July
23, 2002
Remarks by Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham
Grant Announcement
Genomes to Life Program
Ray (Orbach),
thank you for that kind introduction. It's
a pleasure to be here today. Let me also thank
Ray for his really outstanding leadership
of our science program here at DOE. We were
together yesterday at Argonne National Laboratory
with the President for a tour and briefing
on science, technology and homeland security.
Being at one of our labs gives you a real
sense of not only how complex our science
program is, but also how utterly critical
it is to the national interest. Ray Orbach
is the right person to lead this program and
we are glad he's with us.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge some
special guests in our audience. The directors
of our National Laboratories are with us today
... so let me welcome you to the Department
and thank you for breaking away from your
meeting to come to this event.
You run research programs that are the envy
of the world ... direct facilities that are
unparalleled in the world of science, and
you are the place we turn to when there is
trouble on the horizon. I want you to know
how much I personally appreciate what you
are doing for this nation.
We are here this morning to announce a major
event in one very important part of our science
program.
Today I am pleased to name the first set of
grants to support research that will put the
wonders of the biotech and computing revolution
to work for our energy future.I am joined
on the stage by representatives from the laboratories
and universities that will use these grants
to take us the next step in using biology
in ways that just a decade ago could hardly
even be imagined. Welcome to you all.
Each of us is familiar - sometimes in very
personal ways - with the good that comes from
biotechnology. Because of DNA mapping, drugs
can now be designed to attack specific, and
deadly cancers. Now that science knows the
detailed make up of our genes, it can kill
diseases in our body before they even have
a chance to make us ill. Greater wonders ...
cures for some of the cruelest diseases ...
are just over the horizon.
But we are often less aware that the same
biotech revolution that offers such promise
for human health, is also a powerful tool
for clean energy and a cleaner environment.
So when people ask why DOE is concerned with
biotechnology, I've got a simple answer. If
we weren't, we would have to begin a biotech
program immediately.
But we have such a program and it's called
Genomes to Life. Genomes to Life will use
the knowledge and tools of the biotech revolution
- especially the power of supercomputers -
for the widest possible goals ... goals that
take us into areas that would just a decade
ago have been regarded as science fiction.
The potential for using the productive powers
of nature found in microorganisms to solve
a host of environmental challenges including
waste clean up ... and the potential of biotechnology
to give us a long-term supply of clean, domestically
produced, energy is just too great to ignore.
I'm proud of the fact that the men and women
of DOE knew this before virtually anyone else.
This Department began the human genome program
in 1986. And we are carrying the program through
with other agencies ... and with scientists
from around the world ... until the entire
human genome is mapped by next spring.
We are now ready for the next step. That next
step is to begin funding for the Genomes to
Life Program.
We are now ready to use the technology and
science that are the fruits of the human genome
program for a vast array of new purposes.
Let me give an example.
Our researchers have mapped the genome of
a strange bug that can live quite happily
in an environment with one million times the
radiation a human cell could tolerate.
It's called CONAN THE BACTERIUM.
Now that we have sequenced this bug we are
ready to turn it to our own uses. We can combine
the radiation resistance properties of CONAN
with other bacteria to produce a power tool
for nuclear waste clean up. A powerful tool
that can give deliver huge savings in time
and money.
We can make bugs eat carbon dioxide, we can
get trees to grow in soil and climate that
are barren today and create hydrogen for tomorrow's
fuel cells --to say nothing of broad uses
in the war on terrorism.
All of this ... and more ... may be the results
of the research we launch today.
But this research stands on the shoulders
of discoveries made precisely because DOE
was willing to take the risk and begin a program
in gene sequencings some 15 years ago.
This is why science at DOE is so important.
We are willing to undertake basic research
for the nation because we know the risk-taking
... and really entrepreneurial spirit ...
of fundamental science is the best way to
speed discovery and give us the tools to lead
us into a new age.
Just last week I had the great pleasure of
giving awards to seven of America's most outstanding
young researchers who had been funded by this
Department. Each was pursuing complex and
cutting edge basic science -- from nanotechnology
to genome research. In fact, one of these
scientists is going to be working in a program
whose grant we are announcing today.
The next day I joined these seven young scientists
at the White House where President Bush recognized
them for the contributions they are making
to this nation through their research.
The President told them,
"My administration is continuing a great
tradition. Whether finding cures for diseases
or learning how to better predict natural
disasters or developing information technology
that unites the world, government funded basic
research expands knowledge and learning and
helps our people to live longer and healthier
and more satisfying lives. We are committed
to basic research from the federal government.
And we will keep that commitment so long as
we're here."
So we have many reasons to be proud of our
role in backing the kind of basic research
the President was talking about. Proud of
what it has accomplished so far, and proud
of the great potential for the future demonstrated
by the terrific young talent we've supported.
Some of the talent DOE has supported over
the years is with me here on the stage.We
are looking to each of you, and to the institutions
that you represent, to bring us closer to
a day when the possibilities of biotech for
our energy future are as clear and well understood
as they are for human health.
These researchers aren't working alone in
some quiet lab. They represent teams of more
than 150 scientists at 26 public and private
research laboratories. This kind of work requires
many minds, from different fields, working
together.
Now let me recognize each of our recipients.
• Dr. Adam Arkin from Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory
• Dr. Michelle Buchanan from Oak Ridge
National Laboratory
• Dr. George Church from Harvard University
• Dr. Grant Heffelfinger from Sandia
National Laboratory
• Dr. Derek Loveley from the University
of Massachusetts, Amherst
I look forward to following the progress of
your ground breaking research and seeing how
quickly you can help us solve some really
pressing and critical national challenges.
On behalf of the entire DOE family, congratulations.
Thank you all again for coming.
