Biotech Industry Makes its Imprint on City College
By April Jones
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"The San Francisco Bay Area is the birthplace of Biotechnology," says Mike Solow, director of
the Northern California Biotechnology Center, located on city College's Phelan campus.
But, how did San Francisco acquire yet another lucrative form of technology? Location, Location, Location.
According to Solow, the concentration of venture capital firms and top universities (UCSF, UC Berkeley, and Stanford) made for an ideal breeding environment for the first biotech company in existence, Genentech, created in 1977. It has since grown to employ over 5,000 people, making the Bay Area the highest concentration of biotech companies in the world.
The Biotechnology Program at City College started in the mid-1990's as a way to help students interested in science obtain an entry-level job in the rapidly growing field.
"We knew there would be a need for technicians in the laboratory and a lot of 4-year institutions don't train with the industry in mind," says Philip Jardim, director for the Biotechnology Program under the Biology Department.
The program offers an introductory certificate in bio-manufacturing that is beneficial for those students looking for a career in the biopharmaceutical industry. For those interested in a career as a lab technician, an advance certificate is offered in biotechnology.
Jardim sites excellent benefits and the chance to work in a fascinating field as incentives to enter the industry. "Everyday you are on the cutting edge of science," he says. Some companies will actually help a student obtain a Bachelor's degree in a subject related to the field by paying for the students'courses. He recalls two of his students from previous classes who went on to receive Bachelor degrees in their respective field while working at biotech companies. For those students not as fortunate, City College has a matriculation agreement with Cal-State Hayward.
| Some companies will actually help a student obtain a Bachelor's degree in a subject related to the field by paying for the student's courses |
According to Jardim, the process is a reproductive technique that begins with donated eggs that are fertilized with donated sperm. The eggs are grown under a lab culture into human embryos until a stage of development occurs. A few of the embryos are then transplanted into a woman who is trying to conceive.
Scientists would like to use the unspecialized cells contained in the remaining embryos to repair nerves or replace diseased organs in a patient's body. Other benefits to this type of research hope to foster cures for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The current law requires any remaining embryos to be destroyed.
But California seems to agree with the biotech industry. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the Senate approved a bill last month to legalize embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning.
"Scientists are very passionate about that because we can learn a lot from that basic research," says Jardim.
Members of Congress and President George Bush are among those opposed to the radical research because the embryo is eventually killed. But Jardim says what is right or wrong is beyond the realm of science. That is up to each individual person," he says.
The individual person, its seems, is the federal government. The Associated Press reports the Bush Administration has strict guidelines on federal funding for embryonic stem research.
Human cloning is another hot topic in the industry. It has been done with sheep and cows. Are we next ?
Jardim thinks the odds are possible but not at all necessary. "I think people want to clone another person just to do it," he says. "Personally, I think it's ridiculous because I don't see any value in having a cloned human." Jardim compares a clone to an identical twin. The genetic make-up is the same but there is no way to clone an identical personality.
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"Human cloning is still science fiction," says Paul Raju, Bio 11 instructor.
Raju gives an example of a mouse that was cloned successfully but the cloned copy of the mouse has developed problems as a result. A lot of things still need to be worked out, Raju says.
While most agree the cloning aspect of the biotech industry is still a work in progress, the idea of cloning organs is quietly alarming. Linsley Lemley is one of those concerned. As a biotech major at City College she is excited to learn the industry but has issues with the negative effects of its procedures. "I don't want people to get the impression that they can abuse their organs and get a replacement," she says.
Jardim is equally skeptical about of what might occur if the technology were to get into the wrong hands, but says, "There is a long road between possibility and reality."
A field often mistaken with human cloning is the cloning of a gene. One way to clone a gene involves taking a part of its DNA and combining it with a bacteria cell. That cell reproduces, thereby creating clones of itself. This process is used to clone human insulin used for patients suffering from hypoglycemia who are allergic to the other form of insulin, which is extracted from pig's pancreas(s).
Genetically altered foods and animals has raised eyebrows and lowered forks worldwide. The argument from non-science types is that food made with additives or genes to make it larger, heartier or even healthier in fact add risk of contracting diseases. Americans aren't alone in this fear. Countries in Africa facing famine and starvation recently rejected a donation of wheat from the United States because it was genetically altered. Americans have been gorging on this same wheat for years. The question onefails to ask: Is it safe ?
According to Raju, food that enters the body is broken down to its basic components. "It does not really matter whether the food is genetically altered if it came from its natural source," he says.
| Human cloning is another hot topic in the industry. It has been done with sheep and cows. Are we next? |
With such important issues arising in the media, the public still remains in the dark about the truth versus misconception in the biotech industry. Kimberly Christiansen, a City College student who works at Genentech, says the media is to partly to blame.
"When the subject arises on the nightly news, on the radio, or in newspapers, all of the facts are not represented - nor is a majority of the information given, and the points of view are given more often by a news reporter than a scientist," she says.
Jardim agrees with this misrepresentation that can add fear of new products and services that may be beneficial for patients.
"A lot of people are saying the sky is falling and don't know what the risks really are," he says.
It is this reason why instructors like Raju continue to teach as well as work in the biotech field. "There is a greater reward when you share this information. If you have knowledge of that area you don't consider it much of a hazard," he says.
The Biotechnology Program at City College continues to grow by leaps and bound. According to Solow, the program is doubling the number of sections in its Bio 65 (Recombinant DNA Biotechnology) course and it is planning courses on Good Manufacturing Practices/Good Laboratory Practices (GMP/GLP) and enzyme linked immunosorbant assays (ELISA).
Despite controversies in the industry, Raju insists there will always be a need for biotechnology. "As long as people are alive they are going to get sick. And if they are going to get sick they are going to need medication."