More News

The creation of a synthetic cell by a Rockville biotechnology research nonprofit shows Maryland's efforts to invest in life sciences are paying off, state officials said this week.

"I think it validates the investments we've been making and plan to make in the future as a state and as a county in the biosciences sector," said Del. Brian J. Feldman (D-Dist. 15) of Potomac.

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute, which has offices and laboratories in Rockville and in La Jolla, Calif., published their findings in the May 20 issue of the journal Science.

The paper details how researchers designed a bacterial genome using a computer, made it in a laboratory using chemicals and transplanted it into a recipient cell to create a new, self-replicating cell controlled by the synthetic genome.

"For the first time we've created a cell whose parent was a computer," said John Glass, a co-author on the paper and a senior scientist with the Venter Institute's Synthetic Biology Group. "This work will enable us eventually to produce cells that will meet human needs in energy and the environment and medicine."

In short, scientists inserted lab-made DNA into a cell created in nature, changing the cell's genetic makeup, causing it to replicate into new cells controlled by the lab-made genes and, in the process, capturing headlines around the globe.

"As a scientist, my reaction to this is that it's a spectacular feat," said Judith A. Britz, executive director of the Maryland Biotechnology Center. "As someone who is a Marylander, I view this with pride that the billions of dollars that have gone into research for sequencing the human genome have been pushed to the next level."

Most of the about $40 million in funding for the project came from Synthetic Genomics Inc., a for-profit company headed by J. Craig Venter that holds the rights to any intellectual property developed by the institute.

No state money went directly to the research, "about 95 percent" of which was done in Rockville, Glass said.

But several of the scientists on the project, including Glass, once worked at the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives, one of several research organizations and institutes merged to create the Venter Institute in 2006. IBEA was one of several early-stage biotech companies housed at the Maryland Technology Development Center in Rockville, a business incubator established by the Maryland Economic Development Corporation.

"This is something the state made available for companies to get a foothold," Glass said.

Promoting biotechnology

Similar state efforts to spur innovation in biotechnology have taken shape in recent years, including a 10-year $1.3 billion state strategic plan for life sciences known as BioMaryland 2020.

The plan, announced in 2008 by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), called for the state to promote biotechnology through tax credits, its technology incubator network and venture program and investment in stem cell research, nanotechnology and the creation of the Maryland Biotechnology Center.

On Monday, O'Malley announced 14 Maryland biotechnology companies received portions of $6 million in tax credits aimed at increasing investment in biotech.

The Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Program is funded at $8 million for the coming fiscal year and has provided $24 million since 2008, which has leveraged more than $50 million in private investment, according to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

More than 500 life sciences companies employ about 30,000 people across Maryland, Britz said. With salaries of $75,000 to $80,000, the companies generate more than $2 billion in salaries annually.

That does not include university researchers or federal agencies doing life sciences research, she said.

In a tough economic climate, Maryland has turned greater focus toward fostering growth in the private sector.

"When times are tough economically it does force us to then truly prioritize where the most bang for the buck will be," Feldman said. "When you're trying to pick out parts of the economy where we can excel and where we have an inherent strength over the rest of the country, it's this sector."

A biosciences strategy for Montgomery County released in December said the presence of federal labs such as the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration "are one of Montgomery County's strongest assets."

But the report also found the federal presence created an "imbalance" of 9,200 private sector workers versus an estimated 49,000 federal agency workers and "fostered a more risk-averse and regulatory-oriented culture than in entrepreneurial, university- oriented bioscience hubs like California and the Boston area."

Maryland is a state that "embraces" the federal government, said Sen. James C. Rosapepe, who with Feldman co-chairs the General Assembly's Joint Information Technology and Biotechnology Committee. "Everybody plays to their strengths. Boston doesn't have the National Institutes of Health. So they've got to do something else."

In the 21st century, economic growth will be driven largely by applying the technologies of the future," said Rosapepe (D-Dist. 21) of College Park. Development of those technologies must come through public investment, he said.

The development of the Internet by the research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense is one such example, Rosapepe said.

"Basic science accrues to the benefit of a whole society," he said. "Without substantial government support there's no incentive for people to do this work."

When investing in biotech, tax incentives, not direct grants, are the way to go, said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby.

Tax incentives "sometimes provide more of a return than the [state] investments themselves," he said.

Still, the $8 million in biotech tax credits are a stretch for the state's budget in the current fiscal climate, he said.

"Right now is not the time," O'Donnell said. "We're furloughing employees. We're not meeting our general obligations in terms of spending."

International attention

Venter made international news in 2001 when he and researchers at Celera Genomics, which was headquartered in Rockville at the time, sequenced the chemical base pairs that make up the human genome.

Many of the life sciences companies in Maryland today are undertaking research that builds on that work, Britz said.

Today, the institute has 400 scientists and staff engaged in research of plant and human genomics, infectious diseases, environmental policy and synthetic biology and in educational outreach, including an internship program for high school and college students.

"I would suspect there are not a lot of companies that are taking [Venter's] approach," Britz said.

That approach, including the creation of genetic material in a lab, raises questions for scientists, society and government to consider.

The Venter Institute addresses the ethical implications of its research through a policy team comprising bioethicists, outside policy groups, legislators and members of the public.

Any research performed by Venter must first be vetted by the team.

"People have to say ‘I understand the value of doing this experiment and that the scientists have taken measures to ensure safety,'" Glass said.

Any questions the team cannot answer are forwarded to NIH, he said.

The team has received private grants for studies into the risks and benefits of emerging technology, including bioterrorism issues, and into the ethical and societal implications of synthetic genomics.

"Who knows what the ultimate implications are for such developments as creating synthetic life forms?" O'Donnell said. "The ethics of such research is troubling sometimes."

Last week, President Barack Obama asked the recently convened Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to "undertake, as its first order of business, a study of the implications of this scientific milestone, as well as other advances that may lie ahead in this field of research."

So far, Maryland has left regulation of bioscience up to the federal government, Britz said.

"At this point the Maryland Biotechnology Center really does not have a regulatory function either by statute or by choice because considerations of safety really lie with others," she said. "And I think this is part of what the federal government is considering."