PITTSBURGH — One of America’s corporate giants is investing billions of dollars in the new boom of oil and gas drilling, or fracking. General Electric Co. is opening a new laboratory in Oklahoma, buying up related companies, and placing a big bet that cutting-edge science will improve profits for clients and reduce the environmental and health effects of the boom.

“We like the oil and gas base because we see the need for resources for a long time to come,” said Mark Little, a senior vice president. He said GE did “almost nothing” in oil and gas just over a decade ago but has invested more than $15 billion in the past few years.

GE doesn’t drill wells or produce oil or gas, but Little said the complexity of the fracking boom plays into the company strengths.

He pointed out that GE has significant experience in wind energy, solar, and in nuclear power. “I think the world needs all of these kinds of systems,” Little said.

Little said the GE strategy ultimately comes down to looking at “minds and machines together.” For example, they have devices that can literally be put down into a well to give people on the surface information about exactly what’s happening a mile or two below ground.

“We’ll get more information than ever before,” he said, and that can be used to help improve production and profits, and to monitor and reduce environmental impacts.

One scientist said that the approach makes sense, and that there are past examples of success.

Modern cars are “incomparably cleaner” than older ones, said Neil Donahue, a professor of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “There are some real technical issues that these folks at GE might be able to make real progress on.”