Sustaining the Goose That Lays Golden Eggs: How to Continue Miraculous Biotech Advances

Since the end of World War II there has been a strong, bipartisan consensus in the United States that basic research, funded largely by the U.S. government, lays the foundation for scientific progress that drives economic growth. It is, indeed, the goose that lays golden eggs. Republicans and Democrats quibbled about details, but shared a general, broad consensus in support of this proposition. The return on investment has been dramatic.

But abrupt policy reversals and dramatic budget cuts to broad swaths of government functions by the present administration, most particularly to the principal scientific agencies—the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy—have canceled, or stalled, thousands of ongoing grants and put the future of the U.S. research enterprise in doubt. Even though multiple, sometimes conflicting court decisions have ruled the cuts and layoffs illegal, the consequent chaos and confusion has disrupted lives and livelihoods of the essential agents of the research enterprise. Competitor nations have jumped to attract researchers from the U.S. to relocate to their countries, and many are doing so while many more continue to contemplate the opportunities.

The multiple negative impacts of these policy shifts have been widely noted. But amid the ongoing political tumult and policy upheaval it is worthwhile to review some of the continuing scientific fruits recently reported thanks to the longstanding bipartisan support for basic research in the life sciences. Here are a handful:

▪ May 15, 2025—the world’s first personalized CRISPR therapy given to baby with genetic disease: A baby with a rare genetic disease that kills at least half of those afflicted has been cured by scientists in Philadelphia using gene editing. The method developed could be applied to thousands of other genetic disease afflicting millions of patients.

▪ May 5, 2025—researchers delete proteins in wheat that are harmful to people with celiac disease: About one in every hundred people round the world have celiac disease, in which an abnormal immune system response to the presence of certain proteins in bread wheat can trigger a host of negative health impacts. Scientists deleted one of the major wheat proteins (using gamma radiation induced deletions, but which could be replicated with CRISPR like gene editing as well) in a move that could reduce the potential of wheat to trigger celiac disease.

▪ February 24, 2025—CRISPR transforms ordinary fat cells into cancer killing machines: Scientists have used CRISPR gene editing to turn fat cells into cancer-fighting machines that out compete tumor cells for nutrients, thus disrupting their growth. This novel approach could help overcome weaknesses in current cancer treatment regimes.

▪ May 4, 2025—India unveils world’s first genome-edited rice: Indian scientists have used gene editing to improve two local rice varieties to better resist salt and drought, with anticipated yield gains of 25 to 30 percent. The approach taken falls outside the scope of Indian regulations aimed at genetically engineered crops, thus decreasing the time to bring the new varieties to market, which is expected in 4 to 5 years.

▪ April 30, 2025—FDA okays a genus gene edit to breed PRRS-resistant pigs: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a major problem for swine production globally, negatively impacting herd health, increasing antibiotic use, production costs, and constricting supply. The Pig Improvement Company (PIC, a subsidiary of UK based Genus, plc) recently received FDA approval to bring swine with gene edited resistance to PRRS to market, a development that should have considerable positive global impacts.

▪ July 1, 2025—a genetically engineered chestnut tree, grown in Syracuse, moves one step closer to release: In the nineteenth century, the American chestnut made up one of every four trees in the eastern deciduous forests of the United States, its nuts providing food for myriad creatures and driving a significant sector of the rural economy. A fungal disease introduced from Europe in 1904 killed all but a few scattered remnants. A genetically engineered variety that researchers at Syracuse University have improved to resist the fungus is now in the final stages of regulatory approval by USDA, the last substantial hurdle that must be cleared before restoration efforts can go large scale.

▪ May 26, 2025—India’s first gene-edited sheep is born: Indian researchers used gene editing to tweak a gene that controls muscle mass. The intervention promises to increase meat yields by 30 percent or more.

▪ June 3, 2025—malaria eradication is now seen as within reach: With support from the Gates Foundation, Target Malaria scientists have devised a method of producing sterile female mosquitoes. Produced in quantity and released into local populations, these have the potential to help eradicate targeted populations of the world’s most dangerous (to humans) animal. This holds great promise for efforts at eliminating malaria.

▪ May 14, 2025—science weaponizes our immune system to target aggressive brain tumors: Researchers have harnessed the tools of modern biotechnology to develop new, multipronged therapies that show promise in tackling fearsome, deadly, difficult to treat cancers like the glioblastoma that killed former President Biden’s son, Beau.

At the same time valuable fruits such as these are ripening, the unprecedented power of the new biological tools developed through basic research continues to improve. While CRISPR has delivered previously unimagined power to research and development teams around the world, new discoveries and refinements continue to arrive.

Overcoming the technical obstacles of converting such insights to practical tools and products is difficult, but as the record shows, it can be done. In many cases, however, the primary barrier now impeding the path of such innovative solutions to the market is excessive regulation, which is everywhere around the world in need of correction.

The most egregiously counterproductive and indefensible regulatory policies hampering biotechnological innovations over the last four decades have been in Europe, as we have noted previously. But there are signs of progress. The EU is thrashing its way toward a revamping of regulations widely admitted to be ill-considered, and a UK parliamentary committee has “greenlit gene edited plants.” But the situation in the United States is unsettled on several levels.

Although the last three administrations have mandated updates and improvements to reduce unjustified regulatory burdens on biotech innovations, only small steps have been taken where large ones are required, and the present administrative turmoil threatens to impede improvements. A recent court case overturned existing regulations, producing uncertainty and confusion that nevertheless opens some doors. The tools to fix this are in hand, and a wide basis of political support remains intact. Specific roadmaps have been provided, by ourselves and others. There are few things this administration could do that would have a more beneficial long-term impact on the ability of American innovators to deliver solutions to urgent problems. It’s time to save the golden goose.