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Home / Washington Business - May/June 2007 / Industry Profile: Beer, breeding, and the human genome... The impact of biotechnology on our economy |
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Industry Profile: Beer, breeding, and the human genome... The impact of biotechnology on our economy |
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Written On: May/June 2007 |
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Written By: by Ron Dalby |
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Beer and genetic engineering don’t appear to have much in common, at least not at first glance. Look closer, though, and you’ll soon discover that both are examples of biotechnology at work. Beer brewers have used active cultures of microbes in the creation of the alcoholic beverage for thousands of years while, in a much more contemporary process, scientists alter the DNA of living organisms in an effort to cure diseases, produce more abundant crops, or develop pharmaceuticals.
Biotechnology is simply the manipulation of organisms to do practical things and provide useful products. Selectively breeding dogs to encourage specific physical or personality traits can be considered biotechnology, just as can the designing of organisms to produce antibiotics and the engineering of disease cures through the manipulation of the genetic structure.
Chromosomes are the basic building blocks of DNA inside each and every one of the cells in our bodies. The genome of an organism is the complete DNA sequence of one set of chromosomes—the set of instructions that defines what kind of biological entity we are. In modern biotechnology, the genome of an organism is altered by exposing cells to fragments of "foreign" DNA-carrying genes that have characteristic that we find useful or desirable.
"Many of the big opportunities [in biotechnology] flow from understanding human genomes and the ability to understand biology at the systems level," said Jack Faris, president of the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association.
Medical applications
Interest in biotechnology research has reached a fever pitch in recent years thanks to significant advances and tantalizing prospects in pharmacogenomics, drug production, genetic testing (diagnosing diseases), and gene therapy (treating diseases).
While the last three of these are readily understandable, few people have come into contact with a word like pharmacogenomics, which is the study of how a person’s genetic inheritance causes different reactions to drugs. Research in this discipline has led to the development of more patient-specific medicines and has made it easier to determine accurate dosages of these pharmaceuticals. It has also been instrumental in the development of better vaccines to protect patients against a wide range of diseases.
Drug production and genetic testing are both quite common uses for biotechnology in today’s high-tech world. Gene therapy, however, is still in its infancy. Early in this decade, some 500 clinical trials involving gene therapy were identified worldwide; more than three-quarters of these were in the United States. The most common diseases targeted by these experiments are the various forms of cancer that afflict us in our modern world.
Where is all this leading? Faris claims that many of the most prominent figures in biotechnology predict " ... that within a handful of years, it will be possible to take a droplet of blood or saliva and know what kinds of disease the person is suffering from, the kinds of medicines needed to combat the diseases, what kinds of medications to avoid, what kind of diseases to look out for in the future, and how best to avoid them."
Dr. Lee Hood, president of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, believes that in the future we will all be involved with " ... personalized, preventative, predictive and participatory medicine."
Washington’s biotech players
Collectively, Washington—including its universities, businesses, nonprofit organizations and state agencies—is a significant factor in biotechnology, particularly in the area of research. According to the WBBA, more than $25 billion in federal research funds have flowed into Washington in the past 38 years, most of it focused on health sciences or environmental research.
Since 1969, the University of Washington has ranked in the top five institutions in the nation in receipt of federal awards, and since 1974 it has been the number one public university in the United States receiving federal support for research and training. In 2004, only Johns Hopkins University, a private institution in Baltimore, Md., received more federal dollars for research and development programs than UW.
Washington State University was also high on the list for federal grants in 2004, though much of its work relates to agriculture, another industry benefiting from increasing efforts in biotechnology research. Eastern Washington University in Cheney offers biotechnology courses emphasizing on-the-job training and has spun off several biotechnology and medical device companies based on their technology and faculty expertise.
Though our universities and research centers are strong, there is room for growth. "We have good programs, but we need more capacity," said Faris. He also believes education in math and science must be stressed even more in grades K-12 to produce the knowledge and skills needed for the biotechnology industry.
In addition to the universities, Washington is home to 22 life-sciences-related nonprofit research organizations, employing more than 4,000 people across the state. The largest of these, and the largest nonprofit in the state, is the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
Other significant nonprofits contributing to Washington’s expertise in biotechnology include: The Allen Institute for Brain Science, The Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Hospital, The Institute for Systems Biology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, The Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, and The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute.
The best news in the realm of nonprofits is that Washington is home to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest philanthropic organization in the country, with assets exceeding $28 billion. WBBA notes on their Web site that the state’s biotechnology industry, in particular, has been a major beneficiary of Bill Gates, Paul Allen and other Microsoft employee contributions and investments. Faris estimates that the Gates Foundation alone provides more than $1.6 billion annually in grants and other funding, much of it directed toward world health issues.
At a National Press Club luncheon some years back Gates was asked: "If you could not invest in Microsoft, what company would you invest in?"
"[One of the] areas that I'm very excited about is biotechnology," he said. "Other than these information tools, the greatest opportunity right now is revolutionary advances in medicine."
Many private companies also contribute to Washington’s extensive biotechnology research efforts, including several members of the Association of Washington Business. AWB members Cell Therapeutics Inc., SCOLR Pharma Inc. and Sonus Pharmaceu-ticals are prominently mentioned on WBBA’s Web site as private firms heavily engaged in biotechnology.
Finally, even state government is involved in biotechnology. Seattle’s Washington Technology Center was founded in 1983 by the Legislature as a statewide economic agency under the Washington High Technology and Training Act. Its primary purpose is to connect resources to companies, nonprofits and other organizations actively engaged in various kinds of research and development. Biotechnology firms regularly benefit from the efforts of the WTC.
Looking ahead
"There’s every likelihood that biotechnology is going to keep you and the people you care about healthier," Faris said. "It can also fuel our economic vitality. We have superb research institutions and great companies, but we need more of them."
Washington, with many of the facilities and the people already in place, is perfectly placed to capitalize on the exploding interest and awe-inspiring results stemming from biotechnology research and development. The future in this field is one of the brightest lights in Washington’s economy.
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