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2008 SESSION

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HJ 248 Biosciences and biotechnology; joint subcommittee to study and advance development and enhancement.

Introduced by: Mark D. Sickles | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS PASSED: (all summaries)

Study; Development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology.  Creates a joint subcommittee to study and advance the development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology in the Commonwealth.

In conducting its study, the joint subcommittee shall, among other things, (i) review and implement appropriate and efficacious recommendations of state and national research investigations in the disciplines of bioscience and biotechnology, including the Governor’s Commission on Biotechnology; (ii) examine, continue, and enlarge the work begun by the Governor’s Commission on Biotechnology, including, but not limited to, determining how Virginia’s research universities, federal and state laboratories, biotechnology incubators, research parks, private industry, and other major resources can be leveraged to help make Virginia a more attractive location for the development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology industry; (iii) determine how these resources may increase the development of the biotechnology industry through technology transfer and commercialization of new ideas and discoveries; (iv) assess how strategic initiatives in bioscience and biotechnology may generate economic development and investment in Virginia, particularly in rural and urban regions of the Commonwealth; (v) examine Virginia’s workforce development status, including education, supply, and training needs relative to supporting viable bioscience research and biotechnology industry in the Commonwealth; (vi) evaluate the capacity of bioscience and biotechnology to protect and preserve Virginia’s natural resources; and (vii) develop and recommend a strategic and visionary plan that implements certain of the recommendations deemed feasible and appropriate, establishes Virginia as a national and global leader in bioscience and biotechnology research and application by 2018, and enables the Commonwealth to maintain its national and global leadership thereafter.

During the course of its study, the joint subcommittee shall ensure the participation and contribution of representatives of Virginia's public research institutions of higher education, the Center for Innovative Technology, the private biotechnology industry, and the Secretary of Technology. The joint subcommittee shall also ensure the involvement of representatives of agricultural and tobacco interests, federal laboratories in Virginia involved in research and technology transfer in life sciences, and the not-for-profit life science and research institutions and laboratories in the Commonwealth.


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