Crimebeat Saturday April 4

I had a chance to listen to the Crimebeat radio program on this past Saturday afternoon, and the host, Marion County prosecutor, Carl Brizzi was discussing the potential of identifying the DNA sequences of people likely to commit crimes through a process of mapping a suspect's genes to those genes that in the future might be determined to be linked to criminal behavior. To me, that sounds like it could be a valuable tool in sifting through the mountains of information that is being collected on criminals as they enter the criminal justice system. He was careful to point out that the genetic screening systems that the police and justice officials have at their disposal are not as efficient as the ones portrayed on television in shows such as CSI.

Here we have an example of an interesting problem, when genetic mapping or sifting is presented to the public, it is often shown with a veneer of scientific certainty. Every so often these little windows open onto the way Biotechnology interacts with everyday life like it did on a regular Saturday afternoon. However, no individual radio program can acknowledge one of the logical problems with DNA technology; that it has a finality to it. You may have a Y chromosome or you may have two X chromosomes. You are predetermined to have a cancer or not. Technology is going ahead much faster than the ability of our society to address the consequences of the presence of certain genetic characteristics.

The impact of genetic knowledge is more than a lab test result; we as citizens need to decide mechanisms that will aid us to address these issues in the future.

Biotechnology and the meaning of "Life"

The Indianapolis region has begun a long process of developing relationships with biotechnology companies. It is important to gain a perspective on biotechnology before understanding what it means within the context of an industrial process or scientific endeavor.

The Indianapolis Children's Museum has a biotechnology education section of its website. It provides several good links and it even has a glossary of some general terms surrounding biotechnology. Although it appears on the website with the Dow AgroSciences(c) logo, it can point you in the right direction. The link can be found at: http://www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/biotech/index.htm.

Biotechnology is not a single industry or field of study and the media frequently has trouble communicating what that fact means. You can think of the fable of the blind men and the elephant, each of them seeing the elephant for what it they want to believe it is. In the story we can see the problems the media faces. When you read an article about biotechnology or hear a report, consider:

1) Does this reporter have fundamental knowledge about the subject? (It is complicated, many of the people in the field are doctors or scientists).

2) Since the reporter thinks it is news, is it news about biotechnology or is it a desire to make general business news more newsworthy by using the word "biotechnology"?

3) Is the reporter able to give a wider perspective on how this news applies to biotechnology as a whole?

4) As an audience, if you like to know more about the subject than is being provided, is this reporter going to be able to maintain focus on the subject over time?

When I think of biotechnology, I try to put it in context both about myself as well as about the world in which we live. Biotechnology is fundamentally all about life: in biological terms and in terms of our daily activities and behaviors. Scientists, businesspeople, the government and individuals are all thinking about what life means in a very different ways than in the past. It makes sense that we get to know that world and make sure our voice is heard.

Biotechnology word of the day (thanks to the Children's Museum website)

Genome — an organism's complete set of DNA.

Chinese Trial

您好,這是我第一個中文的blog message.

請問,入鍋您對Indianapolis 城市的biotech information 有影像,請您問我,我只會達ASAP.

謝謝

Biotechnology and Indianapolis

Central Indiana's connection to biotechnology begins with its early history; most notably Colonel Eli Lilly a pharmaceutical chemist who, after being frustrated with the poor quality of medicines available during his service in the American Civil War, opened his pharmaceutical research company in 1876 in Indianapolis. More can be found about the company he founded, Eli Lilly & Company, on the website www.lilly.com.

Indiana's central location made it just as much a crossroads in the past as it is today. As a result, medical technologies both efficacious and not made their way here. Devices that purported to have healing capabilities such as the dynamizer, a popular tool of the time, were franchised out to enterprising salespeople throughout the country. Technology designed to prey on the fears of the unknown surrounding your individual health and provide false hopes is nothing new. You can read about the dynamizer in a podcast transcript from Scientific American magazine http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=3B19B5E0-C66F-4457-646436E72B59234E.

As central Indiana enters a new era of biotechnological development, consideration should be given to how as citizens we can understand the differences between knowledge and hope, hype and results, and how we can grasp that there are consequences to not having a clear appreciation of how these worlds connect. A biotechnology company may be relying on both scientific facility and clever marketing to project itself into the marketplace; where does one end and the other begin? Should you wait until you need a treatment to consider how well a treatment works? These are questions that do not have easy answers, but I will attempt to address the issues at hand as I see them.