[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 126 (Monday, July 19, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROTEIN DATA BANK IN THE 
                             UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 19, 2021

  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 50th 
anniversary of the Protein Data Bank (PDB) in the United States and its 
outsized impact on the scientific community. Established at Brookhaven 
National Laboratory in 1971, the PDB was created because researchers 
were unable to share the valuable information they collected due to the 
lack of advanced computer systems at that time. The PDB solved this 
problem by serving as a depository for three-dimensional structures of 
large, biological molecules--such as proteins, DNA, and RNA--and 
offered the data free of charge or restrictions on usage to individual 
researchers across the world. Since 1998, I am proud to say the PDB has 
been co-managed by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Today, 
the PDB archive in America hosts more than 180,000 structures of 
molecules found in all living organisms on the planet and is part of a 
worldwide network with other data centers in Europe and Asia.
  The PDB's legacy as the first open-access digital data resource in 
biology and medicine has led to countless breakthroughs and has 
democratized access to data in a way that has tremendously benefited 
the public. Each year, millions of researchers, scientists, educators, 
students, medical professionals, patients, patient advocates as well as 
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies around the world utilize the 
PDB for basic and applied research, STEM education, and the discovery 
of lifesaving medicines, particularly anti-viral and anti-cancer drugs. 
Examples of its profound impact include the more than two million 
structure data file downloads it generates per day; its contribution to 
over one million published research papers; and its enabling of 
research in many subject areas, ranging from Agriculture to Zoology.
  But this ambitious project would not have been possible without 
significant federal investment in scientific research. The National 
Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the National 
Institutes of Health all contribute funding to the PDB, which generates 
a return on investment 1,500 times more than federal dollars it 
receives. This kind of investment clearly demonstrates the importance 
of the government-university research partnership and why it is 
critical that we maintain and strengthen that partnership to bolster 
American innovation and competitiveness for years to come.
  In conclusion, Madam Speaker, I offer my congratulations to the PDB 
in the United States as it celebrates its first 50 years as a leading 
global resource for experimental data central to scientific discovery, 
and I look forward to its contributions to science and our society over 
the next 50 years.

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