Biologically-based Approaches for Communication and Transmission of Information

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine were asked to establish a standing committee to identify future biotechnology needs for national security. The standing committee identifies and explores in detail new and emerging research and development of biotechnologies of interest to national security. A subset of the standing committee also serve on an ad hoc consensus study report committee, which explores the national security relevance of biotechnology developments discussed by the standing committee. The Statement of Task for the consensus study committee is included in Box 1. The committee chose to focus on recent research involving biologically-based approaches and technologies for transmitting information.

The report describes current research on DNA, protein, and small molecule–based approaches for transmitting information and the nascent field of molecular communication. The report provides findings, conclusions, and recommendations for further investment, particularly for early-stage research and/or adoption of more mature technologies.