State of Missouri and Local University Take on Greater Role in Biotechnology Efforts
The state of Missouri is taking on a greater role in the plant biotechnology industry.
A panel of nine state, industry, and academic leaders met for the first time earlier this month to discuss efforts to make Missouri a fertile place for new biotechnology companies (Blunt, Panel meet Today on Biotech Future, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9/13/05).
Created by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt in April, the group is looking at ways in which Missouri can recruit firms to the state and help them grow this fast-moving industry. The panel is also considering whether the state needs a regulatory structure to govern the sometimes controversial planting of crops that have been genetically modified to produce proteins for use in polymers and drugs.
Governor Blunt is seeking recommendations from the panel by the end of 2005. According to reports, the group has not yet stated where Missouri should focus its efforts, but Blunt would like to see innovations that will help farmers add value to their crops. Ideally, the panel hopes the state will develop an environment where farmers can have information and raise concerns early, where processors can address the ways that foods and pharmaceutical crops will not mix, and where consumers can be educated through these efforts.
The state has also recently been involved in a project with Ventria Bioscience and Northwest Missouri State University to grow genetically modified rice that can be used to help individuals in developing countries.
In the St. Louis metropolitan area, a local university has also taken a leading role in biotechnology. Washington University recently invested $40 million of its endowment in St. Louis venture capital funds in an effort to support local biotechnology developments (Washington U. Investments aid Biotech Firms’ Growth, St. Louis Business Journal, 8/29/05). According to the university, it is investing in biotechnology for many reasons, including supporting and encouraging the development of new St. Louis science and technology companies.
Washington University has also formed a partnership to establish a yet-to-be-named nonprofit organization that will provide seed money for biotechnology researchers and scientists at the university (Washington U., Hartwell Team to invest in Biotech, St. Louis Business Journal, 9/12/05). Funding for the organization is coming from the Hartwell Foundation Corporation, a private family charity based in Falls Village, Connecticut. The organization is expected to have close ties to Washington University and will strive to fund innovative life sciences services and products.
Interest in biotechnology is not new in the “Show-Me State”. Missouri, and particularly the St. Louis metropolitan area, is home to several leading life sciences and agricultural biotechnology companies and organizations and is referred to as the heart of the BioBelt, a world-class center for plant and life sciences research, investment and business opportunity. Missouri has embraced the need for biotechnology and these projects by the state and Washington University will help Missouri move forward in its efforts to help emerging companies and the new technologies that these researchers and scientists can offer to society.
