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Human Genome News, May 1991; 3(1)
On January 24, W. Henson Moore, Deputy Secretary of Energy, spoke before the DOE Technology Transfer Seminar in Washington, D.C. Some of his remarks are excerpted and summarized in the article below.
The DOE science and technology mission, which encompasses fundamental research, technology development, and technology transfer, is critical to our nation's future. If fundamental research is the starting point, technology transfer must be the finish line. To fulfill our science and technology mission, we must ensure that knowledge moves efficiently up the chain from basic science to precompetitive technology and into the commercial marketplace.
This new emphasis on science and technology has come about for two reasons:
We have seen the enormous value of cutting-edge technology in the recent war in the Middle East-a testament to the quality of U.S. science and technology when they are consistently supported. We must all begin to work toward an equally high level of consistent support for nondefense research and development. We must promote an integrated process that encourages the natural evolution of basic science into precompetitive technologies, then into commercial systems, products, and jobs.
DOE, one of six federal agencies that account for almost all government R&D, has enormous resources to accomplish this mission. We have some 35,000 scientists and engineers, 14,000 trained technicians, and a budget of $6 billion this year, about equally divided between defense and nondefense. We must maximize the use of human and financial resources to accomplish technology transfer.
To achieve a dynamic, constructive working partnership between government and industry, we must first get the work of our laboratories better known. Second, we need to stop talking technology transfer and start doing it.
The key characteristics of such a partnership are a more-efficient negotiating process, localized decision making, and flexibility within a consistent framework. Other benefits of this strengthened partnership between government and industry are the following:
Modern technology, much like modern information, is extremely fragile and short-lived.
HGMIS Staff
The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v3n1).
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international 13-year effort, 1990 to 2003. Primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome. See Timeline for more HGP history.
Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.