Online
Biotechnology Resources
by Kevin Ahern
(Posted
March 5, 1999 · Issue 49)
The growth of the modern biotechnology industry
has roughly paralleled the growth of the Internet, with both
having significant roots reaching back to the early 1980s. To
investors, they have been the darlings of Wall Street for over 10
years. Curiously, in the eyes of the public, both are also
alternatively viewed as either solving all of the world's problems
(the optimistic view), or opening a Pandora's box of new problems
(the doomsayer's perspective).
The perception of the
biotechnology industry and the World Wide Web as common high tech
industries of the nineties leads many to assume that biotechnology
companies have a major presence on the Web. It isn't so,
unfortunately, for most of the industry, which views the
cost/benefit ratio of Web pages that do anything other than sell
products as excessively high. Still, a few notable companies buck
that trend, and they are reported here.
I've divided biotechnology resources into three groups - those
that are of the industry (pages created by third parties that are
informative about the industry), by the industry (pages maintained
by members of the biotechnology company community), and for the
industry (pages from people outside the industry, but aimed at
serving the industry).
Of the Industry
Numerous collections
of links, news, investor information, and other general
information about biotechnology companies and their products fall
into this category. A good broad view of the biotechnology
industry is available at the sites of the National Biotechnology Information
Facility and the Biotechnology
Industry Organization (BIO). A great source of educational
information about the biotechnology industry resides at Indiana
University's Biotech
site.
If your interests are primarily technical, the National Center for
Biotechnology Information is an easy choice, but don't expect
to learn too much about the industry there. A general source of
company contact information can be found at the Institute for Biotechnology
Information.
There are numerous excellent sources of daily biotechnology
industry news. Some of the best ones include BioResearch Online,
BioSpace, Genetic Engineering News's
Biotechnology News
of the Day, Labfocus's
Industry
News, and Yahoo's Biotechnology
page.
A different approach
to reporting daily biotech news is taken by the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America at their Genomics Today Web
site, where they provide links to the top news of the day from
about 30 online sources. For a look into the future, the Biotechnology Calendar
is the place to go.
Time is money, and so is information in some corners of the
Web. Fee-based sites of interest include the numerous NewsFile collections, a
subscription-based service for bioinformatics called BioInform, and a
biotechnology-based site called BioWorld Today. Finally, if
there isn't enough real biotechnology news on the Web to satisfy
you, there is always gossip/speculation at the Biotech Rumor Mill.
Some information sources "of the industry" serve specific
geographic areas. They include the Australian Biotechnology
Association, the Scottish
Enterprise Biotechnology Group, the Canada-focused Strategis,
the Asia Pacific Bioinformatics
Network, and the Virtual Center of
Biotechnology for the Americas, with a view of Latin American
companies.
Finally, there are a
number of sites that specialize in databases of biotechnology
companies. These include ChemScope, the
Singapore-based ASEAN
Biotechnology Database/Directory, and CorpTech.
By the Industry
This topic area covers Web sites created by the members of the
biotechnology industry. Substantial Web offerings provided by the
biotechnology industry are very hard to find. The vast majority of
sites "by the industry" leave a lot to be desired. Most contain
uninspired pages with little useful data or, alternatively, employ
pushy schemes aimed at selling products. Fortunately, there are a
few exceptions.
Probably the premier
industry-created site has to be the educational pages of Genentech's Access Excellence. Focusing
mainly on biotechnology education and communication, the site has
several highlights, including a Teaching
Bioethics page, SciTalk, and Online Projects.
Several of the best offerings come from biotechnology companies
that primarily serve the biotechnology industry itself, not the
public. Sigma-Aldrich
is one such company; users can search for products from all of
this company's divisions, look for technical help, or order online
(registered users only).Variations on that theme are employed by
several other biotechnology company suppliers, such as Calbiochem, Clontech, and the Invitrogen Web Resource.
(Also check out Calbiochem's cartoons.)
One of the best approaches to online catalog information is
available through the Biochemistry Easy Search Tool
from Worthington
Biochemical Corporation.
Online versions of
printed publications are excellent uses of the Web. Highlights
include Life Technologies'
Focus
Journal, Molecular Imaging
Online's newsletter,
and Clontech's CLONTECHniques.
Invitrogen provides its Expressions
Newsletter as an online-only publication.
The segment of the biotechnology industry supplying software
has a couple of stars on the Web. These include MDL Information Systems, with its
popular Chime and ISIS Draw tools, and CambridgeSoft, with its
ChemDraw and Chem3D plug-ins. CambridgeSoft also scores points
with its superb online ChemFinder,
which helps locate molecules by formula, name, Chemical Abstract
(CAS) number, or molecular weight.
Some biotechnology
companies establish a Web presence by providing significant online
information about a topic. Perkin-Elmer hosts a very
nice educational guide at their Antibodies:
From Design to Assay page. Alkami Biosystems provides an
excellent collection of information about PCR. The Helicobacter Foundation
maintains an interesting educational section on the bacterium
implicated in ulcers. One of the most interesting and visual
biotechnology pages on the Web can be found at the Epix Medical site, which
includes amazing images of the circulatory system.
For the Industry
This final category concerns sites providing services aimed at
supporting some segment of the biotechnology industry. Some of
these sites "for the industry" are hybrids of news and other
information. One example is SciCentral, which provides
news. Others include the BioLinks
search engine, which is "designed by scientists, for
scientists!!!," the BioBoard,
with discussion topics in biology, and GeneBrowser, with one of the best
online databases of biotechnology information.
Information Systems for
Biotechnology, from the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has a great
collection of information, news, and links relating to
biotechnology in agriculture. Other USDA sites of interest include
the USDA Biotechnology
Information Center and the USDA's Biotechnology
Risk Assessment Research Grants Program. A broad source of
grant information of use to the industry can be found at GrantsWeb.
On other financial fronts, the planning tools
section at BioTactics
helps people set up biotechnology businesses. Look for more of the
nitty-gritty about the business of biotechnology at Recombinant Capital. Links to market
research sites are available at the GeneBrowser page entitled "Market
Research."
Numerous sources of
chemical safety information are available for the industry. These
include the Chemical
Safety Information page at Oxford University, the International Chemical
Safety Cards, and links to 60 Material Safety Data Sheets
(MSDS) sites at the aptly named Where to Find MSDS on
the Internet. The HazDat
database is another excellent source of information about
hazardous chemicals and the Reagents'
Chemical Database is a good general source of chemical
information.
One can download biosafety information from BioTrack Online.
Davtech Systems is one
company specializing in biosafety, and their Web site contains
quite a bit of useful information.
Other sites for the industry deal with legal and financial
concerns. KuestlerLaw
provides a legal angle on biotechnology law. Bio-Portfolio consists of
a nice mix of news, stock
prices, and more.
Any technology-based
industry needs up-to-the-minute data on technology transfer.
Numerous Web sites serve this area of the industry; they range
from private, subscription-based services - such as the Federal Bio-Technology
Transfer Directory, Knowledge-Express.com, Community of Science, and MicroPatent - to numerous
sources of free information about technology transfer. The latter
includes sites such as the Internet
Patent News Service, the Patent
Portal, Georgetown
University's DNA Patent
Database, and IBM's superb
Intellectual Property
Network, with over 25 years of U.S. patents accessible online.
Government sources are generally free, and provide readily
accessible patent and regulatory information for the industry.
Some sites of interest include the USDA's Ag
Biotechnology Patents and New Technologies site, the giant FedWorld databases, and the Technology Transfer
Information Center of the USDA. Of course, no list of
government patent resources would be complete without the site of
the U.S Patent and Trademark
Office.
The drug industry
occupies a significant section of the biotechnology pie. Web
services supporting it include the Clinical
Trials Database and the Pharmaceutical Industry Links at Recombinant
Capital, and the Center for
Drug Evaluation and Research from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Last, a miscellaneous site serving biotechnology companies is
LabX Magazine, which
specializes in online auctioning/selling of scientific equipment.
Kevin
Ahern is an instructor in the Department of Biochemistry and
Biophysics at Oregon State University, founder of DaVinci Press, and a
columnist at Genetic Engineering News.
Send us your comments and ideas for
future articles.
Endlinks
Biotech
Alberta - links visitors to biotechnology companies in
Alberta, Canada, along with related biotechnology links.
Derwent - covers scientific and
technical developments around the world and offers patent searches
and a news page.
Doug
Fortune's Technology Transfer Compendium - posts a list of
technology transfer links.
European
Bioinformatics Institute - hosts a variety of
biotechnology-related databases.
European
Patent Office - provides news and updates on patent
information as well as patent searches.
New York
Biotechnology Association - maintains links to many
biotechnology companies in New York, information on its programs
and events, and more.
Strategic IP
Resources on the Web - points visitors to a variety of patent,
trademark, copyright, and legal sources on the Web.
The World
Wide Web Virtual Library: Biotechnology - posts information on
biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, genetic engineering,
medical-device development, and much more.
University of
Wisconsin Biotechnology Center - includes online lectures with
QuickTime videos, a calendar of events, and a directory of
biotechnology companies in Wisconsin.
Virginia
Biotechnology Association - leads visitors to biotechnology
companies and organizations, posts information about legislative
issues, and maintains a list or related links.
Web sites mentioned in this column:
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The
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Take
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