Guest author Steph Batalis, PhD leads biotech policy research at CSET.
President Trump's administration recently recognized the importance of advanced biotechnology as a critical emerging technology, describing its “potential to reshape the global balance of power, spark entirely new industries, and revolutionize the way we live and work.” In this post, we'll use ETO's Map of Science to gauge how the United States stacks up in AI-driven biotech ("AIxBio") research. Our findings suggest that NIH and NSF funding plays a major role in American AIxBio research, with China poised to claim the lead if U.S. efforts fade.
In an earlier ETO blog post, we used the Map of Science to take a closer look at 15 “hot” research clusters in AI and biology. These rapidly growing groups of AIxBio research publications are pushing the envelope of technological progress, from using AI to design more efficient medicines to detecting important agricultural diseases in plants.
Today, we'll use the Map of Science’s summary view feature to identify authors, funders, and countries active across those same 15 "hot" AIxBio clusters. Our analysis points to three important trends in this important (though not exhaustive) domain of international technological competition that are worth watching.
First, the United States and China are running neck and neck in terms of research output in our “hot” AIxBio clusters. The United States and China produce the most scientific publications across the 15 clusters, with India following close behind. China's research strength could help it advance its interests in other domains: as CSET research has noted, countries that take the lead in biological research enjoy a greater influence on setting global norms, capturing economic benefits, and shaping the technological future.
Second, government funding has been a major driver of activity in these research areas. Exactly how major is tricky to pin down, since funding data in the Map of Science is incomplete; only about 1/3 of the papers across our 15 “hot” AIxBio clusters have associated funder data. But governments were by far the leading funders of the 9,109 papers in these clusters with funding data included, suggesting at a minimum that public funding plays a significant role in the AIxBio research ecosystem.
Third, just two U.S. federal agencies funded thousands of publications in these clusters: the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF). (The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), which also ranks highly on our list, is one of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers.) Their prominent role across these AIxBio clusters suggests that disrupting or reducing NIH and NSF funding could undermine American research production in this important domain; nearly all NIH and NSF funding goes to American research institutions. For its part, the Chinese government also plays a major role in funding research across these 15 clusters. China's National Natural Science Foundation was the top funder globally, and three other Chinese agencies appeared in the top 10.
Though NIH and NSF account for less than 1% of the federal budget, the Map of Science suggests they're important drivers of American research and competitiveness at the intersection of AI and biotechnology. By strategically prioritizing these agencies and sustaining their funding, the United States could amplify this momentum and solidify its position as a global leader in AIxBio research, with far-reaching economic, scientific, and medical benefits.
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