The north eastern seaboard of the United States, that is the area around Maryland, Washington DC and N Virginia, has been a centre of commerce and industry for around 400 years. In fact, Jamestown in Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the country and was itself originally founded as a business venture. This region, which witnessed the birth of the United States, is equally famous for its elegant cities and beautiful natural scenery. It is at the heart of government and a hub of culture, education and commerce thus attracting the best and most highly qualified people.

The region is booming commercially and the life sciences industry is especially buoyant. The wealth of prestigious universities and centres for higher learning mean there is a great pool of educated and talented workers. Local government is keen to assist the life sciences industry and many organisation have been set up as links between universities, government department and industry. The area is also extremely well placed geographically to take advantage of the globalization of technology.

Universities - centres of academic excellence

The region is famous for its prestigious universities. Johns Hopkins University based in Rockville and Baltimore is renowned for its nobel prize winning scientists, its academic reputation and world-class research achievements. The university was given $870 million in federal awards for research in 1999 and one in 29 jobs in Maryland is generated by the desire of organisations to be located near the university. Likewise, the University of Maryland in Baltimore, the George Washington University in DC and the Virginia Commonwealth University are also centres of excellence particularly in the study of life sciences. And there are many other similar institutions around these states.

The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) was established in 1985 by the Maryland General Assembly. It comprises five different centres and was charged with conducting research, training and advancing the scientific and economic development of the state. UMBI is a hub of intensive study in biotechnology and its application to human health, agriculture, and protein engineering/structural biology. It works in conjunction with industry and Stark Thompson, CEO of the biotechnology company Life Technologies, is chair of the UMBI Board of Visitors Campaign. Founder and first president Dr Rita Colwell has established a research fellowship to provide funds to outstanding UMBI students.

The CIT Institute of Biotechnology based in Richmond, Virginia is part of the Virginia Commonwealth University. It was founded in 1984 as a non-profit corporation intended to promote the growth of the biotechnology industry in Virginia and forge links between universities and industry. The Virginia Biotechnology Association based at Richmond, was founded in 1992 as a non-profit association designed to promote biotechnology through seminars, publications and representation in the federal and state legislature. Under the directorship of Mark Herzog, the association helps members network, exchange information and look for jobs in the biotechnology industry.

Government agencies - assisting the life sciences

The High Technology Council of Maryland was set up to advocate a positive business climate for the life sciences and to consider technology-related legislation. Meetings are held every other month whereby people who work and study in this field can meet and network. The meetings are usually held at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) at Gaithersburg, MD.

NIST itself www.nist.gov is an agency of the US Department of Commerce's technology association. It works with industry to forge links with government and it develops and applies technology measurement and standards. The annual budget for this is $800 million. One such organisation it has established along with UMBI is the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (CARB) which promotes collaborative research among academic, government and industry scientists. It is based at the University of Maryland in Rockville.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) was founded in 1887 in Bethesda as a government department designed to work for the better health of people. Today, NIH is the one of the world's foremost medical research centres with a budget of $15.6 in 1999. NIH is comprised of 25 separate institutions and has 75 buildings covering an area of 300 acres in Bethesda. The National Center for Biotechnology is one part of the National Institutes of Health. It was established in 1988 and stores a staggering amount of data about the human genome. It distributes GenBank, a collection of all known DNA sequences and it maintains the Human Gene Map.

The region's life sciences industries

Maryland also has a wealth of biotechnology industries. Life Technologies is an international company with it headquarters in Rockville and Frederick. The company provides essential technologies for the biotechnology industry and its revenue and net income reached record levels of $109.3 million in the first quarter of 2000 - an increase of 9 per cent on last year. Life Technologies was also named as one of the best 100 companies for working mothers for the fourth year in succession.

Gene Logic, based in Gaithersburg, is the world's 10th largest biotechnology company and is number eight on the list of the 100 fastest growing technology companies. Gene Logic is a leading provider of genomic information and has identified genes associated with heart failure, renal disease and infertility.

North Virginia is home to an exciting, dynamic base of biotechnology industries. There are 144 biotechnology industries currently based in Virginia and they benefit from being at the heart of the nation's east coast pharmaceutical and biotechnology corridor. The Virginia Biotechnology Research Park at Richmond is home to some of these companies. The research park was built on a 22-acre site and intended as an incubator facility for private companies. It is currently home to 34 biotechnology, bioscience and related companies and provides the most modern and well-equipped labs and research spaces almost anywhere in the world. It is currently under the directorship of Frank L Hurley of Quintiles Transnational Corp which is a drug development company based in Arlington. Virginia Biotechnology Research Park..

An ideal location

For academic research in the life sciences, Maryland, Washington DC and N Virginia are blessed with some of the finest universities in the world. Being close to the centre of government, this area is also well placed to forge links with government departments while the result of this collaboration - the thriving life sciences industry - is in evidence all over this region and provides jobs and economic advantage to the area as a whole.