives have changed. Technologies and industries have risen and fallen, and the emergence of the digital arena has redefined the ways we innovate, communicate, and experience the world. And the nature of discovery itself has changed by leaps and bounds—reaching celestial heights, and microscopic complexities, that were unimaginable not so long ago.

For this reason, I believe it is essential that we refresh and reinvigorate our national science and technology strategy to set us on a strong course for the next 75 years, so that our children and grandchildren may inhabit a healthier, safer, more just, peaceful, and prosperous world. This effort will require us to bring together our brightest minds across academia, medicine, industry, and government—breaking down the barriers that too often limit our vision and our progress, and prioritizing the needs, interests, fears, and aspirations of the American people.

President Roosevelt asked Dr. Bush to consider four specific questions. Today, I am tasking you and your colleagues with five. My hope is that you, working broadly and transparently with the diverse scientific leadership of American society and engaging the broader American public, will make recommendations to our administration on the general strategies, specific actions, and new structures that the federal government should adopt to ensure that our nation can continue to harness the full power of science and technology on behalf of the American people.

1. What can we learn from the pandemic about what is possible—or what ought to be possible—to address the widest range of needs related to our public health?

Even as we work urgently to overcome the coronavirus pandemic, we must learn from this moment by grappling with the challenges, inequities, and opportunities we’ve seen in order to better prepare for the future. 

How can we dramatically improve our ability to rapidly address threats from pathogens, including emerging pandemics, potential bioweapons, and antibiotic resistance? How can we dramatically speed our ability to develop and conduct clinical trials of therapies for other types of diseases like cancer? How can we enable the rapid sharing, with patient consent, of health information to build a smarter and more effective healthcare system? How can we use telemedicine to improve health for all Americans?

2. How can breakthroughs in science and technology create powerful new solutions to address climate change—propelling market-driven change, jump-starting economic growth, improving health, and growing jobs, especially in communities that have been left behind?

Climate change represents an existential threat that requires bold and urgent action. But at the same time, the necessity of solving it also presents us with an extraordinary opportunity to make groundbreaking investments in our infrastructure, enhance America’s resilience, promote environmental justice, and create new cutting-edge industries and millions of good-paying jobs that will advance American leadership for generations to come. 

Achieving our commitment of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require deploying existing, cost-effective clean energy technologies manufactured in America; drawing on innovative solutions to capture and store carbon; and spurring American technological ingenuity to develop new zerocarbon technologies that can reshape the marketplace. This effort will fortify our economy for the future, create a durable stream of good-paying union jobs in communities across the country, and reassert American leadership on climate change around the globe.

The United States has a long, successful, and bipartisan history of using federal research, purchasing, and policies to help jumpstart critical industries—including, for example, when we pioneered and led the semiconductor industry. How can we refresh that model to deliver a healthier, safer, more prosperous, and sustainable future for our children, while preserving our natural environment for future generations? 

3. How can the United States ensure that it is the world leader in the technologies and industries of the future that will be critical to our economic prosperity and national security, especially in competition with China?

From artificial intelligence to synthetic biology, new technologies are emerging in increasingly rapid cycles that promise to transform our lives. Each arrives with a distinct set of promises and challenges—and each carries the capacity to dramatically impact job creation, equity, and national security.

Other countries—especially China—are making unprecedented investments and doing everything in their power to promote the growth of new industries and eclipse America's scientific and 23 technological leadership. Our future depends on our ability to keep pace with our competitors in the fields that will define the economy of tomorrow.

The right strategy for the United States will necessarily differ from that of our competitors, but it will also likely differ from our own past playbook. What is the right level of national investment, and what are the pillars of a national strategy that will rapidly propel both research and development of critical technologies? What structures, infrastructures, and policies are needed to accelerate the path from research laboratories to development projects to the marketplace? How can we strengthen and expand the connections between academia, industry, and government, which have historically been crucial for advancing technology and protecting national security? And, importantly, how do we ensure that technological advances create rather than diminish high-quality jobs?

4. How can we guarantee that the fruits of science and technology are fully shared across America and among all Americans?

The benefits of science and technology remain unevenly distributed across racial, gender, economic, and geographic lines. How can we ensure that Americans of all backgrounds are drawn into both the creation and the rewards of science and technology? How can we ensure that science and technology hubs flourish in every part of the country, driving economic development in every American hometown? How can we ensure that advances in medical science benefit the health of all Americans, including substantially reducing racial and socioeconomic health disparities?

5. How can we ensure the long-term health of science and technology in our nation? 

Science and technology have flourished in the United States because of a rich ecosystem of people, policies, and institutions. This ecosystem must be nurtured and refreshed to succeed in a rapidly changing world. 

How can we protect scientific integrity within government—and make government a premier destination for scientists and technologists to work? How can we address stresses on academic research labs and promote creative models for federal research support? How can we reimagine and transform STEM education, empowering teachers and deploying technology to enhance the educational experience? How can we ensure the United States will remain a magnet for the best and brightest minds throughout the world? 

I believe that the answers to these questions will be instrumental in helping our nation embark on a new path in the years ahead—a path of dignity and respect, of prosperity and security, of progress and common purpose. They are big questions, to be sure, but not as big as America’s capacity to address them. I look forward to receiving your recommendations—and to working with you, your team, and the broader scientific community to turn them into solutions that ease everyday burdens for the American people, spark new jobs and opportunities, and restore American leadership on the world stage.

Sincerely,

Joseph R. Biden, Jr.