BioP2P
Members of Congress gathered at Ginkgo’s Boston Seaport headquarters to discuss strategies for bolstering U.S. ability to compete in AI applications for biotechnology, and how to unlock innovation across applications of biotechnology.
Congressional representatives from the United States House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party toured Ginkgo’s existing 300,000 plus square foot facility and previewed Ginkgo’s new 250,000 plus square foot facility known as Biofab1 that is under construction. The Congressional members are focused on strengthening the U.S. bioeconomy and view it through a lens of national and economic security.
“Given that this is a critical technology with national security, economic, and ethical implications, we came here to talk to the experts and figure out the right strategy, so that we, and not the Chinese Communist Party, can dominate this technology and set ethical rules of the road,” said Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI), chairman of the United States House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
The Foundry and Biofab1 have taken on additional national security relevance in light of new generative AI capabilities. Generative AI stands to accelerate biotechnology R&D, offering pathways to breakthroughs in biopharma and across the economy. In that context, biological data is of renewed and particular importance.
Similar to how chip manufacturers and cloud computing companies have provided the economies of scale and specialization required to enable the digital economy, Ginkgo’s Foundry provides companies with the flexibility and scale required to more readily develop and commercialize bio-based products.
Biofab1 is expected to begin operations early next year and aims to significantly increase Ginkgo’s capacity to generate biological data.
The visit came ahead of Ginkgo Bioworks’ CEO Jason Kelly testifying on the committee’s hearing on the growing stakes of the bioeconomy and why its significance to American national security.
“We built the Foundry – and are building Biofab1 – to create more opportunities for our partners to innovate in health, agriculture, food, and across industries,” said Kelly. “Essentially, our facilities are factories that produce the biological data that powers the AI-enabled bioeconomy, and it was an honor to share them with members of the Committee.”
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