INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

According to the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), biotechnology is “a collection of technologies that capitalize on the attributes of cells, such as their manufacturing capabilities, and put biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, to work for us.”  The definition includes a diverse group of industries commonly linked by their application of how plants, animals, and human cells function.  Industries spanning biotechnology are medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural, defense, and environmental in scope and cut across manufacturing, services, and research activities.  Often referred to as the “life sciences” or “biosciences” because of its broad scope, it is a unique industry cluster undergoing constant transformation as new discoveries and research warrant.

BIO, in a report titled Growing the Nation’s Bioscience Sector: State Bioscience Initiatives 2006 prepared by Battelle, identified total U.S. employment in the biosciences to be 1.2 million in 2004.  Two-thirds of this employment was in medical devices and equipment and research, testing, and medical laboratories, while drugs and pharmaceuticals employed more than 313,000 workers and agricultural feedstock and chemicals had 105,000.  The report found that the U.S. is home to more than 40,000 life science related business establishments

Biotechnology is impossible without the specific components of education, workforce, research prowess, entrepreneurial vision, venture capital funding, progressive legislative policies, facilities and services, economic development, and commercialization and manufacturing processes.  In this section of the Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute’s website, you will find resources to help you understand the scope of the life science industry and biotechnology activities around Texas regionally, throughout the state, in the nation, and the world.