Region has a rich biotechnology history

The path of biotechnology through the Inland Northwest is nearly as long as its stunning path through our nation. A look at its regional history should help ongoing plans for our future.

Patrick Jones
Special to The Spokesman-Review

Strictly defined, biotechnology covers laboratory methods in which a single gene — a genetic "word" — is engineered to give us added value.

As a society, we now enjoy the value of manipulating genes to make a wide range of products and services — in human and animal health, horticulture and the remediation of waste. These processes have their roots in some significant advances made in the Inland Northwest.

Over the past century, Washington State University plant geneticists have been well regarded, in part because the genetic principles of Gregor Mendel were first verified in the United States at WSU. Starting 25 years ago, WSU’s plant biotechnology efforts took off as genes were engineered to improve crop plants.

At the same time in Spokane, human chromosome genetic analysis was initiated at Eastern Washington University and Sacred Heart Medical Center. The Inland Northwest Genetics Clinic was also launched.

The regional bio-pharmaceutical commercial leader was and is Hollister-Stier Laboratories, which has been producing biologic drugs since 1930.

In the late 1970s, it became clear that the future for biochemists, drug developers and many other bio-professionals lay not in purifying a biological chemical for study but in producing it more quickly by using recombinant DNA methods in bacteria.

Recombinant DNA methods are the main genetic tool of biotechnology. This technical breakthrough led all bio-scientists in our region into a new paradigm — the world of biotechnology.

In 1983, EWU started the first bachelor of science-level biotechnology program in the Western U.S. Since then, the program has graduated about 12 scientists per year.

At WSU, an outstanding body of research in protein chemistry led the National Institutes of Health in 1989 to fund an innovative, interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in biotechnology.

About the same time, Dr. William Wiley, director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, led PNNL researchers through a process of integrating life sciences, environmental studies and basic materials studies.

Hollister-Stier instituted biotechnology methods in 1979 to make cloned antibody reagents in flasks in the lab. Known as monoclonal antibodies, they are one of the main products of biotechnology.

The growing regional research skills, plus fermentation and pharmaceutical manufacturing, were the building blocks used to create our local biotechnology industry.

Commercially, the Spokane area took a big step forward in 1987 when the Spokane Area Economic Development Council agreed to sponsor a Biotechnology Study Group to assess and plan for the future in the Spokane region.

Dr. Robert Stier of Hollister-Stier (and now at Biomedex), Dr. Marilyn Lloyd of the Sacred Heart Cytogenetics Lab, Dr. Gilbert Manning of Instrumentation Laboratories, Travis Prewitt of Paine Webber, Larry Williams, along with academics such as Dr. Kay Nakamaye and one of the co-authors of this column, and many others were part of this successful group.

Meeting weekly, the group examined and reported on state and local resources. It reviewed business plans and nurtured companies, some now in business.

Perhaps most significantly, the study group argued for, equipped and helped fund the SIRTI Bio-Development Laboratory. While the the Biotechnology Study Group disbanded in 1995, its way of nurturing business continued at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute with greater success.

Bioscience companies that SIRTI has helped include: Bio-OriGyn, GenPrime, BioMedex and MatriCal.

One of the co-authors is a founder and board member of GenPrime, and let us say this: SIRTI’s contributions kept the company viable.

In addition, local angel investors have gradually emerged. GenPrime benefits from funding and board-level leadership from Spokane’s Jaguar Ventures.

The success of bio commerce and research in our region has now created a virtuous cycle. In education, WSU will launch a bachelor of science/master of science program in biotechnology this year. Spokane School District 81 has been at the forefront of area K-12 initiatives to bring biotechnology knowledge and techniques into the classroom. The Bio Academy for advanced high school students will open this fall in the Holley Mason building. Gonzaga University plans to expand its life science capabilities shortly.

Our regional facilities continue to grow. The Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory (EMSL) is the result of PNNL’s search for integrated biological solutions. With its huge research budget and its collection of instruments, EMSL is a unique facility in the world. The new Health Science Building on the Riverpoint campus in Spokane offers state-of-the-art labs for life science researchers.

Recently, Pathology Associates Medical Laboratory and the associated Cytogenetics Lab at Sacred Heart have undergone significant expansion. Last year, the University of Idaho constructed a Biotechnology Center in Moscow plus 10,000 square feet of wet lab space at its new Research Park in Post Falls. EWU now hosts the Washington State Patrol forensics lab and a forensic science bachelor of science degree in which DNA gene analyses are routine.

Today, the Spokane region has a solid hold on biotechnology, something we dreamed about in the mid-1980s. It was not just the vision, but hard work by many individuals, institutions and companies that has led to this stage.

Vision and implementation skills will be necessary as we build upon these successes.

•Patrick Jones, Ph.D., is executive director of the Biotechnology Association of the Spokane Region (BASR). Donald Lightfoot, Ph.D., is director of the biotechnology program at Eastern Washington University, founder and director of GenPrime Inc., and vice-chairman of the BASR.

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