History Stands

Aaah the joys of half term and in-service days. The roads are clear and the parking is easy! There is an air of relative calm in Glasgow today, even if the sight of a flat-bed with the City Christmas lights on the back, augurs of the commercial frenzy that is about to descend upon us.

This air of tranquility seems to chime with the presentations of the four leading life science entreprenuers who spoke at the Nexxus Entrepreneurial Academic evening on Wednesday. Chris (Hillier), Andrew (Mearns-Spragg), David (Bunton) and Marie-Claire (Parker) all displayed composure under fire, however their back stories revealed the tensions and the pressures that have led them to be such models of success. This was truly a five-star event.

At the opposite end of the success spectrum (at least for the time being) is Blackberry/RIM. Any of you with teenage kids will recognise the angst that has been created as email accounts and BBM fallen under the tsunami of collapsing infrastructure. Networks (physical and virtual) have become such a major part of everyone’s life. Looks as though iPhone 4G is at number one (with a bullet) as the Christmas must-have.

One network that works and continues to thrive and grow is Nexxus. Our keynote events – the annual East/West awards – will be on 3rd and 16th November this year and we are extremely pleased to have Professors Sir Ian Wilmut and Sir Kenneth Calman as our keynote speakers. So sign up at www.nexxusscotland.com – tickets are going fast.

Before signing off I would like you to endulge me and my passion for running (knee/arm/hand permitting!). Firstly, there was the sad but funny tale of the Keilder marathon ‘runner’ who took the bus at mile 20 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-15277618) – not just to get get to the finish but to claim third place! Secondly there is the disgraceful decision of the IAAF to recind Paula Radcliffe’s magnificent womens world marathon record time, 2h15m25s, because it was done in a male/female race – she will still be the world record holder but the time will now be 2h17m42s that she did in London in 2005. A record is a record and success is timeless and the same is true for the pioneers and entrepreneurs in Scottish bioscience – you cannot uninvent something.

As Paula’s twitter campaign proclaims History Stands – please sign up and show your support #historystands

Citizen Scientist

Last week was interesting with its a focus on (life) science engagement.

It started with a meeting of the advisory committee on the Bodyworks Exhibition at the Glasgow Science Centre. The team at the GSC have a long an excellent track record in promoting and explaining the importance of science in all our lives and this Bodyworks will without doubt see this continue.

On Tuesday I joined Holyrood Magazine’s health brieifing on tackling Scotland’s record on Heart Disease. It is often easy to forget that the focus on what we do in life sciences is not the technology but the person. Michael Matheson MSP (Minister for Public Health) and Dr Richard Simpson MSP (Shadow Minister for Public Health) did a great job in setting the policy context but it was the people from the patient groups that really got the message home.

Thursday saw another trip to the Science Centre, this time to attend a meeting of a European project (PLACES) which is addressing the issue that the interaction between science, politics and citizens is frequently insufficient and sometimes non-existent. The big challenge that came from the debate was how to engage the citizen in science. There has been excellent work done, through initiatives such as STEM Ambassadors, to engage with the school population. However, many of the adult population fail to see the relevance and value of science to their lives. This situation is often exacerbated by the dearth of politicians and members of the media with a backrgound in science.

A Formula for Success

That was the weekend that was!…what an outstanding couple of days of sporting excellence.

In Berlin, Patrick Makau sets an new marathon world record (2hours, 3mins and 38 secs – the way my half marathon time is going!!),  Florence Kiplagat becomes one of only 11 women below 2h20m and Paula Radcliffe makes the Olympic Qualifying time. In Killeen Castle, the European women have an explosive finish to bring the Solheim Cup back to Europe. Whilst in Copenhagen Team GB, with Mark Cavendish at the front, claim the gold in the blue riband mens race for the first time in nearly 50 years and to top it all GB is also the number one team – with a brace of golds, silvers and bronzes – congratulations also to Lucy Garner,  Elinor Barker, Bradley Wiggins, Emma Pooley and Andy Fenn.

And do you know what…the press coverage could have fitted onto a postage stamp…come on guys forget football for once…we are a nation of winners.

It is interesting to note that long hours of preparation and team work were crucial to all this individual success. As Mark Cavendish remarked…’this (his gold) was a team effort, three years in the making’…

I was musing upon all this after attending the Nexxus Horizons in Bioinformatics event last night and the parallels were striking. Companies like Life Technologies and Fios Genomics rely on collaboration and knowledge sharing to create new products and processes and the Bioinformaticians at the Roslin, the University of Edinburgh and Dundee are continually developing new algorithms and software to add value to their analyses. The result may be the successful conclusion of fund-raising, the halting of an E.Coli. outbreak or a 5* rating but all are predicated on the same hard, team work that typifies this sporting success – and just like this it deserves to be celebrated. Well Done!

Wabi Sabi

It was by chance that I came across a BBC4 programme, by British novelist Marcel Theroux, on the Japanese aesthetic known as wabi-sabi.

Wabi-sabi can be thought of as finding beauty in what is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”. The Japanese say that if you undestand wabi-sabi then you can understand Japan.

Wabi-sabi also stands as a counter-point to the classical Western (Greek) concept of beauty and symmetry.

It really struck a chord. Especially when each day was are assailed with more glooomy news on our mis-functioning global economy. The well-oiled machine is stuttering!

Perhaps it represents a more accurate reflection of life and science. As Burns said ‘the best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley’. And so the harmony of the spheres has given way to quantum mechanics and string theory. In biology, Gregor Mendel’s quest to understand the statisical basis of inherted gene-based traits has gained complexity and now finds expression in areas such as Epigenetics. We need to embrace the imperfect to reach an understanding of the perfection.

It may be the approach ot autumn that gives this concept of impermanence its biiter sweet-quality or perhaps its just a grey Glasgow day, however knowledge is a cycle:

Yellow leaves cling, to the wall but underneath, tiny buds are ready

The Future is Medieval? Perhaps Not!

It’s a dull ‘ache’ that sits at the back of my mind – a sadness of something that’s gone and won’t come back. Ever since the space shuttle Atlantis landed on a cool Florida night some 12 days ago I’ve experienced ‘recherché du temps perdu ‘syndrome.

No more NASA-funded space exploration (for the foreseeable future). It brings to an end a golden era when science and technology were stretching the physical and mental reach of the human race.  I know some, perhaps many, of you may not agree with this statement. However, from my point of view, we seem to have lost the desire see what opportunities lie in the future and instead are anchored in a time of ‘now’ and the problems of the present.

Where have all the heroes /heroines of science gone? When I was a lad, (c M Python), I vividly remember the ‘Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau’ (http://www.cousteau.org) and how he inspired me to want to study science – spending all my pocket money on ‘The Sea’ (an encyclopaedia in 52 parts!). Then there was James Burke and his manic enthusiasm for the Gemini and Apollo programmes (http://www.k-web.org) and don’t get me on to ‘Tomorrow’s World’ (http://tiny.cc/ks3v9) …dop dop dop dop paroparopa….10 million viewers per week…it felt like everything was possible.

Brian Cox is a genuinely nice guy, does a great job and brings back the wonder but many of the other TV science personalities either ain’t there or are confined to BBC4 (in which case they may as well be not there!). We need the ‘wonder stuff’ back on prime time or its social media equivalent.  Why can’t science/technology get the audience of the Apprentice or Dragon’s Den?

I know, it’s just the rantings of a grumpy middle-aged man but wouldn’t it be great that the next Nobel Laureate (Medicine/Physics/Chemistry) was just about to start P1 or S1 at a school near you?

Failure is an option

I was leafing through the newspapers on Saturday morning and come across an article on Dean Karnazes, the ultra-marathon running legend. It was full of admirable North American positivity and can-do spirit but one paragraph stood out – it was when he was asked how he felt about failing to finish the Badwater Ultra-marathon – ‘I learn more from failing than succeeding. People need not to be afraid to fail. I say: fail spectacularly…’

Again this theme of learning through failure or fear is echoed with the comments of Mark Cavendish on why he wanted to win stages on the tour – ‘I am scared of letting my team mates (at Columbia HTC) down’. Interesting, especially when the received wisdom is that ‘Cav’ is arrogant and in it for himself.

Now, coming from the West Coast of Scotland where something is good if it’s ‘no bad’ it is easy to take these comments at face value and assume failure is about losing. It is not. Indeed it is so far, far removed from it. As I write Cavendish has won his 19^th, (and Bernard Hinault equalling), Tour stage win and leads the Green Jersey competition: whilst Dean Karnazes has just finished a 3000 mile, 75 day crossing of the USA and is about to run a marathon in all 204 UN-recognised countries in the world in one year.

So what is about failure and fear that delivers results?

Perhaps it’s the fact that the successful people learn from failure(s) and seem even to seek out opportunities to fail so they can learn more about themselves.  Perhaps it Darwinian and the failure is a core part of ‘descent with modification’. I don’t claim to know the answer.

However, I do think we need to embrace this concept of testing ourselves or a Kennedy said ‘…we chose to do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard’

Maybe we need to ask ourselves every so often what have I done to fail today?

Vive La France (Bastille day and the Tour)

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and all’s right with the world. What a contrast to the mad-dash back from Paris (Orly) through Heathrow (T5) and back to Glasgow last night. New Guinness World Record – I was fast tracked through T5 flight connections in 7 minutes!

(Not to self – make sure to support the campaign for bringing back the route development fund!)

I was in Paris following at the invitation of Genopole to take part in a discussion on developing a set of common tools to help bioscience ventures grow. This is part of a European project called BioCT .

It was a great meeting with real progress made (a European facilities database will be launched in Sept/Oct and a Bio-executive exchange in late 2011). Just as important were the break and dinner discussions with other clusters such as BioTOP (Berlin), BioIndustry Park (Piedmote) and BioCat (Barcelona). In fact we are now looking at how we can develop closer bi-lateral links and hope to run an event later this year – watch this space.

It was also good being in France whilst the Tour is on; although its not due in Paris for a few days yet.   Thinking of it – this year’s Tour is a good analogy for the process of drug development – you prepare hard, invest in the right resources, keep pushing through the climbs and then go for the sprint to the line  – when wham!….up pops unforeseen barrier (TV car not regulator in this case) and you are thrown off the road and into the fence….but then just like the cyclist you get back on the bike and cross the line (enough of that I hear you cry).

So we are now firmly into what used to be called the ‘silly season’ for the press, even if News International and the hacking scandal have made that title redundant. So it is good to see a chuckle or two emerging from the twitter-cloud and with which i’ll sign-off-

• first the name for the new robot at the Glasgow Science Centre will be W33G1E! (btw I’m a Glasgwegian)

• and ‘have you heard any good jokes about sodium?’… ‘Na!’

Its what you do with what you’ve got

There have been quiet a few reports on the life sciences published over the last few weeks – in no doubt linked to the conference season and events such as BIO.

The overall view is that the future is positive but challenging.

Reimbursement is increasingly based on outcomes, on therapies that offer a real benefit (whales not tiddlers (c) C Packard) and that, with greatly reduced R&D spend (in Big Pharma) products need to fail early and fail rarely.

These generic findings have been echoed in a discussion on the Nexxus LinkedIn group on drug safety testing. The efficacy of human and animal testing was hotly debated with the gist being that we really do need to personalise medicine

Whilst this is not a major revelation it does act as an interesting counter-point to the recent statement from Google that it is winding-up its Google Health site. As Google say “There has been adoption among certain groups of users like tech-savvy patients and their caregivers, and, more recently, fitness and wellness enthusiasts. But we haven’t found a way to translate that limited usage into widespread adoption in the daily health routines of millions of people.’

So perhaps whilst we appreciate the need to make treatments and cures bespoke, there is still a failure to see just how all of the information and potential within life sciences is made truly personal.

In the words of the Si Kahn song (so powerfully perfomed by the likes of Dick Gaughan and Eddi Reader)

…Its not what you’ve been given its what you do with what you’ve got…

We’re back – please join us

It has been a while since we last had a Nexxus blog…it’s a case of nostra culpa.

It’s not as if we have had little to say – in fact its quite the opposite. June saw not just the usual spate of rainy days, weddings and graduations but also life science events.

Nexxus  was pleased to be involved in the very successful:

BioDundee conference, the SULSA and SINAPSE symposia, visit from Yiling pharmaceuticals, the launch of the Glasgow Science Festival, The Glasgow School of Art PDE Graduate show, The NHS long term health conditions conference, the EPIC Biotechnology Investment conference in London, the international Student Ph.D. Cancer conference, the Glasgow City of Science stakeholder presentation and of course the annual Nexxus BBQ and Debate.

A diverse series of events that reflects the vibrance – despite the economic conditions – of our life science community. It also confirms what many of you already know – Scotland’s research base is globally significant. Nexxus continues to be proud to play a part in this pursuit of excellence (Peters and Waterman anyone?).

Scottish Enterprise’s Economic Impact Assessment of Nexxus has now ‘ gone to print’ and hopefully you will have received an email directing to a summary of this today. Thanks to everyone who took time to give their views – that’s over 220 people!

We are also taking this opportunity to give you the chance to formalise your membership of Nexxus by signing on via the website www.nexxusscotland.com. Our aim is to use this platform to develop our current services and to bring even more benefits to you. So keep an eye out on the Nexxus website/twitter/Linkedin.

Risk & Opportunities – Heriot Watt University Industry Day

HWU is ‘distinctly ambitious’ and held it first university-wide Industry Day on 20th January under the theme of Risk & Opportunities. The day explored innovative solutions to manage risk effectively, both predicting risk and uncertainty, and mitigating the consequences of unexpected events. Focus themes were on climate change, environment and energy, so not the biomedical sciences that are commonly thought-of as life sciences, but the life sciences understanding the environment to understand and mitigate risk.
It’s understood that biomedical sciences is a highly-regulated sector, but it’s far from unique in that regard. Gordon Mcgregor from Scottish Power outlined the challenges it faces generating energy from different sources so that it meets regulated (and legislated) demands to reduce carbon production in response to more ambitious targets in seemingly shorter times.
In a knowledge-exchange message Prof Paul Jowitt from SISTECH compared blog and flog, sharing and selling, and showing a quadrant graph with Nils Bohr-interested in how it works, less so in what it does; Thomas Edison interested in what it does, and less so in how it works; and Loius Pasteur – interested in how it works and what it does (insert your own examples). The caution was to watch out for Rae (or RAE) who sits in the not how it works, not what it does quadrant. Paul also entertainingly illustrated the different ways to generate value from the same starting material – a bag of groceries. So variously, use them at home, use them as ingredients to make higher value meals in a restaurant, paint a picture of them and flog it for millions of pounds. There are various ways to usefully apply the same resource.
Lastly, David Evans from Arup mentioned that the inspiration for improvements to Cardiff’s eastern sewers came from biomimicry, or more-precisely consideration of poikilotherms and homeotherms sharing a beach on a sunny day. The latter, of course, regulates it’s own temperature rather than being responsive to the environment, and this lead to a management systems that regulates water-flow responsively to environmental conditions.
Thanks to HWU for the opportunity to join its Industry Day – it was worth the risk.