42 U.S.C. § 16317 — Systems biology program

(a) Program. (1) The Secretary^* must establish a research, development, and demonstration program in microbial and plant systems biology, protein science, computational biology, and environmental science for the Department’s energy, national-security, and environmental missions. (2) It must support individual researchers and multidisciplinary teams through competitive, merit-reviewed grants. (3) The Secretary must consult Federal agencies conducting genetic and protein research.

(b) Goals. The program must develop technologies and methods based on genome, microbe, and plant functions that can support fuel production, including hydrogen, in sustainable systems that reduce greenhouse gases; turn carbon dioxide into organic carbon; detoxify soil and water contaminated with heavy metals and radioactive materials, including at Department facilities; develop less resource- and land-intensive cellulosic and other feedstocks that sustainably use soil, water, energy, forests, and land and protect air, water, and soil; and address other Department missions identified by the Secretary.

(c) Plan. (1) Within 1 year after August 8, 2005, the Secretary must send Congress a research plan explaining how the program will meet subsection (b)’s goals. (2) The Secretary must contract with the National Academy of Sciences to review the plan and, within 18 months after sending the plan, send Congress the review and the Secretary’s response to its recommendations.

(d) Within the funds authorized by this part, money may be used to develop, plan, build, acquire, or operate special equipment, instruments, and facilities, including National Laboratory user facilities, for systems-biology, proteomics, and related biological research, development, demonstration, and commercial application.

(e) The Secretary may not conduct biomedical research under this program. Nothing here authorizes research or demonstrations on human cells or human subjects, or designed for direct application to human cells or subjects.

(f) Bioenergy research centers. (1) Under § 18644(a), the Director^* must support up to six centers for fundamental research in plant and microbial systems biology, biological imaging and analysis, and genomics; to speed advanced biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased materials, chemicals, and products from varied regional feedstocks; and to move results to industry. Activities may domesticate relevant plants, microbes, and microbial communities for valuable coproducts; develop sustainable processes for advanced biofuels and bioproducts from lignocellulosic biomass; and use genomics, molecular biology, catalysis, chemical engineering, systems biology, computing, and robotics to sustainably turn biomass into those products. (2) A center must be selected competitively and on merit for no more than 5 years, subject to appropriations. The Director must consider National Laboratories, multi-institution collaborations, and other suitable entities. A center existing on August 9, 2022, may receive support for no more than 5 years from its establishment. New centers must be selected competitively and on merit, with special consideration for higher-education institutions in eligible jurisdictions under § 13503(b)(3)(A). (3) After the applicable period, the Director may renew support for up to 5 years after merit review. A center operating for 10 years after its prior competitive selection may receive a competitive merit-based renewal of up to 5 years and may later receive one additional merit-based renewal of up to 5 years. (4) Centers must speed advanced biofuel and bioproduct production by identifying suitable energy-crop species and improving breeding, propagation, planting, production, harvesting, storage, and processing. Research may: (A) improve sustainability by studying crop interactions with living and nonliving environmental factors, identifying research with the greatest economic effect on production, and using multiscale models of cropping ecosystems; (B) improve lignocellulosic, algal, gaseous-waste including carbon-oxide and methane, and plant- or microbe-based direct-air-capture feedstocks by developing genetic, genomic, high-throughput, and biosystems tools; field-testing crops in environmentally benign and geographically varied conditions; and building experiment-based models of performance; (C) improve lignocellulosic breakdown and separation through feedstock-independent fractionation, understanding plant cell-wall formation, composition, structure, and properties during breakdown, and improving enzymes and methods for cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin processing; and (D) improve conversion by high-throughput screening of microbes and communities; creating platform organisms and communities and gene-function tests; increasing toxin tolerance and understanding it; advancing batch, continuous, and consolidated processing; creating efficient microbial and chemical routes to intermediates and products using environmentally benign processes; developing real-time in-place analysis before and after separation; finding useful target molecules and valuable products in existing and byproduct streams; improving plant feedstocks and lignin streams; and integrating biological and chemical catalysis to create varied advanced fuels and products. (5) Centers must create industry partnerships to move results into commercial use. (6) With the Department’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, the Secretary must support interdisciplinary work improving the capacity, efficiency, resilience, security, reliability, and affordability of advanced-biofuel and bioproduct production and use, while enabling positive effects and avoiding possible negative effects on ecosystems, people, and historically marginalized communities. (7) Congress authorizes $30,000,000 per center for each fiscal year 2023–2027 from the funds under § 18644(k). (8) “Advanced biofuel” has the meaning in 7 U.S.C. § 8101; “bioenergy” means energy from biofuels; “biomass” has the meaning in § 15852(b); and “bioproduct” has the meaning of “biobased product” in 7 U.S.C. § 8101.