The U.S. can’t have a vibrant “bio-based” manufacturing sector without an equally strong source of domestic materials to support it.

A bio-based economy draws on cutting-edge developments in biotechnology to support the ability of American manufacturers to make “anything and everything,” says Doug Friedman, chief executive officer of BioMADE, a U.S. Department of Defense-funded innovation institute. The irony is that, while the U.S. is a world leader in biotechnology, it hasn’t translated that position into becoming a domestic biomanufacturing powerhouse. The reasons are twofold, says Friedman: too much reliance on global imports of basic materials, and too few skilled workers in the biotechnology field. On this episode, Friedman explains why there’s been relatively little progress in fashioning a domestic biotechnology supply chain, what must be done to make it happen, and why securing the U.S. bio-economy and supply chain is “a national security priority.” Hosted by Bob Bowman, Editor-in-Chief of SupplyChainBrain.

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Show notes:

An article about BioMADE: “Revitalizing U.S. Biomanufacturing and Fostering Collaboration.”