On April 27, 2026, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a blog item entitled “Biotech start-ups in Europe: Why does the EU lag behind competitors and what can policymakers do about it? ” According to the item, evidence shows that Europe still lags competitors in biotech start-up creation, patenting, and venture capital funding. OECD’s blog item “unpacks the gap and explores how agile regulation and smarter financing tools” can help European Union...
May 4, 2026
Report Outlines Government Incentives Critical to Helping Businesses Scale Sustainable Chemicals
On April 22, 2026, Change Chemistry and the Sustainable Chemistry Catalyst at the University of Massachusetts Lowell published a report entitled Incentivizing Sustainable Chemicals: A Policy Framework for Innovation, Manufacturing, and Market Transformation, outlining why government incentives are critical to helping businesses scale more sustainable chemicals and how those incentives can reduce risk, unlock investment, and enable real market adoption. More than 50 U.S. and European companies...
April 30, 2026
USDA’s New Guidance Portal Includes Biotechnology Guidance
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on April 7, 2026, the creation of the USDA Guidance Portal, an online searchable, indexed database that contains guidance documents issued by USDA and its agencies that are currently in effect. Users can search all guidance documents in the library, or filter documents by date, agency (such as the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)), or topic (including biotechnology). USDA notes that the guidance documents lack the force and effect...
April 6, 2026
EPA’s Final RFS Set 2 Will “Strengthen American Energy Security, Support Rural Economies”
On April 1, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule establishing the applicable volumes and percentage standards for 2026 and 2027 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel (BBD), advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel. 91 Fed. Reg. 16388. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) “Set 2” final rule also partially waives the 2025 cellulosic biofuel volume requirement and revises the associated percentage standard due to a shortfall in cellulosic biofuel...
April 3, 2026
Senate Committee Will Hold Hearing on Fueling Innovation: The Role of Small Businesses in America’s Bioeconomy
The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will hold a hearing on April 7, 2026, on “Fueling Innovation: The Role of Small Businesses in America’s Bioeconomy.” The Committee will hear from two panels of witnesses: Panel 1 Dr. Alina Alexeenko-Peroulis, Co-Founder and President, LyoWave, Inc.; Reilly Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics and Chemical Engineering, Purdue University; Aaron Schacht, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Director, BiomEdit, Inc.; Derek...
April 3, 2026
APHIS Seeks Public Comment on Petition to Deregulate Corn Variety Developed Using Genetic Engineering
On March 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that it received a request to extend its determination of nonregulated status of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.’s DP23211 insect-resistant and glufosinate-ammonium-tolerant maize (corn) to DP51291 maize (corn). 91 Fed. Reg. 11028. APHIS states that similar to DP23211 corn, “DP51291 corn was genetically engineered to express the IPD072Aa protein for control of...
April 1, 2026
USDA Deregulates Corn Engineered for Insect Resistance
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on March 27, 2026, that it determined that MON 95275 maize (corn), developed using genetic engineering to produce two insecticidal proteins and a double-stranded Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) transcript to provide protection from feeding damage caused by targeted coleopteran (corn rootworm) insect pests, is no longer considered regulated. 91 Fed. Reg. 14805. APHIS states that its determination is...
The Council of the European Union (EU) announced on March 17, 2026, that it approved conclusions on the EU’s new bioeconomy strategy. As reported in our December 4, 2025, blog item, the European Commission (EC) announced on November 26, 2025, that it adopted a new Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy, “charting a way forward to build a clean, competitive and resilient European economy.” In its conclusions, the Council welcomes the strategy proposed by the EC...
March 30, 2026
GAO Report on Engineered Biofertilizers States Current Regulations May Not Be Equipped for Genetically Engineered Microbes
On March 16, 2026, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on engineered biofertilizers, which use genetic engineering and combine multiple strains of microbes to enhance their effectiveness. According to GAO, the opportunities of engineered biofertilizers include: Economic benefits: According to GAO, fertilizer costs have increased due to tight global supplies, energy shocks, and trade disruptions. GAO notes that increased crop yields and reduced fertilizer costs...
March 20, 2026
America’s Living Library Act Would Collect Genomic Information from Animals, Plants, Fungi, and Microbes on Public Lands
On March 5, 2025, Representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Alex Padilla (D-CA), all commissioners on the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB), introduced the America’s Living Library Act of 2026 (H.R. 7832, S. 4023). The bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to begin a project to collect, catalog, and sequence genomic information of animals, plants, fungi, and microbes on U.S. public lands. According to an...