Biotech

X-STEM - presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune - is an Extreme STEM symposium for elementary through high school students featuring interactive presentations by an exclusive group of visionaries who aim to empower and inspire kids about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These top STEM role models and industry leaders are sure to ignite your students’ curiosity through storytelling and live demonstrations. Our spotlight on our X-STEM Speakers continues with Venture Capitalist and Broadway Producer, Mr. Kevin J.Kinsella. He's sometimes called…
"It's all about saving Aunt Millie" Bob Swanson Co-Founder of Genentech I just learned today that Jim DeKloe, who wrote this post as a guest author a few years ago is giving a webinar on May 11th on protein purification from industrial enzymes to cancer therapy. Jim's webinar, offered through Bio-Rad, has two sessions at 3 pm Eastern and 7 pm Eastern. Registration is free and you can register HERE. Jim is one of the most inspirational educators I know and he's the sort of person that reminds you why educating students about biotechnology careers is important. His moving story is one that…
What a fabulous combination. This week, Congress has held hearings on the direct-to-customer ('DTC') genetic testing industry. It appears, based on previous statements by FDA officials, that they have publicly contradicted themselves--or been willfully ignorant--about the larger scientific benefits from DTC testing. This week's hearings also seem to have attracted some serious hyperbolic anti-DTC testimony, even by my standards (these companies are "raping the human genome project"? The HGP was made public domain so everyone, including those who work at companies, could have access to the…
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief which argued that naturally-occurring DNA sequences can't be patented: Reversing a longstanding policy, the federal government said on Friday that human and other genes should not be eligible for patents because they are part of nature.... "We acknowledge that this conclusion is contrary to the longstanding practice of the Patent and Trademark Office, as well as the practice of the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies that have in the past sought and obtained patents for isolated genomic DNA," the brief…
Imagine someone had designed a device that would essentially eliminate bloodstream infections (sepsis) caused by contamination of needleless injection ports. Great news right? Well, guess what happens next: Unlike some of the solutions floated by big medical device makers, such as coating the ports with silver, Shaw's innovation added only a few pennies to the cost of production. And it seemed to be remarkably effective: a 2007 clinical study funded by Shaw's company and conducted by the independent SGS Laboratories found the device prevented germs from being transferred to catheters…
A while ago, I described how previous decisions allowing the patenting of human genes--and thereby making cheap, affordable diagnostics impossible--flew in the face of the goal of federally-funded research. There's no reason to patent something and charge thousands of dollars for something a high school student could do (PCR and sequencing). From The NY Times (italics mine): Judge Sweet, however, ruled that the patents were "improperly granted" because they involved a "law of nature." He said that many critics of gene patents considered the idea that isolating a gene made it patentable "a '…
Probably not. But genes linked to a high risk of breast cancer? You betcha. ScienceBlogling Rebecca Skloot has a very good piece about the lawsuit brought by the ACLU against Myriad, the company that owns the patent for the 'breast cancer genes' BRCA1 and BRCA2 (she provides some more background here). To me, the really galling thing is that Myriad didn't discover these genes, publicly funded research did. The goal of that research is not to enrich patent holders, but to improve human health for society as a whole. The patent drives up diagnosis costs by preventing anyone else from…
In the midst of all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the death and cooptation of business journalism inspired by John Stewart's skewering of Jim Cramer, it's important to remember one thing: that's the business model. Or to put it another way, the customer is always right. If you ever read the biotech press, which is a subset of the larger business press, there is an obvious, inherent structural bias. The biotech press will never critique the fundamentals of the biotech industry as a whole. It will criticize individual approaches or companies. But it will almost never ask…