Earlier this week, the congressionally-mandated National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology released its major report, titled “Charting the Future of Biotechnology.” The bipartisan and bicameral commission — on which I serve as a commissioner, although the views here are solely my own — asserts in no uncertain terms that “biotechnology represents the next transformative leap for human potential.”

Biotechnology — in less than a decade and when mated with artificial intelligence — will have a transformative impact on defense, supply chains, agriculture, health and computing, all areas that will affect our national security. And yet it is China, not the U.S., that has assigned top priority to biotechnology development for two decades.

China’s efforts pose a direct threat to America’s national security. Beijing has harnessed both its government and civilian sectors in what it terms “military-civil fusion” to enable the People’s Liberation Army to displace the U.S. military as the world’s most dominant force. It has invested in gene editing, bionic robots and biomanufacturing, all of which have military applications.

China has already employed biotechnology for surveillance of its own people, notably the Uyghur population. One of its scientists, initially defrocked but now back in his lab, modified the genes of babies to make them more resilient to infections. It is not a stretch from that effort to develop “super soldiers,” a clear Chinese objective.

Chinese control of critical supply chains — the nation already dominates basic health products such as pain relievers — could........

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