One Day, One Job » biotechnology

Solazyme

Willy Franzen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:34:11 +0000

“Yo I’m a Raptor doin’ what I can gonna eat everything till the appearance of man. Yo yo yo, see me, I’m living below the soil, I’ll be back but I’m comin’ as oil!” That has to be one of my favorite lines from Mrs. Doubtfire, a movie that I saw dozens of time as a kid. I thought it was funny even though I had no idea what it meant (probably because Robin Williams saying anything is funny). Mrs. Doubtfire was on tv recently, and I saw the scene for the first time in a long time and finally got it. Disappointingly, petroleum doesn’t actually come from dinosaurs, but from decomposed single-celled organisms that existed 10s or 100s of millions of years ago. That means that oil is a non-renewable resource… or at least it used to be. Solazyme is a San Francisco, CA based company that has “pioneered an industrial biotechnology platform that harnesses the prolific oil-producing ability of micro algae.” Yes, they are actually synthesizing real oil that can be refined and used to power things.

Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil

What Solazyme is doing may sound like a futuristic fantasy, but United Airlines has already flown flights with Solazyme’s algae based fuel. They’re also planning to buy 20 million gallons of the fuel in 2014. Solazyme’s business isn’t just about energy. They also develop products for the Chemical, Nutrition, and Health Sciences industries. You can learn more about each of these market areas here. You’ll also probably want to read up on Solazyme’s technology. If reading that gets you fired up about a future powered by Solazyme, then you’ll want to check out the company’s Careers page. They’re obviously a very science-focused company, but most of their non-science jobs require pretty significant experience (and so do most of their science focused jobs). The one position that stood out to me as possibly being a good fit for a new grad is Fermentation Research Associate. They also allow you to apply for unlisted positions, so you may want to do that if you think you’d fit in for a role that isn’t posted (they do offer internships, so those might be a good guideline for what kind of entry level opportunities could be possible).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Solazyme?

IMMCO Diagnostics

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:43:16 +0000

Yesterday, I was watching a tv news segment on holiday etiquette, and a viewer e-mailed in a question about how to deal with throwing a party when nearly every guest has submitted “dietary restrictions.” The “expert” responded that the host should just serve what she wants to serve considering that none of her friends are likely at risk for starvation. My guess is that a lot of the guests don’t really have dietary restrictions but dietary preferences; however, there seems to be an increasing number of people whose health is significantly affected by eating certain things. A lot of these reactions are caused by autoimmune diseases, which are caused by “an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body.” I’m not sure if autoimmune diseases are becoming more prevalent or if they’re just getting more attention, but IMMCO Diagnostics based in Buffalo, NY has built its business on battling autoimmune diseases. They incorporate “innovative medical devices, diagnostic laboratory testing expertise and pioneering research for a comprehensive solution to autoimmune disease diagnostics.”

A Diagnosis for Your Job Search

One might think that IMMCO Diagnostics would be a relatively new company as the awareness surrounding autoimmune diseases has exploded, but they’ve actually been working in the field since 1971. I wish I could really dig into what they do, but autoimmune diagnostics comes with a lot of big words that I don’t understand. If your medical/scientific vocabulary is a bit bigger than mine, you may want to look over IMMCO Diagnostics’ Products to get a better feel for what they’re working on. If you want to work to help people overcome autoimmune diseases, check out IMMCO Diagnostics’ Jobs page. Right now they have two positions that may interest you: Research Associate/Technician and Marketing Assistant. Check them both out and see if they’re worth applying for.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about IMMCO Diagnostics?

Liquidia Technologies

Willy Franzen — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:49:06 +0000

When I was a kid, there were two kinds of visits to the doctor’s office: ones where I had to get a shot and ones where I didn’t. Children will never be able to understand how lucky they are to have the opportunity to get poked in the arm with a needle so that they can be vaccinated. Tomorrow’s kids will be even luckier to get poked if Liquidia Technologies keeps innovating. They’re a Research Triangle Park, NC based company that is “developing engineered particle-based vaccines and therapeutics that have the potential to dramatically improve the quality of human life.” Liquidia Technologies was founded in 2004 based on discoveries made by a Professor Joseph DeSimone of UNC, and since then they’ve raised a ton of financing.

There’s No Vaccine for Unemployment

I was in over my head as soon as I landed on Liquidia Technologies’ website, but maybe that’s because my Biology education ended after 9th grade. Luckily, I found the company’s corporate video, which does a great job of explaining what they’re all about:

If you’re yearning for more information on the science behind what Liquidia does, you should be able to find a good amount of info on their website. If all the biotechnology lingo makes sense to you without a need for translation, then you might be a good fit for a job at Liquidia Technologies. Right now they’re hiring Associate Scientists in Biology, Drug Delivery, Bio Conjugate Chemistry and Materials Science. They’re looking for people with 0-4 years of experience, so these jobs can be considered entry level. Liquidia also accepts general applications, so that’s an option if you think you could be a good fit in a different role.

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Did you hate getting shots as a kid?

Synthetic Genomics

Willy Franzen — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:31:40 +0000

When I think of the energy industry, I think of big machines like oil drills, windmills, and coal elevators. Microbes and genetics just don’t come to mind. Synthetic Genomics is a company that is aiming to change that. Energy is just one of the industries that they are working to disrupt as they develop “breakthrough genomic-driven solutions for major global issues.” Right now Synthetic Genomics, which is based in La Jolla, CA, has put a heavy emphasis on working with the energy and chemical industries because there is so much potential for gain–especially in terms of the environment; however, they’re also working on things like food production, human health, and water availability. It’s all about “turning novel science into life-changing solutions.”

Synthetic Opportunities

Obviously commercialization is a key concern for Synthetic Genomics–they need to develop technologies that can actually make money, but they seem to have decided that fixing some of the world’s most pressing problems will provide plenty of revenue opportunities. Makes sense to me. From what I can tell Synthetic Genomics is really all about developing the technology. Once they have something that is ready for the market, they find partners in the industry to put the technology into action. I wish I could dive deeper into the specifics of what Synthetic Genomics does, but words like “environmental genomics, microbiology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, plant genomics, genome engineering, synthetic biology, and climate change” tell me that I’m in over my head. If you have no problem following along with their What We Do page, then you may want to consider taking a look at their Careers. Right now they’re hiring a Research Associate and a Research Associate – Production R&D. They have a bunch of other positions that require more experience/education, and the only other job that you might want to take a look at is the Business Development Associate position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Synthetic Genomics?

DNAnexus

Willy Franzen — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:29:43 +0000

The idea of having my genome sequenced kind of freaks me out. I’m certainly warming to it, but I don’t like the idea of finding out about a deep, dark family secret or the fact that I’m predisposed to some kind of cancer from a DNA test. I know it’s irrational, and I know that I’ll overcome it eventually. I fully expect that within 20 years every child born in the U.S. will have his or her genome sequenced at birth. So maybe I should just the bite the bullet and get my genome sequenced. But if I’m going to do that, I need your help. The other day I came across a post about Palo Alto, CA based DNAnexus on Hacker News (an awesome site for programmers and people interested in startups). The post was focused on the company’s referral program that offers $20,000 and a full genome sequencing to anyone who refers a software engineer that they hire. That clearly caught my attention (I am trying to run a business here), but, more importantly, it introduced me to what DNAnexus is doing. A single genome contains over 100 gigabytes of data. Storing and analyzing this data requires some serious hardware, especially if you want to do it on a large scale. DNAnexus is an “early-stage software technology company that aims to become the data platform of the genome era.”

You Are the Data

It’s mind blowing when you think about how much data is contained in every single cell of your body. When you multiply that out by the number of people in the world, you realize that computing is going to have to come a long way to be able to be able to crunch all of that data. DNAnexus wants to be the leader by “building the DNA operating system – a platform that will handle the data deluge coming from exponentially increasing whole human genome sequencing.” It’s hard to say what kind of things will be made possible as whole human genome sequencing becomes more common, but you can bet that it will lead to some amazing medical breakthroughs (see their testimonials here). For DNAnexus though, it’s really all about hardware and software breakthroughs. They have built their “infrastructure from the ground up to run on Amazon Web Services, the world’s leading cloud computing provider,” so that they can deliver “computing and storage infrastructure” with 100,000s of CPUs and 100s of petabytes of storage available.

If you’re interested in the intersection of computing technology and genetics, you have to take a look at jobs at DNAnexus. I’m not only saying that because they offer an amazing referral bonus; I really think that they’re doing something that has amazing potential for impact on the human race. DNAnexus is looking to hire Systems Engineers, Security Engineers, Web Services Engineers, Data Visualization and Interaction Engineers, UI/UX Engineers, and Computational Genomics, Algorithms, and Machine Learning Engineer. You can apply for any of these positions on your own if you’d like, but if you want to help support One Day, One Job (and help me overcome my fear of having my genome sequenced) then send me an e-mail to willy@onedayonejob.com with your résumé or LinkedIn profile and I’ll submit it according to the rules of the referral promotion.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you get your genome sequenced?

OpGen

Willy Franzen — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:42:55 +0000

Everything that I learned about DNA I learned from the O.J. Simpson trial and Jurassic Park. That’s not entirely true, but it’s scarily close. DNA analysis seemed so futuristic back then, but now it’s an everyday type thing. Still, there continues to be a ton of innovation in the world of molecular DNA diagnostics, and one of the leaders is OpGen, which used to be headquartered in Madison, WI, but is now located in Gaithersburg, MD. OpGen’s business is based on “a unique and powerful Optical Mapping Technology that rapidly generates high-resolution, ordered, whole genome restriction maps from single DNA molecules.” I’d explain that to you if I could, but I think you’re better off reading OpGen’s explanation of Optical Mapping.

OpGen Sesame

So what is Optical Mapping good for? Well OpGen aims to have their technology “positively influence healthcare outcomes, advance scientific research, and enhance public health.” But what does that actually look like? You’ve heard about the latest E. coli outbreak in Europe, right? Understanding the genetics of this new, extremely virulent strain of bacteria is essential to fighting it. OpGen’s Optical Mapping technology enables scientists and researchers to “discriminate between closely related strains or that detect insertions in engineered strains,” and, in turn offer “a tractable solution for triaging microbial strains for complete genome sequencing.” It’s still way over my head, but it’s really cool stuff. If you are interested in genetics and the science behind Optical Mapping, then you may want to consider check out Jobs at OpGen. They have a few opening that seem suitable for new or recent grads in Gaithersburg, MD including Customer Support Specialist, Laboratory Assistant I – Manufacturing, and Laboratory Associate. Check the positions out and see if you’re a good fit for any of them.

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What have you heard about OpGen?

Precision Therapeutics

Willy Franzen — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:00:42 +0000

In just the past year and a half, I’ve lost two important people in my life to cancer. Chances are that you’ve been similarly affected by the disease considering that 1 in 4 deaths in this country are caused by cancer and that there were more than 1.5 million new cancer cases last year. The numbers sound grim, but every year we’re getting better and better at treating cancer. One of the major trends that I keep hearing about is that doctors are starting to see cancers as individual diseases instead of as one disease that affects many areas of the body. Precision Therapeutics is a Pittsburgh, PA based company that is taking this idea once step further. They believe that cancer should be treated at an individual level. In other words, they see every single case of cancer as potentially unique, and they want to help doctors and patients find the best way to treat it.

You Need Precision in Your Job Search

Precision Therapeutics was founded in 1995, and since then most of their focus has been devoted to a single product. It’s called the ChemoFx® Drug Response Marker, and it is “a test that quantifies an individual cancer patient’s probable tumor response to various chemotherapeutic and biologic agents—providing both sensitivity and resistance information.” It works by testing a range of different chemotherapies on a patient’s cancer cells. It then determines which of the different therapies are most likely to be effective and ineffective, so that doctors have a better chance of taking the right course of action. Obviously I’m not qualified to give you the full overview since my last Biology class was in 9th grade, but what I’ve told you should be enough to pique your interest. If it has, then you will want to take a look at Precision Therapeutics’ Careers page. Right now they’re looking for a Data Analyst, a Java Software Developer, and a Medical Records Coordinator. All three positions look suitable for a new or recent grad, so check them out.

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What have you heard about Precision Therapeutics?

Marrone Bio Innovations

Willy Franzen — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:10:07 +0000

Ten days ago we took a look at Rodale Institute, a non-profit that is “dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach.” We talked about how industrial farming has led to amazing boosts in productivity, but it’s also created a lot of problems. Marrone Bio Innovations is a Davis, CA based company that is taking a natural approach to one specific area of agriculture: pest control. They’re aiming to be “the world leader in natural product innovation” by making “natural, effective, safe, environmentally friendly products the mainstream future of pest management.” Usually you don’t hear organic and pesticide in the same sentence, but Marrone Bio Innovations’ business is predicated on bringing the two together.

Don’t Be a Pest

Marrone Bio Innovations has a range of products that solve problems from Fungal and Bacteria Disease Control to Blight Control. Now, I’m not a Plant Scientist, so I don’t know anything about the effectiveness of Marrone Bio Innovations’ products, but I do know that they recently received a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for the development of a natural biopesticide for control of invasive zebra and quagga mussels. If the NSF is backing them, then you know they’re one of the leaders in the field. If you’re excited about a world with less harmful pesticides, then you should check out jobs at Marrone Bio Innovations. Nothing is explicitly entry level, but if you’ve been working in a lab throughout college, I could see their Associate Research Scientist – Formulation position being a good fit. There’s also a Zequanox® Sales manager position that could be worth checking out.

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What do you think about biopesticides?

Somark Innovations

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:43:26 +0000

If you’re anything like me, you’ve run into this problem before. You’re sitting around the house, and your lab mice are frolicking around. One of them starts misbehaving and you need to scold it, but you can’t because you don’t know it’s name. They all look the same, and you are completely clueless as to who the troublemaker is. Ok, I actually don’t have mice in my house, and I hope that you don’t either, but if you’ve ever worked with lab mice you probably know that identifying them is kind of important.Somark Innovation is a San Diego, CA based company that makes that a lot easier. They’ve developed technology called Labstamp that “applies automated tail tattoos for mouse identification.” The tattoos are human readable, permanent, and available with 46,656 unique alpha-numeric IDs.

San Diego Ink

I know that a lot of people don’t love the idea of animal testing, but it’s essential to all kinds of scientific research. Somark Innovations provides technology that makes testing with mice more cost effective and less prone to mistakes. It may seem stupid, but proper identification of lab mice can be absolutely essential to the success of a given study. There’s a version of Labstamp on its way for lab rats, and I’m interested to see how else Somark Innovations uses their technology going forward. Some of the earlier press on Somark Innovations mentions “chipless RFID tattoos,” which sounds really cool, but it doesn’t seem to be mentioned on their site anymore. Somark Innovations also doesn’t mention a Jobs page, but they do note on their Team page that they’re “always looking for more team members, especially engineers” and “if you would like to learn more about joining the SOMARK team, please send a note to LearnMore@somarkinnovations.com.” They are currently looking for a Marketing intern, so it may not be just technical people that they’re looking for.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you get a tattoo on your tail?

Genetic Alliance

Willy Franzen — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:53:40 +0000

As humans we must have some innate level of genetics knowledge. We know to look for favorable traits when we search for a reproductive partner, and once we make that choice, we know that our children are supposed to look at least a little bit like us and share some of our traits. That’s why genetic research is so mystifying. It offers the opportunity to know why we are the way we are. Yet, some think that genetic research hasn’t lived up to its billing. I have to agree that it’s extremely disappointing that with all of the genetic knowledge that we’ve gained in the past 20 or so years, it hasn’t helped us cure any major diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or any form of cancer. However, it still seems that plenty of good has come out of genetics research, and there is reason to hope that a lot more is on the way. Genetic Alliance would agree. They’re based in Washington, DC, and they’re “the world’s leading nonprofit health advocacy organization committed to transforming health through genetics and promoting an environment of openness centered on the health of individuals, families, and communities.”

Is It in Your Genes?

There are all kinds of stakeholders when it comes to genetics research—individuals, doctors, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, disease-specific advocacy organizations, government agencies, non-profits, and plenty more. Each group has its own agenda, but all will benefit from advances in genetics research. Genetic Alliance brings them all together as “the voice of advocacy in genetics” with the goal of transforming health. It’s an exciting goal, and hopefully one that will be fruitful. We can’t control how much genetics have to do with our health, but however much it is, we need to find out and learn how to use that information to our advantage. If you’d like to be a part of that mission, then you might want to consider a job at Genetic Alliance. Right now they’re looking for a Grants Administration Coordinator and an Executive Assistant. Take a look at both positions and see if you’ll be a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Genetic Alliance?

Compendia Bioscience

Willy Franzen — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:44:32 +0000

It’s not big surprise that jobs are constantly in the news these days. That’s part of the reason Jason Seiden and I launched our course. People need help finding and landing jobs. People in the news have picked up on the need, and now it’s newsworthy if a company is hiring. Take this article from mlive.com’s Michigan Business Innovation Blog – it’s about who’s hiring in Ann Arbor. That’s obviously of interest to me, since so many of you are at both University of Michigan and Michigan State (as well as other great Michigan schools). There were some pretty interesting names on that list, and one that stood out to me was Compendia Bioscience. They’re Biotech meets Software, and they’re also part of the future of Michigan.

Curing Cancer

There are a lot of people in this world whose lives have been ravaged by cancer. In turn, there are a lot of people who have made it their life goals to cure cancer. Although we haven’t come up with an outright cure yet, it’s amazing how much progress we’ve made in treating many types of cancer. When I think about curing cancer, I always think about medical doctors. That’s shortsighted of me, because there are all kind of people working on beating cancer that haven’t been to medical school. That’s what Compendia Bioscience is all about. Their mission is to “Harness the global collection of genomic data to change the practice of medicine.” Yes, they have MDs on their staff, but they’re using the power of software to help those on the frontlines of oncology. It’s kind of hard to believe that with the same skillset you could work at a Web 2.0 startup that allows you turn your friends into virtual zombies or you could be working towards a cure for cancer. Don’t get me wrong, I love Web 2.0 startups, but sometimes you need to aim for a higher calling. Right now Compendia has job openings in Bioinformatics Analytics, Project Management, and Software Development. It’s hard for me to say which of these jobs are best suited for new grads, but I’m sure you can gain a better idea by looking at the job descriptions on Compendia’s Jobs page. To apply for any of the jobs, send a cover letter and resume to careers2009@compendiabio.com. Here’s a little more information from Compendia’s MPowered Entrepreneurship Fair profile.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Compendia Bioscience?

Epic Systems

Willy Franzen — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:17:17 +0000

My Dad is an architect, and he often likes to send me suggestions on which companies I should feature next. Sometimes he finds some pretty cool stuff, and a month or so ago he sent me a link to the Winter 2009 online issue of HQ Magazine, which features an article called “Top 20 Places to Work.” Usually such lists focus on a range of reasons for a place’s being great to work at, but HQ is an architectural publication, so this list is all about office space (not the movie). The section of the article on Epic Systems says: “Epic’s campus fits into idyllic pastures and farmland, providing serene, relaxing views from within. Outside are hiking trails, playing fields, a treehouse. Meeting rooms have working fireplaces to further the sense of calmness.” It sounds amazing. Epic systems is a Wisconsin based, privately held, employee owned healthcare software provider.

Epicly Helpful

Epic Systems only has 170 clients, but “they are some of the most respected organizations in healthcare.” Epic’s software apparently makes the patient experience a lot better, but until it makes waiting rooms obsolete, I’m not quite sold. Basically, what Epic’s software does is that it records every touch that a patient has with a healthcare provider. The information is kept securely, but in a way that allows patients to access it when they need it. Epic Systems provides a product that keeps doctors, nurses, and patients fully informed about what’s going on. We all know that the healthcare industry is a mess, but it’s also growing rapidly. Epic Systems seems to be taking advantage of this environment by making a product that makes healthcare better for all parties involved.

Here’s a sample situation from Epic’s website:

Imagine this: you’re from Dallas, but you’re on vacation in Seattle. Shortly after trying some of the free samples at the fish market, you come down with something nasty and end up in the Emergency Room. You can’t remember the names of the medications you’re taking at home, but you mention to the doctor that you’re normally seen at Black Springs Clinic in the Dallas area. The doctor in the ER is able to access your chart from the clinic without the need to place a call or retrieve a fax. Your ER doctor sees not only the specific medications and doses you were last prescribed at home, but also that you’re allergic to Iodine, preventing a potentially severe reaction during your care.

You get back on your feet after a few hours in the ER and are given a couple medications and a recommendation to see your doctor at home once you’re back from vacation. While still in Seattle, you pull out your laptop and are able to send a secure message to your physician in Dallas, letting him know briefly what happened. You also sign up for a follow-up appointment for when you return. When you arrive, your doctor has access to your clinic chart, as well as the information documented during your visit to the ER in Seattle.

Sounds pretty great.

Do Something Epic

Epic may have only made the list of Top Places to Work because of their building, but they look like they belong on any general list of the best places to work. Their Careers site is loaded with information – especially the Life and Work section. We could go on and on about how cool it looks to work at Epic, but you’re better off checking it out on your own (start by taking a tour of their campus). Epic allows you to browse their jobs by both Career Type and Educational Background; however, I prefer to look at their listing of all available positions. The jobs are insanely easy to scan for entry level positions, so there’s no need for me to list them here, and you can apply online. Although they are a software company, they have job openings in areas that include Accounting, Biotechnology, Botany, Consulting, HR, IT, Project Management, Writing, and, of course, Software Development.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Epic’s Campus.

Keystone Strategy

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:17:52 +0000

You’re sitting in class listening to your professor go on and on about how he’s so much smarter than the CEO of some company and how if he was in charge he’d do this and that, when you say to the kid sitting next to you, “If he’s so smart, why is he standing here lecturing instead of making bank in an executive level job at some company?” That’s a really good question. College professors are supposed to be the best minds in their respective fields, but they often eschew a big pay day for the safety of academia – hey, the hours are great. The folks at Keystone Strategy consider this a waste of resources, so they’ve put some of the top professors from Harvard Business School to work as expert advisors for their consulting firm.

Despite the Name, They’re Not Located in Pennsylvania

We’re not sure where the name came from, but Keystone Strategy is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in Boston and Salt Lake City. They are an international strategy consulting firm that specializes in Aerospace, Biotech and Pharmaceuticals, and Technology. Their Job Openings page doesn’t specifically identify positions that are available, but it does have a long list of requirements for applicants. We have seen job postings for Analyst and Consultant positions at Keystone, but we’re not sure which of these are geared towards new grads at the entry-level. Their standards are extremely high, but there’s barely a mention of prior work experience. It seems like they’re more interested in getting the smartest people they can. Our favorite of their 6 qualifications that applicants should cover in their cover letters is “The Pittsburgh Airport Test: Something that gives us confidence that we wouldn’t hate being stuck with you in the Pittsburgh airport for more than six hours.” Yes, they have specific requirements for cover letters, so make sure you read them over before you send your resume to careers@keystonestrategy.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Sorry for the short post today, but I’m getting on a boat to float down the river. Happy job searching!

New York Structural Biology Center

Willy Franzen — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:53:45 +0000

When I was in college, the only studying of proteins that I did was in a class called Intro to Meat Science. Don’t believe me? Here’s the course listing. Learning how meat proteins react to salt or heat is extremely useful (and delicious) but not at all relevant to the non-profit organization that we’re featuring today (or if it is, I’ll be shocked). Unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about biomedical research or cell biophysics, so all I can do is tell you a little bit about the New York Structural Biology Center and the entry-level jobs that they’re offering for new grads.

I Love Membrane Proteins Structure

If you own a t-shirt with the above saying, then the New York Structural Biology Center should be a great fit for you. The Center’s research goals are based around “understanding of the role that proteins play in disease pathways” and “[carrying] out advanced biomedical research in a number of areas including the new fields of structural genomics.” The NYSBC is the core facility of the New York Consortium on Membrane Proteins Structure, which consists of laboratories in and around New York City that are working together to “determine the structures of integral membrane proteins using high throughput methodologies.” The NYSBC is governed by a Board of representatives from the ten institutional members: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, City University of New York, Columbia University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, The Rockefeller University, Wadsworth Center of the Department of Health, the Joan and Sanford Weill Medical College of Cornell University (Go Big Red!), and the State University of New York. It appears that the NYSBC is making significant progress, and the successes seem to be enabling them to expand by hiring new people and beginning new projects.

Entry-Level Is a Broad Term

We have a love-hate relationship with the term “entry-level.” It’s the only way to consistently identify job opportunities for new college grads, but the definition is way too broad to actually be useful. The jobs that the New York Structural Biology Center are listed as entry-level, and they are definitely directed at new college grads, but there is no way that most college kids would qualify. The job title is Technician, and there are 2 openings. Applicants are expected to have majored in Biology, Chemistry or Physics. Previous experience in a laboratory research setting will also be a major advantage, although it’s not required. Tasks that NYSBC Technicians are expected to work on include: preparation of buffers and bacteriological media, growth and harvesting of bacteria cultures, basic molecular biology, and routine laboratory maintenance. You can apply by sending your cover letter and resume to Brian Kloss, Ph.D. at bkloss@nysbc.org.

Sorry for all the quotes today, but I’m going to stick with my steak cooking skills. This stuff is way over my head, but if it’s in your realm, please share any insight that you have in the comments. Hopefully we gave you enough to get you started on your own research of jobs at the New York Structural Biology Center.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

See those 3 big buttons on the top of the web page? Yeah, scroll up! When you click those, you directly boost our egos. Go do it. Now.

Animal Replacement Technologies

Willy Franzen — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:00:12 +0000

Surgery takes practice. You can’t jump elbows deep into someone’s chest cavity and reroute traffic without having perfected the motor skills, knowledge, and composure required to do so. The problem is that practicing surgery is tricky. You need to do it on a living, breathing thing for it to be realistic. There aren’t too many people who are jumping at the opportunity to be cut up by aspiring surgeons, so that leaves only one viable option. Sadly, animals are used as proxies for human patients. Anyone would agree that this is an undesirable outcome, but there has been no other way to teach life saving procedures and develop new surgical techniques. The good news is that Sarasota, FL based Animal Replacement Technologies has created a brilliant solution.

We don’t have a lot to go on with Animal Replacement Technologies, but we thought that their story was intriguing enough to merit a post. They have engineered synthetic human tissues, organs, and body parts that mimic their living counterparts. Amazingly, these “body copies” are made of mostly salt, water, and fibers. Not only do these technologies save animals from the fate of being test subjects, but they also ” provide industry with the tools required to improve test data integrity, enhance device safety, shorten the development cycle, reduce time to market, minimize risk, and increase profits.” For a full overview of the company, you might want to read this article about Animal Replacement Technologies in Biz941. You should probably look at Animal Replacement Technologies’ own literature too. We’re totally over our head when it comes to the science behind these products, but we’re pretty sure that there are a lot of soon to be grads who would find it thrilling to be a part of this kind of project.

For students who have a deep interest in medical research, biological sciences, or materials engineering, a job at Animal Replacement Technologies would be a home run. They don’t have a Careers page, nor do they have any job openings listed online; however, their About page does invite interested applicants to send a resume to info@anireptec.com. Try cold calling (Edit: Animal Replacement Technologies founder Dr. Christopher Sakezles left a comment asking you not to cold call on the phone, but said that submitting a resume online is fine), and swing for the fences, even if it’s a low probability play. Maybe you can convince them that as a new college graduate, you’re just what they need and that they should create an entry-level position just for you

Disclaimer: When researching Animal Replacement Technologies, don’t click any of the links to videos (.mpg) on their site, especially if you’re using a Mac with Safari. Doing so froze our computer three times for some reason that we can’t figure out. The things we go through to bring you a new job every day…

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at Animal Replacement Technologies.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Know anything about jobs at Animal Replacement Technologies? Leave a comment.

23andMe

Willy Franzen — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:00:29 +0000

Most of our readers are high achievers, right? A lot has gone into getting you to this point. Hard work. Great parenting. Good genes. You can argue about it like Mortimer and Randolph Duke in Trading Places, but you’ll never know which of these (or other) factors is truly driving your personal successes – or will you? Today’s company hasn’t figured out the answer to that question yet, but they’re well on their way.

23andMe is a web-based biotechnology firm that specializes in providing personal genetic information. The name 23andMe refers to the 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up each individual’s genome. To clarify what they do: you spit in a cup, send it to them, and for one grand they tell you what your DNA says. That price is probably shocking to many of you – to some it’s an exorbitant amount, and for others it seems like a bargain. You also may be torn on whether this service is the kind of thing you’d ever be interested. Some people want to know all the answers, while others enjoy the mystery of life. Well, for those who don’t need mystery, 23andMe’s reports include four sections: Gene Journal, Ancestry , Family Inheritance, and Genome Labs.

23andMe is the type of company that could instantly blow up, or it might take 10 years for people to get it. If it’s any indication, Wired has named 23andMe one of 10 Startups Worth Watching in 2008. Maybe we’ll be hearing about celebs getting their genes mapped and everyone will have to follow the trend. Either way, getting in at the early stages of a company like this offers the opportunity for an unparalleled experience. If you’re in for the excitement, here’s 23andMe’s job offerings from the three areas of their company: Engineering, Science, and Operations.

Currently they have 2 openings that might intrigue new college grads. In Engineering they are hiring two Web Application Software Engineers. The job description says that they want 2-4 years experience, but then encourages new grads to apply (why would a company do that?). There is also a Science Writer job available that doesn’t require any previous experience. This position looks especially cool, because it requires both extensive technical knowledge and serious writing ability. It’s not for the average college grad, but like we said before, our readers are an especially talented group.

23andMe has a number of other positions that require 2-4 years experience, but those jobs don’t encourage new grads to apply, so we’d assume they’re not appropriate for entry-level job seekers. There are also some great positions for graduates of PhD programs. If you don’t have experience or a PhD, but want to work at 23andMe, do some more research and fill out their General Application.

Note: On April 23rd we revisited entry-level jobs at 23andMe.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Don’t worry, 23andMe won’t check your genes as part of the interview process.