Image Source: www.redoakbrewery.com

Thousands of people see it on their commute everyday – a square building in a small field next to I-40 between Greensboro and Burlington.  The building side that faces the highway is made of glass, giving viewers a sample of its contents – several mysterious tall steel vats, miles of metal piping, control stations –  all with carefully placed lighting that evokes the feeling of an art exhibition. Above the glass in bright red letters, a caption reads “Red Oak Brewery” and indeed a combination of art and advanced biotechnology is taking place.

Last night, we altered our meeting format a bit and gave Triad Biotech Alliance members the opportunity to personally meet Red Oak’s amazing Brewmaster, Chris Buckley, while taking a tour of the advanced biotechnology that goes into making our region’s own “Red Oak” beverages. Chris, who lived, worked and formally trained as a Brewmaster in Bavaria adheres to Reinheitsgebot (a.k.a. “The Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516“).  As a result, Red Oak Brewery produces a regionally unique beer that is available across North Carolina and is typically less than two weeks old when enjoyed.  As Triad Biotech members learned, this distribution is really because of the way that Red Oak produces beer – as an unfiltered and unpasteurized beverage.  Wearing the hat of a life scientist, pasteurization is typically regarded as one of the outstanding scientific milestone in civilization. Providential images of steam baths, canning foundries and happy children drinking milk at the breakfast table come to mind – but the practice really owes itself to extending the shelf-life of beer and wine – a characteristic that isn’t the goal among quality craft brewers focused on taste.  In fact, several advances and even some could say – the origin of biotechnology… begins with brewing beer.

Red Oak Brewery Brewmaster Chris Buckley describes the Brewing Process to Triad Biotech Alliance Members

For example, Louis Pasteur was awarded patents in 1873 for “Improvement in Brewing Beer and Ale”, but his work in fermentation really helped to validate a concept that we often take for granted today - ” The Germ Theory of Disease”. Right now, thousands of introductory organic chemistry students are comparing their left and right hands in an attempt to learn about molecular chirality, but they may not have realized that the concept began with the Pasteur’s commission for an approach to remove sediment (i.e. crystallization) from stored wine. Here is a neat little exercise – first imagine the scent of an orange…. now imagine the scent of a lemon – can you tell a difference ? That difference (which your amazing nose can detect) represents chirality or “enantiomers” of the molecule limonene.  I am sure you have never realized that you had the equivalent of an enantiomer-selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method on your face.  Other biotechnological advances related to brewing beer include:   the pH Scale,  Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Yeast) biology – which in turn is incredibly essential to the understanding of cell cycle regulation, not to mention countless innovations related to filtration, controlled heating and standardizations essential to the brewing process that are carried over to the pharmaceutical industry.

A Tour of the Bottling Room

Chris provided a wonderfully detailed explanation of Red Oak’s methods, highlighting unique efficiencies  such as grain re-use for cattle (very happy cattle I presume) and water conservation practices that enable Red Oak to use ~94 % less water (tank cleaning etc.) than that of conventional methods.  It was also surprising to find out that North Carolina has laws in place which prevent Red Oak from expanding self-distribution over certain limits.

Great Pizza Thanks to Our Sponsors

The evening concluded with tastings and great networking among 30 individuals representing interests and companies from across the state. Also, we had pizza  from  CIAO Pizza Italian Restaurant in Whitsett, N.C. thanks to the graciousness of Triad Biotech Alliance’s Annual Sponsors : The North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Merz Pharmaceuticals and Graham Personnel Services.

For More Information about Red Oak Brewery – check out their Website and if you didn’t get a chance to come out to our event be sure to visit this site often with calendar updates as we arrange for meetings at local venues with biotechnology enthusiasts.

To Volunteer with Us, or to find out more about how Your Business can sponsor local Triad Biotech Alliance gatherings in many ways – please email us.

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Michael Blanks, Ph.D. is Co-Chair and Founding Member of Triad Biotech Alliance. You can email him directly at: info at triadbiotechalliance dot org or visit his other “homebrew” website at www.michaelblanks.com.

Keranetics' Todd Johnson at the September Triad Biotech Alliance Meeting

After a summer break, the 2011-2012 Speaker Series of the Triad Biotech Alliance kicked off on September 29th with another great event at The Chop House in High Point. The mixer began as they often do – with lots of meeting, mingling and munching on the generous appetizers  that the TBA provides. I saw a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a while and met some new people as well. At around 6:30 pm the speakers series began with a talk from Charles (Todd) Johnson of KeraNetics. I hadn’t been aware of KeraNetics before going to the event, and to be honest, it was such a lovely evening that I almost stayed home for burgers on the grill. However I’m quite glad that I didn’t skip the talk – KeraNetics sounds like a great company doing really interesting things.

As you might guess from their name, KeraNetics works with keratins. To quote from their corporate home page:

 “KeraNetics is a biomaterials company utilizing a proprietary process of purifying keratin proteins for use in therapeutic and research applications.”

The short talk that Todd gave couldn’t cover all of their products, but you can read more details about the range of products that they are developing from the “Product Overview” tab. We heard about a topical gel used for burn wound healing, and that has been shown to control burn wound progression. Apparently KeraNetics’ purified keratin proteins have tunable degradation rates, and are human derived, so they are ideal for medical applications. Much of the research being done by the company is funded through grants from the Department of Defense for the ultimate goal of helping Wounded Warriors. There were a few graphic images of soldiers with injuries that might have been difficult to view, if it were not in the context of research aimed at helping such men & women. In addition to burn wound healing, KeraNetics research is developing nerve and bone regeneration applications for their product line. On Oct. 3rd a press release announced that KeraNetics had received an SBIR phase I grant to develop muscle-regenerating biomaterials. Check out their News & Events for more details.

I’ll close this post with two tidbits that I got during the Q & A part of the talk:

The first is from an audience member’s question: Who do you hire? The answer was “mostly PhDs right now” – I think that is very cool to hear because to me it is another indication that the Triad area is drawing innovative, high-tech companies who are hiring highly educated people. Too many editorials in science journals seem to be indicating that universities are churning out too many PhDs for the market & hearing a counter example is a very nice data point.

The second is based on the fact that KeraNetics’ raw keratin source is scrap from the Asian wig industry & I wondered if that source was scalable for the large-scale production of all of the products that KeraNetics is developing. I was assured that there was plenty of hair, and someone whispered that I should watch Chris Rock’s Good Hair movie to learn more about the hair industry – I haven’t yet, but I might just have to some movie night soon.

In addition to the Company Showcase presentations that occur at live Triad Biotech Alliance events, we also will have a series of blog posts featuring resources that Triad Biotech Alliance members may find useful. The resources will include those focused on information, education, small business aids and more. If you have a resource you’d like to suggest we feature, please tell us about it in the comments area.

Today I’m going to highlight a resource from Nature Education – eBooks available on the Scitable site. Scitable is an open, online resource from the Nature Publishing Group whose goal is to be a teaching and learning portal. There you will find educational articles written both by editors at NPG and from the scientific community at large. In the beginning the resource was focused on genetics, but it has now branched out into cell biology, and will continue to expand into other areas of the life sciences.

The part of Scitable that I want to specifically feature today is their eBook area, which is currently at the top of the “Topics” tab. To quote from Scitable’s own description of the eBooks:

Nature Education e-books are intuitive introductions to a range of topics relevant to science students, young scientists, and science enthusiasts of all ages.

The current eBook titles include: Essentials of Genetics, Essentials of Cell Biology, Cell Biology for Seminars, English Communication for Scientists and Guide to Life Science Careers. If you have an idea for an eBook, or even a burning desire to write an article for Scitable, I’d suggest that you contact an editor for more information. In my experience they are open to articles on many life science topics that you might be an expert on – in fact, I am a co-author with OpenHelix on a Scitable article entitled “Genomic Data Resources Challenges and Promises“. We didn’t get paid to write it, but it was fun & nice to try and help “fuel a global exchange of scientific insights, teaching practices, and study resources” (again quoting from Scitable’s about page). At a conference a few years back, a Nature editor assured me that the Scitable site would remain a community resource & would not be moved under a subscription model, since its development was partially funded by public grants. Check out Scitable, and add a comment with your favorite resource, when you have a chance.

In addition to the Company Showcase presentations that occur at live Triad Biotech Alliance events, we also will have a series of blog posts featuring resources that Triad Biotech Alliance members may find useful. The resources will include those focused on information, education, small business aids and more. If you have a resource you’d like to suggest we feature, please tell us about it in the comments area.

Today I’d like to explore the NC LEAP, or North Carolina Lawyers for Entrepreneurs Assistance Program, which can be found at the URL http://ncleap.ncbar.org/. It is a nonprofit public service program of the North Carolina Bar Association Foundation. From their web site you can read their vision statement, which states:

NC LEAP will be the premier provider of pro bono business and transactional law services for entrepreneurs operating in the state’s low-wealth communities, or employing persons who live in such areas. NC LEAP will also serve as a network through which the state’s business law community can work with entrepreneurs to address systematic legal barriers to economic development in North Carolina’s low-wealth communities.

Legal advice is crucial to a small company, but the cost for it can make it tempting to put off getting advice until too late in a business cycle. Knowing that there is a source for reduced-cost legal advice may allow more business owners to get the information and council that they need. Although not all entrepreneurs will be eligible to receive help from NC LEAP, there are other resources listed on the site that may be of value to those groups. These include the “Where can I go if I’m not eligible for NC LEAP services? ” list of resources (bottom of the page), as well as NC LEAP’s “Community Partners“, which provide a wide range of services.

Two events that lead to this post occurred at the last Triad Biotech Alliance Speaker Event. If you were there you’ll remember that it occurred on May and featured Nancy Johnston of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Piedmont Triad Regional Office. However you may not remember the events. The first was that there was an announcement that an international nanotechnology conference (COMS, Commercialization of Micro-Nano Systems Conference, August 28-31, 2011) is being hosted right here in the Triad – the organizers initially wanted to use a moonshine still as a North Carolina logo, but in the end decided on an outline of the state. The second event was that I volunteered to the TBA & Michael asked me to help create content for the TBA blog, the Piedmont Primer.

Image Credit: www.ncbiotech.org

As my first post I decided to write a mini review of nanotechnology in the Triad, both as a way to educate myself and to perhaps generate some excitement for the COMS conference. Did you know that if you Google the phrase “nanotechnology greensboro nc” you get over 100,000 hits? I knew there was a lot of nanotechnology in the area, but I didn’t realize there would be so much Google fodder. Of course many of the hits were repetitions of press releases, some several years old. Here I will summarize some of what I found, but this is by no means a comprehensive review of Piedmont nanotechnology. If I’ve missed your group or lab, please do comment on the post or send in a post of your own – I’m always interested in learning more…

Local universities are often economic drivers for a region, and this is true of nanotechnology in the Piedmont. As many of you know, NC A & T and UNCG collaborate to create the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN). Each school also has their own research centers and departments focused on nano technology: UNCG – Center for Research Excellence in Nanobiosciences (CREN), A & T – Advanced Materials & Nanotechnology and Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures. Wake Forest is also involved in the nanotechnology revolution with their Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials. Students at other area colleges and universities are also involved with nanotechnology, and over the summer area school kids can even get involved in nanotechnology at the Nanobiotechnology Summer Camp, which I’ve heard was great from a student who attended it.

There are also several economic development efforts and groups – most with focused nanotechnology efforts – NanoAccelerator (NCNA), NC Center of innovation for Nanobiotechnology (NC COIN), North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBC), Piedmont Triad Partnership, The Greensboro Partnership, Thrive in North Carolina, news outlets that cover nanotechnology in the Triad – NanoTechWeb, North Carolina Nanotechnology, Tech Journal South, Nanotechnology Now, and nanotechnology focused companies – Advaero Technologies Inc., International Textile Group Inc., NanoMedica, and others. Please note that this isn’t a comprehensive list, or listed in particular order. It is just some of what I discovered and found interesting. As I said earlier in this post, feel free to comment about other nanotechnology efforts in the Piedmont area!

Check out what happens when you search for biotechnology vs. biotechnology jobs in Google Lab’s Newest Correlate search tool… http://t.co/74pRBy9

North Carolina’s rank is higher than  Virginia, Washington, California and Texas !  Post your comments below !

Forwarded from NC Biotechnology Center (Great Exposure for Local Businesses to 2011 BIO):

See the link below for more information.

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Don’t miss out on attending the life science industry’s largest show – BIO 2011.There is still time left to join the NC Pavilion as a Supporting Sponsor. For only $500 you will receive the following benefits:

Company logo and website link on our sponsor page
1 Exhibit hall only pass ($250 value)
2 passes to the exclusive NC Reception at the Newseum on 6/28
1 slot in a common literature rack to place 100 pieces of 1 item of collateral 8.5×11 size
Access to the badge scans/leads of all the NC Pavilion visitors

Deadline to take advantage of this great offer is Friday, June 17th.

Contact the NC Biotechnology Center for More Info: http://www.ncbiotech.org/bio2011/

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May’s event will feature a talk by Nancy Johnston.  Nancy is the the executive director of the North Carolina Biotech Center’s Piedmont Triad Regional Office.  Her talk is entitled: “Biotechnology: Impact & Importance.”   We look forward to hearing from her regarding biotech in the region.