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(1869) - DNA is discovered in the sperm of trout from the Rhine River by Swiss chemist Frederick Miescher, but Miescher does not know its function and calls it “nuclein”.
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Alaska truly represents a frontier for biotechnology and life sciences research. While few biotechnology companies exist within Alaska, research already present or in development promises to advance the Last Frontier’s life sciences industry.
Currently, Alaska benefits from resources such as the Alaska Frozen Tissue Collection at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum of the North. Tissue samples representing over 200 species of mammals and 900 species of birds are stored here, providing a repository from which DNA can be obtained for the purposes of research.
The Alaska SeaLife Center, in Seward, is a non-profit facility geared toward protecting the unique marine ecosystem of the state via research projects. Scientists can compete to use the Center’s advanced laboratories for conducting research.
DENALI BioTechnologies, in Soldotna, represents the frontier biotechnology research company in Alaska. DENALI develops nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products using Alaskan plants and other resources from the Arctic.
Nearing completion, the BICS-BIRD (Biological and Computational Sciences-Biological Research and Diagnostics) facility at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) promises great opportunities for life sciences research in the Last Frontier. This new facility will offer 42,000 square feet (3,901.9 square meters or 0.390 hectares) of space which will house UAF’s science and research activities. The facility will include laboratory animal holding and care, diagnostic laboratories, and procedure rooms, among other benefits.
An additional research facility currently under development is the new $87 million Integrated Science Building at the University of Alaska Anchorage. This facility promises instructional laboratories and classrooms for health sciences, nursing, engineering, and other lab-based sciences, to be housed in 120,000 square feet (11,148.4 square meters or 1.1 hectares) of space.
Because of such collaborative new research efforts, Alaska’s budding life sciences industry appears on the cusp of expansion.
