WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) 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 will 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 legislation 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.
“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.”
“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.”
The full bill text is here.
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