Missouri legislators discuss life sciences
April 18, 2008
Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, discusses her experience on the Missouri BIO Benchmarking tour with Missouri Biotechnology Association Executive Director Kelly Gillespie and Rep. Kathlyn Fares, R-Webster Groves, at a life sciences panel Thursday in Monsanto Auditorium. Baker emphasized the role of higher education in research and the economy at the panel.
Missouri legislators met Thursday in Monsanto Auditorium to discuss the outcomes of the Missouri Biotechnology Association’s BIO Benchmarking tour.
The tour was designed to familiarize government officials with the scientific work throughout the state and surrounding areas and to encourage both policymakers and biotechnology leaders to work together. It took 11 Missouri legislators traveling across the state and the nation to see that collaboration in context.
Life Sciences Center Director Jack Schultz said it’s important for legislators to be aware of research at MU.
“We in the Life Sciences Center feel an obligation to make taxpayers aware of the benefits they are receiving from investment in us, and of the need for continued and even expanded support,” Schultz said.
Eighty-six percent of all research funding from the state’s universities are channeled through MU’s research facilities, but more funding is necessary to compete with other institutions nationwide, Schultz said.
The tour visited Boston to see how life sciences work in an area where a relationship exists between legislature and researchers. They were able to see into biotech firms such as Genzyme Corporation and facilities such as the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Harvard University, and they could compare and contrast Massachusetts’ legislature with that of Missouri’s.
“Missouri has not been investing in these activities to any significant extent compared with surrounding states, missing out on a great potential,” Schultz said.
The tour not only illustrated where Missouri is situated in relation to other states’ research capabilities, but it also demonstrated how government officials and the scientific community could work cohesively.
“The scientific community has expertise and products our people and state can and do use,” Schultz said. “Making that apparent to our representatives is critical for profitable application of what science provides.”
Rep. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, said the topic of life science leads many people into thinking only about stem-cell research and ignoring other aspects of the field. So stem-cell research becomes the central idea of life science and an obstacle legislatures face when moving scientific research through Missouri legislature, he said.
A strong education starting from kindergarten through college can serve as a middle ground for both sides of the issue, said Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia.
“The science community and the faith community can dialogue and share their similarities,” Baker said. “A relationship can still be made.”
Schultz said collaboration between government and the community would help promote life sciences in the government.
“If you brush your teeth or eat a meal, you are consuming the fruits of scientists’ labor,” Schultz said. “That fact has gotten lost in recent years at a time when it can help solve major societal problems, like lifestyle diseases, hunger and economic decline.”
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