Rounds Introduces Legislation to Expedite Scientific Research on Diseases

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) today introduced legislation to expedite scientific research on diseases through specimen collection. This is the first piece of legislation introduced using feedback from Rounds and Heinrich's American Science Acceleration Project (ASAP), a national initiative to support making American science 10 times faster by 2030.

The Homestake AI Act would establish a pilot program in the Department of Energy (DOE) focused on the collection, cataloguing and sequencing of whole genomes and metabolites from samples collected in unique locations. This includes locations exposed to extreme properties such as high heat or pressure, locations at extreme risk of destruction in coming decades and other locations that hold potential for finding useful organisms to help advance health care treatments.

The Homestake AI Act was inspired by the case of the Gila monster. The Gila monster, native to the deserts of North America, can survive on just a few meals a year due to a digestion-slowing hormone in its venom. This discovery helped pave the way for Ozempic, a drug for diabetes patients to manage blood sugar.

"The Homestake AI Act would take great strides to accelerate scientific research on diseases here in the United States," said Rounds. "Evidenced by the Gila monster, species who survive in extreme environments usually hold an interesting secret to doing so. Increasing the amount of data we collect from these specimens could unlock cures to diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and different types of cancers. I'm pleased to be unveiling our first piece of legislation related to our ASAP initiative. Thank you to everyone who provided information to make this legislation possible."

"We need to leave no stone unturned in the race to discover cures and treatments for cancer, diabetes, and dementia," said Heinrich. "Our Homestake AI Act will establish a new initiative at the Department of Energy that helps researchers harness the power of AI to identify, catalog, and sequence plants, animals, and microbes that may hold the secret to potential cures and treatments. This is how we keep America at the forefront of scientific innovation while saving lives."

Supporters of the Homestake AI Act include:

"The South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA) owns and operates the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, SD. SURF is America's Underground Lab and has a strong track record of supporting leading biological research deep underground," said Mike Headley, Executive Director of SDSTA and Lab Director at SURF. "We're excited to potentially play a role in the Extremophile Whole Genome Sequencing Initiative and thank Senators Rounds and Heinrich for their strong support of U.S. science leadership."

"Artificial intelligence is only as powerful as the infrastructure that supports it," said Dr. José-Marie Griffiths, Chancellor of Dakota State University. "The Homestake AI Act, the first legislative initiative of the American Science Acceleration Project led by Senator Mike Rounds and Senator Martin Heinrich, recognizes that the next generation of breakthroughs will depend not only on advanced computing, but also on access to rich, high-quality biological data. By investing in the collection, preservation, and accessibility of genomic and metabolic data, this act lays the foundation for AI-driven discoveries that could transform how we prevent, diagnose, and treat countless health challenges. Building this research infrastructure today will ensure the United States remains at the forefront of scientific innovation and discovery for decades to come."

"Biological organisms' diversity is an incredibly rich resource for America and the world," said Barry Dunn, President of South Dakota State University. "Their genomes carry the information we need to harness a diversity of organisms' unique properties for our greater use. The Homestake AI Act is a critically important step toward discoveries that will change the way we live."

"The Homestake AI Act underscores the tremendous potential of artificial intelligence and scientific discovery to improve lives. By strengthening scientific datasets and accelerating research, this initiative can help unlock new insights into some of our most pressing health challenges," said Sheila K. Gestring, President of the University of South Dakota. "At the University of South Dakota, we see every day how innovation, data-driven research and strong partnerships can advance knowledge and create meaningful impact. This legislation recognizes the value of investing in discovery today to improve health outcomes for future generations. We commend Senators Mike Rounds and Martin Heinrich for their leadership in advancing this forward-looking effort and strengthening America's capacity for scientific innovation."

"South Dakota Mines strongly supports the Homestake AI Act," said Dr. Brian Tande, President of the South Dakota School of Mines. "This bill would accelerate American science by using artificial intelligence and unique datasets to pursue breakthroughs in treating cancer, diabetes, dementia, and other serious diseases. It enhances the kind of bold research we do at Mines every day: driving innovation and improving lives."

"America's leadership in AI and biotechnology depends on building the scientific infrastructure that will power the next generation of discovery," said Ylli Bajraktari, CEO of the Special Competitive Studies Project Action Program. "The Homestake AI Act recognizes that the genomes and molecular diversity of living organisms represent a strategic and largely untapped resource for innovation. By investing in the systematic collection and analysis of these data, the United States can accelerate the development of new therapies, fuel AI-driven scientific breakthroughs, and strengthen our nation's leadership in innovation, economic competitiveness, and national security for decades to come."

"AlphaFold solved protein structure prediction only because researchers spent decades building the dataset behind it," said Josh New, Director of Policy at SeedAI. "The Homestake AI Act lets us jumpstart that process for genomics, treating untapped genomes as the national resource they are and turning them into an open library for American researchers that could speed new treatments for some of our worst diseases. The pace of scientific discovery is a choice, and the Homestake AI Act is a choice to move faster. This kind of effort is why we launched Accelerate Science Now, and SeedAI applauds Senators Rounds and Heinrich for their progress with the American Scientific Acceleration Project (ASAP) and commitment to keeping America the global leader in scientific discovery"

"We are grateful to Senators Rounds and Heinrich for their bipartisan leadership on the Homestake AI Act," said Chan Park, Head of U.S. and Canada Policy and Partnerships at OpenAI. "By creating a secure, interoperable collection of genomic data from extreme environments, this bill would give American scientists a powerful new resource to accelerate breakthroughs in medicine and other critical fields."

"I applaud the bipartisan effort of Senators Rounds and Heinrich to accelerate American scientific breakthroughs, especially those that directly improve individual health and well-being," said Pat Gelsinger, General Partner at Playground Global. "From its inception, Playground Global has taken big bets on hard problems. The Homestake AI Act similarly recognizes that technological advancement alone won't cure cancer; it requires a moonshot. By ensuring America secures and responsibly shares relevant data, this bill unlocks new innovation opportunities by addressing a significant bottleneck to medical scientific progress."

"The Homestake AI Act proposes the creation of a national biological data resource for research that can accelerate progress on longstanding health challenges while strengthening the nation's scientific and national security capabilities," said Fred Humphries, CVP of U.S. Government Affairs for Microsoft. "We commend Senators Rounds and Heinrich for their leadership."

"By supporting the collection, cataloguing, and sequencing of genomes and metabolites, the Homestake AI Act would help build a powerful scientific resource that could accelerate treatments for serious diseases, such as cancer," said Eliezer Van Allen, MD, Chandra Nohria Family Chair for AI in Cancer Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "Making these data broadly accessible to researchers, while safeguarding national security, is an important investment in American science that could save lives at Dana-Farber and across the country."

"For all human existence the language of life was an unreadable secret--until American scientists deciphered the DNA-based alphabet of life," said Daniel Gluesenkamp, Executive Director of the California Institute for Biodiversity. "Today, the Homestake AI Act gives America a golden library card to the most powerful library in existence. The Institute for Biodiversity applauds the ambitious plan: send the best scientists on Earth to collect the rarest and most imperiled creatures, leverage AI to turn their secrets into miraculous medicines and new materials and store these priceless samples in repositories secure against even meteor strike. This legislation seizes a strategic opportunity to secure some of the most valuable resources in the world, and ensure American leadership in the most crucial technologies of the 21^st century and beyond."

"Biomedical insights and innovation using AI begin with great data, and by preserving and sharing the genomes of extraordinary species, this bill helps turn nature's ingenuity into treatments and cures," said Tom Secunda of the Secunda Family Fondation. "The Secunda Family Foundation is proud to support the Homestake AI Act, and I thank Senator Rounds and Senator Heinrich for their leadership."

Click HERE for full bill text.

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