Biotechnology can Expand Access to Critical Minerals and Protect Supply Chains

Biotechnology can Expand Access to Critical Minerals and Protect Supply Chains 

Supply chain security is crucial for U.S. national security, but dependence on China for critical minerals leaves us vulnerable. Using biotechnology, the U.S. can reduce foreign dependence by accessing untapped domestic sources of critical minerals. 

4 FEBRUARY 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC – Today the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) released a fact sheet on biotechnology solutions for critical minerals and convened last week with experts from industry and academia. 

Supply chain security is a crucial part of national security, and critical minerals are a vital component of many critical supply chains. Right now, the United States is overly reliant on China for its supply of critical minerals. Biotechnology creates new paths to reduce our reliance on China by unlocking new sources of critical minerals right here in the United States. 

The recently-announced Project Vault and other efforts to address vulnerabilities in U.S. critical minerals supply chains should leverage emerging biotechnology as a key enabling technology to extract or recycle these valuable materials. 

Read the fact sheet here. Highlights include: 

• Substantial quantities of critical minerals sit untouched inside the United States mixed in with mining waste and currently considered unusable by conventional extraction methods.  
• Biotechnology companies are tailoring biology to specifically target and extract critical minerals from complex mixtures, such as mining waste and disused electronics. 
• At scale, this new method of sourcing could help meet our domestic demand for critical minerals, while mitigating the economic and national security risk of our overreliance on China. 

The expert group concluded that to meet our critical minerals challenges, innovation is key, and improving our ability to engineer biology will improve our ability to access new sources of critical minerals. Biology is already routinely used in separation, and with additional engineering these solutions could be even more efficient and effective. Biotechnology can open new frontiers by extracting critical minerals from untapped domestic sources. 

“Having a biotechnology solution for critical minerals is not just a major leap in innovation, it is a national security imperative,” said NSCEB Chairman Senator Todd Young. “As the United States competes with China for technological leadership, securing resilient, domestic supplies of critical minerals is essential to protecting our defense, energy, and advanced manufacturing sectors.”  

“By harnessing biological systems to extract critical minerals from new sources, we are redefining what resource extraction can look like in the 21st century,” said NSCEB Commissioner Angela Belcher. “This precise approach unlocks new domestic supply pathways, secures U.S. critical mineral supply chains, and helps insulate crucial U.S. technologies from geopolitics.” 

 

About NSCEB: The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology is a time-limited, high-impact legislative branch advisory entity whose purpose is to advance and secure biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and associated technologies for U.S. national security and to prepare the United States for the bioindustrial revolution. The Commission published a comprehensive report in April 2025, including recommendations for action by Congress and the federal government. The bipartisan Commission is composed of Congressionally-appointed Commissioners with members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as experts from industry, academia, and government. For more information about the Commission and to view the report, visit: biotech.senate.gov.

Contacts:

NSCEB: press@biotech.senate.gov