National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2009. The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12592.
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Prepublication Copy 2008 National Academies Biology Summit The Role of the Life Sciences in Transforming America's Future Summary of a Workshop December 3, 2008 Committee on a New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution Board on Life Sciences Division on Earth and Life Studies THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu

Prepublication Copy THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. DHHS-5294, TO#209 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institute of Health and Contract/Grant No. NSF-8893 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project. Additional copies of this report are available from the Board on Life Sciences, 500 5th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001; (202) 334-1263 or the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu Copyright 2009 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America

Prepublication Copy The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org

Prepublication Copy COMMITTEE ON A NEW BIOLOGY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: ENSURING THE UNITED STATES LEADS THE COMING BIOLOGY REVOLUTION THOMAS CONNELLY, co-chair, DuPont Company PHILLIP SHARP, co-chair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology DENNIS AUSIELLO, Harvard Medical School CORNELIA BARGMANN, The Rockefeller University INGRID BURKE, University of Wyoming JOHN BURRIS, Burroughs Wellcome Fund JONATHAN EISEN, University of California, Davis PETER KIM, Merck Research Laboratories DOUGLAS LAUFFENBURGER, Massachusetts Institute of Technology WENDELL LIM, University of California, San Francisco MARY LIDSTROM, University of Washington MARGARET MCFALL-NGAI, University of Wisconsin ELLIOT MEYEROWITZ, California Institute of Technology SHOSHANA WODAK, University of Toronto KEITH YAMAMOTO, University of California, San Francisco Staff ANN REID, Study Director FRANCES SHARPLES, Director, Board on Life Sciences AMANDA CLINE, Senior Program Assistant STEVE OLSON, Consultant Writer iv

Prepublication Copy Acknowledgements This workshop summary has been reviewed in draft form by persons chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purposes of this review are to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published summary as sound as possible and to ensure that the summary meets institutional standards of objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following for their participation in the review of this summary: Deborah Blum, University of Wisconsin, Madison Thomas Connelly, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Margaret McFall-Ngai, University of Wisconsi, Madison Robert Nerem, Georgia Institute of Technology Muriel Poston, Skidmore College Phillip Sharp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse, nor did they see the final draft of the workshop summary before its release. The review of this summary was overseen by Marvalee H. Wake, University of California, Berkeley. Appointed by the National Research Council, she was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this summary was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this summary rests entirely with the author and the National Research Council. v

Prepublication Copy vi

Prepublication Copy Preface Many of the great global challenges of the 21st century – providing an expanding population with adequate food and water, reducing and adapting to climate change, conquering disease, ensuring adequate supplies of energy – could be met through the application of ideas emerging from the life sciences. In university, corporate, and government laboratories across the United States and throughout the world, scientists and engineers are creating the new knowledge and technologies that could create a better life for the billions of people living on earth today and the billions more who will be born during this century. Human ingenuity can solve the problems we face, just as it has many times in the past. But we need to move quickly to create the conditions that will allow human ingenuity to flourish. The tremendous potential of the life sciences was the central theme of a December 3, 2008, “Biology Summit” held by the National Academies’ Board on Life Sciences at the headquarters of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. Some of the nation’s leading scientists were asked to put aside their day-to-day administrative concerns and talk instead about where they see the life sciences headed and how to get there. The result was a fascinating mixture of visionary optimism and hard-headed policy advice. Nobel Prize winners, university and corporate presidents, and top government officials spoke enthusiastically about the research occurring in their laboratories and institutions and where that research could lead. They expressed frustration at opportunities that are not yet being grasped because of organizational, intellectual, or financial obstacles, and they offered ideas about how to make the future arrive sooner. Speakers at the meeting also discussed two of the most important developments taking place in science today: the ongoing unification of the life sciences, and the merging of important parts of the life sciences with the physical sciences and engineering into a single “transdisciplinary” endeavor directed at solving the major problems facing human society. This reorganization of science -- the most profound shift in the scientific enterprise since the professionalization of science in the second half of the 19th century -- could mark a turning point in the application of human knowledge to meet human needs. This publication summarizes the main points made at the Summit and highlights, in sidebars accompanying the main text, some of the new ideas and technologies described by the speakers. The meeting was organized by the Committee on a New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biological Revolution, which the two of us co-chair. The committee was formed by the National Academies to recommend actions that federal policymakers can take to ensure that the United States maintains and builds on its lead in the life sciences. The meeting served as input to a consensus report being prepared by the committee that lays out steps that can be taken to help achieve the great potential offered by the life sciences today. While it was not possible to cover all of the thriving areas of the life sciences in a one-day meeting -- for example, important work now being done on the functioning of whole organisms did not receive much discussion -- the Summit provided a broad overview of the field and a sense of the excitement that surrounds it. In his introductory remarks at the Summit, National Academy of Sciences president Ralph Cicerone made a remarkable observation. If each person living today vii

Prepublication Copy were allotted an equal space of all the world’s landmasses, that person would have to survive on a square of land measuring 150 meters on a side – about the area of four American football fields. With that much land per person, we must grow all our food, extract all our energy, sequester all our wastes, derive all our water, build all our roads and structures, and set aside space for the preservation of nature. Furthermore, by the year 2050, the global population is expected to grow from today’s 6.7 billion to more than 9 billion – reducing the area per person to three football fields. Humans could not have become as numerous and as successful as we are without science and technology. As our numbers grow, we will not continue to prosper without continued major advances in science and technology. The life sciences could lead the way to an even more successful future. All of us have a responsibility to help realize that vision. Thomas Connelly, DuPont Company Phillip Sharp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology viii

Prepublication Copy Table of Contents A Critical Time for the Life Science 1 The Promise of the Biological Sciences 2 The Rise of Transdisciplinary Science 7 Maximizing the Return on our Life Sciences Research Investment 10 Conclusion 13 Appendix A - Statement of Task 15 Appendix B - Workshop Agenda 17 Appendix C - Speaker Biographies 18 ix

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