CHALLENGES FOR THE CHEMICAL SCIENCES IN THE 21ST CENTURY NATIONAL SECURITY & HOMELAND DEFENSE COMMITTEE ON CHALLENGES FOR THE CHEMICAL SCIENCES IN THE 21ST CENTURY BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY DIVISION ON EARTH AND LIFE STUDIES THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS • 500 Fifth Street, N.W. • Washington, D.C. 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. Support for this study was provided by the American Chemical Society; the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under Contract No. MDA972-01-M-0001; the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. under Contract No. SG00-093; the National Institute of Standards and Technology under Contract No. NA1341-01-W-1070; the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute under Contract No. N0-OD-4-2139; the National Science Foundation under Contract No. CTS-9908440; the U.S. Department of Energy/ Basic Energy Science under Contract No. DE-FG02-00ER15040; the U.S. Department of Energy/ Office of Industrial Technologies under Contract No. DE-AT01-01EE41424; and the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency under Contract No. CR828233-01-0. All opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project. International Standard Book Number 0-309-08504-7 Additional copies of this report are available from: The National Academies Press th 500 5 Street, N.W. Box 285 Washington, DC 20055 800-624-6242 202-334-3313 (in the Washington Metropolitan Area) http://www.nap.edu Copyright 2002 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meet- ing national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the respon- sibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org ORGANIZING COMMITTEE FOR THE WORKSHOP ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND HOMELAND DEFENSE JOHN L. ANDERSON, Carnegie Mellon University, Co-Chair JOHN I. BRAUMAN, Stanford University, Co-Chair JACQUELINE K. BARTON, California Institute of Technology, Steering Committee Liaison MARVIN H. CARUTHERS, University of Colorado LIANG-SHIH FAN, Ohio State University LARRY E. OVERMAN, University of California, Irvine MICHAEL J. SAILOR, University of California, San Diego JEFFREY J. SIIROLA, Eastman Chemical Company, Steering Committee and BCST Liaison Staff JENNIFER J. JACKIW, Program Officer CHRISTOPHER K. MURPHY, Program Officer SYBIL A. PAIGE, Administrative Associate DOUGLAS J. RABER, Senior Scholar DAVID C. RASMUSSEN, Program Assistant iv COMMITTEE ON CHALLENGES FOR THE CHEMICAL SCIENCES IN THE 21ST CENTURY RONALD BRESLOW, Columbia University, Co-Chair MATTHEW V. TIRRELL, University of California, Santa Barbara, Co-Chair JACQUELINE K. BARTON, California Institute of Technology MARK A. BARTEAU, University of Delaware CAROLYN R. BERTOZZI, University of California, Berkeley ROBERT A. BROWN, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1 ALICE P. GAST, Stanford University IGNACIO E. GROSSMANN, Carnegie Mellon University 2 JAMES M. MEYER, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company ROYCE W. MURRAY, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill PAUL J. REIDER, Amgen, Inc. WILLIAM R. ROUSH, University of Michigan MICHAEL L. SHULER, Cornell University JEFFREY J. SIIROLA, Eastman Chemical Company GEORGE M. WHITESIDES, Harvard University PETER G. WOLYNES, University of California, San Diego RICHARD N. ZARE, Stanford University Staff JENNIFER J. JACKIW, Program Officer CHRISTOPHER K. MURPHY, Program Officer SYBIL A. PAIGE, Administrative Associate DOUGLAS J. RABER, Senior Scholar DAVID C. RASMUSSEN, Project Assistant 1 Committee member until July 2001; subsequently the Board on Chemical Sciences and Tech- nology (BCST) liaison to the committee in her role as co-chair of the BCST. 2 Meyer’s committee membership ended March 2002, following his retirement from DuPont. v BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY ALICE P. GAST, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Co-Chair WILLIAM KLEMPERER, Harvard University, Co-Chair ARTHUR I. BIENENSTOCK, Stanford University A. WELFORD CASTLEMAN, JR., The Pennsylvania State University ANDREA W. CHOW, Caliper Technologies Corp. THOMAS M. CONNELLY, JR., E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company JEAN DE GRAEVE, Institut de Pathologie, Liège, Belgium JOSEPH M. DESIMONE, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University CATHERINE FENSELAU, University of Maryland JON FRANKLIN, University of Maryland MARY L. GOOD, University of Arkansas, Little Rock RICHARD M. GROSS, Dow Chemical Company NANCY B. JACKSON, Sandia National Laboratories SANGTAE KIM, Eli Lilly and Company WILLIAM KLEMPERER, Harvard University THOMAS J. MEYER, Los Alamos National Laboratory PAUL J. REIDER, Amgen, Inc. ARNOLD F. STANCELL, Georgia Institute of Technology ROBERT M. SUSSMAN, Latham & Watkins JOHN C. TULLY, Yale University CHI-HUEY WONG, Scripps Research Institute Staff JENNIFER J. JACKIW, Program Officer CHRISTOPHER K. MURPHY, Program Officer SYBIL A. PAIGE, Administrative Associate DOUGLAS J. RABER, Senior Scholar DAVID C. RASMUSSEN, Program Assistant DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director vi Preface Initially, the Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century project was designed to be a series of five workshops encompassing the main tech- nological areas to which the chemical sciences contribute. After the events of September 11, 2001, it was recognized that chemists and chemical engineers have always contributed significantly to our nation’s defense capabilities and that now they will play an increasingly important part in homeland security. Thus, the National Security and Homeland Defense Workshop was arranged on an emer- gency basis. It is hoped that the presentations and discussions at the workshop found in this report will help chemical scientists understand how their research can be applied to national security problems and will guide them in new directions to ultimately enhance the safety of U.S. civilians and military personnel. In some cases, modified or improved existing technologies were identified as likely contributors to national security solutions, and in others, completely new technologies were called for. However, the workshop was not designed to pro- vide specific recommended solutions to national security and homeland defense problems (see Appendix A for the Statement of Task). The workshop report is just that—a report of the proceedings of and discussions at the workshop that focused on research in chemistry and chemical engineering clearly related to national security. Topics in other areas of the chemical sciences are addressed in the other reports in the “Challenges” series including Beyond the Molecular Frontier: Challenges for Chemists and Chemical Engineers as well as in Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism. Following the workshop, the organizing committee met to reach preliminary consensus on the workshop findings and to create an outline for its report. The vii viii PREFACE report was fully developed through iterations among the committee members. In addition to summaries of the speaker presentations (Appendix D), the committee has attempted to capture participants’ input from both the plenary and breakout sessions in the report chapters. Illustrative comments from presentations and subsequent discussions are highlighted in boxes interspersed throughout the chapters. This study was conducted under the auspices of the NRC’s Board on Chemi- cal Sciences and Technology with assistance provided by its staff. The committee acknowledges this support. John L. Anderson and John I. Brauman Co-Chairs Organizing Committee for the Workshop on National Security and Homeland Defense Acknowledgment of Reviewers This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this indepen- dent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsive- ness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Peter K. Dorhout, Colorado State University Catherine C. Fenselau, University of Maryland Nancy B. Jackson, Sandia National Laboratories C. Bradley Moore, Ohio State University George Parshall, E. I. duPont de Nemours and Company (retired) K. John Pournoor, 3M Steven J. Sibener, University of Chicago George M. Whitesides, Harvard University Charles Zukoski, University of Illinois Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive com- ments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recom- mendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by R. Stephen Berry, University of Chicago. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making ix