LONDON 

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has urged allies to accelerate innovation and investment in biotechnology to strengthen the alliance’s military edge.

Speaking at NATO’s first Biotechnology Conference in Belgium on Tuesday, Rutte described the event as “a meaningful step” towards enhancing collaboration and harnessing the potential of biotechnology.

“Advancing innovation in biotechnology is a key part of this,” he said. “It will help ensure our militaries have the best and most enhanced capabilities.”

He stressed that modern defense required more than traditional military assets. “To stay safe, we don’t just need the tanks and the jets and the ships and the drones and the ammunition,” he said. “We also need to develop, to acquire, and to integrate biotechnology in our defense capabilities.”

He warned that competitors such as China and Russia were already advancing rapidly in the field.

He noted that “public funding for Chinese biotech research totaled at least $3 billion in 2023” and that China’s “strategy in this area weaponizes supply chains and trade restrictions.”

He also accused Russia of using biotechnology for covert purposes.

“It seeks, Russia, to exploit malicious tools, such as its biological weapons program, that it can use against its adversaries,” he said.

“We cannot allow them to seize the advantage,” Rutte warned, referring to China, Russia, and others, including North Korea and Iran.

Highlighting NATO’s own progress, he pointed to the alliance’s Biotechnology & Human Enhancement Strategy and the work of the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), which has funded “a total of 28 promising biotechnology companies” over the past two years.

He said biotechnology was already being used in military contexts, including telemedicine, blood provision, and wearable technologies that monitor fatigue and early signs of trauma.

“These applications improve the physical, the cognitive, and also the sensory abilities,” Rutte said. “It makes us stronger, and it makes us safer.”

Concluding his remarks, he called on allies “to ramp up efforts to ensure we remain at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution,” saying NATO has “the first-class infrastructure, the highly skilled workforce, robust research and development capabilities, and more.”