S.D. sees innovation as job growth catalyst – Sioux Falls economy primed to tap into research park potential

Imagine a pair of socks with germ-killing additives woven into them to fight the bacteria, viruses and fungi that cause infections in diabetics.

Or a light-activated chemical that keeps arteries open and eliminates the need for mechanical stents in heart patients. Or a paint containing a bleach-like substance that can be applied to hospital walls to fend off the superbugs killing an estimated 88,000 people each year in the United States alone.

Sound like the stuff of visionaries? In fact, they are — innovations improving life across the globe that are coming not out of the country’s major research meccas but from right here on the plains of eastern South Dakota.

Steve Young

Full Story: http://www.argusleader.com/article/20130113/NEWS/301130038/S-D-sees-innovation-job-growth-catalyst?gcheck=1