A bioeconomy is one based on the use of research and innovation in the biological sciences to create economic activity and public benefit. The U.S. bioeconomy is all around us: new drugs and diagnostics for improved human health, higher-yielding food crops, emerging biofuels to reduce dependency on oil, and biobased chemical intermediates. The public benefit gained through biological research can be seen through the eyes of a patient who received a critical medication that did not exist a decade ago, a farmer whose higher-yield crops are turned into fuels, food, and intermediate chemicals,...