Biophotonics leads list of recommendations

Biophotonics is at the top of a prioritized list of seven recommendations put forth last month by the U.S. government's Fast Track Action Committee on Optics and Photonics (FTAC-OP).

"The FTAC-OP strongly believes that support of these recommendations will accelerate basic research progress and applications in optics and photonics," reads a letter introducing the recommendations. Signed by The Committee on Science (CoS), National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), the letter explains that progress in these areas "has the potential to generate new knowledge, promote economic growth, create new industries and new high-skilled jobs, and provide technologies for new applications."

The letter precedes a report titled "Building a Brighter Future with Optics and Photonics." The report's A1 recommendation, described under the heading Biophotonics to Advance Understanding of Systems Biology and Disease Progression, summarizes the significant contributions of photonics and optics to life sciences (from medicine to agriculture) and then sets forth research foci, ways in which federal agencies can facilitate progress, how progress might be measured, and potential impacts of biophotonics-based breakthroughs.

SPIE has posted the entire report on its website; in case you’d like more information on the FTAC-OP, the CoS, and the NSTC, you can find that on page 3 of the document.