31 



I believe that legislation such as the Marine Biotechnology In- 

 vestment Act fulfills this objective and more. Such legislation will 

 establish a broad-based program within Sea Grant together with a 

 process to ensure that proposals are funded on the basis of sci- 

 entific merit. It builds upon Sea Grant's record of commitment to 

 marine biotechnology. It fosters the public-private partnerships 

 that are needed to produce the products that will create jobs and 

 economic growth, and it supports the training and education that 

 we need to ensure that we have the human resources that are re- 

 quired. 



Most importantly, such legislation authorizes a significant in- 

 crease in funding that represents a very substantial improvement 

 in the U.S. commitment to this exciting field. 



Mr. Chairman, I want to commend you for holding this hearing 

 and for playing a leadership role in bringing much needed atten- 

 tion to the enormous potential of marine biotechnology. I would 

 urge quick passage of new legislation to improve U.S. capabilities 

 in this field. 



Again, thank you for inviting me to testify today, and I would be 

 pleased to respond to any questions that you or other members of 

 the committee may have. 



[The prepared statement of Dr. Burris follows:] 



Prepared Statement of Dr. John E. Burris 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, for the opportunity to 

 testify today on the importance of marine biotechnology and the need for a stronger 

 Federal role in this area. My name is John Burris, and I am Director and Chief 

 Executive Officer of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massa- 

 chusetts, the oldest marine biological laboratory in the United States, and one of 

 the leading institutions in the field of marine biotechnology in the world today. I 

 speak both for myself and for the National Association of Marine Laboratories. 



Mr. Chairman, with your permission I would like to submit my written testimony 

 for the record, and provide the Committee with an overview of marine biotechnology 

 and its importance to society in my oral presentation. 



An enormously diverse assemblage of species occupies the marine environment 

 which covers approximately 70 percent of the earth s surface. By studying these 

 many organisms we will learn a great deal that will lead to the development of a 

 number of products and processes. Marine biotechnology, the application of our un- 

 derstanding of the biology of marine organisms, is certain to be a key technology 

 of the coming century. 



Through marine biotechnology one can expect to achieve a wide range of objec- 

 tives that includes: 



• promotion of economic growth and stimulation of new business opportunities; 



• creation of new, high-tech jobs for the 21st century; 



• development of new environmental and biomedical technologies; 



• improvement of America's global economic competitiveness in an emerging 

 growth industry in which the United States currently leads. 



Marine biotechnology offers broad range of applications that will revolutionize 

 our ability to better use marine resources and lead to the above objectives. I would 

 like to highlight a few of these promising applications: 



Biomaterials: A wide variety of compounds are already extracted from marine or- 

 ganisms, and many more are being sought. The best known of these are biopolymers 

 such as agar, algin, and carrageenan that are extracted by traditional methods from 

 marine algae and are used in applications as diverse as food stabilizers, capsules 

 for drugs, and coating for paper. As we learn more about the algae and are better 

 able to extract compounds or genetically manipulate the algae to produce more or 

 different biomaterials, one can expect even more biopolymers to emerge as useful 

 products. Another polymer, this time from the foot of the common blue mussel, is 

 an adhesive protein that may be used to repair knee ligaments or in dental cavities 

 and skin grafts. There are also many enzymes found in marine organisms that will 

 have applications. Already the high temperature stable enzymes isolated from bac- 



