The following includes select facts from life science history, both global and Oregon specific,
that help explain the origins of the state's life science industry. We encourage you to learn about the scientists behind
the discoveries, the entrepreneurs, philanthropists, political leaders, and significant events, institutions
and companies that are the foundation of the life science industry in the state.
If you are aware of a notable event, person, organization/company or accomplishment that
should be included, please e-mail: Suggestions@InfoResource.org
We invite you to explore Oregon Life Science Genealogy, a one-of-a-kind image
that illustrates the founding technology origins more than 170 life science firms located in
the state. Specifically, the origins of the companies' founding technology with the state's
universities and non-profit research organizations -- longstanding centers of innovation, technology
transfer and job creation.
The newly updated Oregon and other state and province posters will be
made available in high-resolution digital and printed formats for distribution throughout the U.S. and Canada in 2019.
Sponsorship start at just $500.
We also publish Oregon Life Science E-history, a monthly educational resource of state specific events by month
to help stay abreast of the science, people, companies, institutions, and events that are the foundation of the life
science industry in the state. If you are interested in receiving our monthly
Oregon Life Science E-history, please submit the following:
1848 -- American Association for the Advancement of Science was founded.
American Association for the Advancement of Science, founded in 1848,
marked the emergence of a national scientific community in the United States, and was the first organization
established to promote the development of science and engineering at the national level and to represent the interests of
all its disciplines. Today, the AAAS serves nearly 300 affiliated societies and academies of science and publishes the
peer-reviewed general science journal Science.
1858 -- Corvallis academy (Oregon State University) was established.
In 1858, Corvallis academy (Oregon State University) established in Corvallis.
Oregon State University (OSU), a land grant university,
was designated as Oregon's state-assisted agricultural college in 1868. Sea grant, space grant and sun grant
designations came later, making OSU one of only two universities in the nation to hold all four titles.
Today, OSU offers programs in engineering, environmental sciences, forestry, pharmacy, and research
including the Hatfield Marine Science Center, Linus Pauling Institute, Center for Gene Research and
Biotechnology and Environmental Health Sciences Center.
1859 -- Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species."
In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life"
in which he postulated his theory of evolution that explained how the diverse of
species on Earth evolved from a simple, singled-celled ancestor.
Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within species occurs randomly
and that the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism's ability
to adapt to its environment. Darwin's theory of evolution remains the foundation of modern
biology.
1865 -- Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, presented his laws of heredity.
Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian considered the father of modern genetics,
conducted crossbreeding experiments with pea plants between 1856 and 1863. Through this work,
he established many of the rules of heredity.
"In 1859 I obtained a very fertile descendant with large, tasty seeds from a first generation
hybrid. Since in the following year, its progeny retained the desirable characteristics
and were uniform, the variety was cultivated in our vegetable garden, and many plants were
raised every year up to 1865. (Gregor Mendel to Carl Nägeli, April 1867).
1867 -- First formal medical education program in Oregon (Oregon Health Sciences Center) was established.
In 1867, members of the medical department at Willamette University in Salem established the first formal
medical education program in Oregon. In 1877, the program relocated to Portland, and in 1887, the
University of Oregon established a medical school in northwest Portland, the only medical school in the
Pacific Northwest. In 1917, Willamette University and the University of Oregon merged their medical
education programs to form the University of Oregon Medical School.
The present 116-acre Marquam Hill campus gets its start with a 20-acre tract donated by the
Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company, and an 88-acre tract donated by the family of C.S.
Jackson, former publisher of the Oregon Journal.
In 1974, the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center
is formed as an independent institution under the direction of the Oregon State System of
Higher Education. The schools of Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing are brought together
to create this new center. The center, located in Portland, becomes Oregon's only academic
health center and one of 125 in the nation. In 1981, the institution is renamed Oregon Health
Sciences University (OHSU).
1872 -- Legislature established the University of Oregon.
In 1872, The state's Legislature established the University of
Oregon (UO) in Eugene. The UO officially opened in 1876, with Deady Hall its first building still in use today.
In 1959, the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) at the UO was founded under the leadership of
Aaron Novick, and others, including Sid Bernhard, John Schellman, Frank Stahl, and George Streisinger, three of whom
were elected to the National Academy of Sciences. The IMB is an interdisciplinary research
community that is dedicated to investigating biological questions at the molecular level.
The UO's Integrative Science Complex comprises multiple science buildings, including the Lokey Laboratories which
house the Nanoscience Research Center. Today, the UO is a world-class teaching and research university with an active
technology transfer program and awarded grants and contracts in excess of $100.5 Million annually.
1887 -- Marine Hospital Service Hygienic Laboratory (National Institutes of Health) was founded.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) traces its roots to 1887,
when a one-room laboratory was created within the Marine Hospital Service (MHS), predecessor agency to the
U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). The MHS was established in 1798 to provide for the medical care of
merchant seamen -- charged by Congress with examining passengers on arriving ships for clinical signs of
infectious diseases, such as cholera and yellow fever, to prevent epidemics.
During the 1870s and 1880s, scientists in Europe presented compelling evidence that microscopic organisms
were the causes of several infectious diseases, and MHS officials closely followed these developments.
In 1887, Joseph Kinyoun, a MHS physician trained in the new bacteriological
methods, set up a one-room laboratory in the Marine Hospital at Stapleton, Staten Island,
New York. Kinyoun called this facility a "laboratory of hygiene" in imitation of German facilities, and within
a few months, he identified the cholera bacillus and used his Zeiss microscope to
demonstrate it to his colleagues as confirmation of their clinical diagnoses
(Photo: courtesy of the NIH Almanac).
1902 -- The Biologics Control Act was established.
The Biologics Control Act, established in 1902, had major consequences for the Hygienic Laboratory. It charged
the laboratory with regulating the production of vaccines and antitoxins, making it a regulatory agency
four years before passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. The danger posed by biological products that had
emerged from bacteriologic discoveries resulted from their production in animals and their administration by
injection. In 1901, thirteen children in St. Louis died after receiving diphtheria antitoxin contaminated
with tetanus spores. This tragedy spurred Congress to pass the Biologics Control Act, and between 1903-1907
standards were established and licenses issued to pharmaceutical firms for making smallpox and rabies vaccines,
diphtheria and tetanus antitoxins, and various other antibacterial antisera. (In 1972, responsibility
for regulation of biologics was transferred to the Food and Drug Administration).
The Marine Hospital Service (MHS), established in 1798, was reorganized in 1912
and renamed the Public Health Service (PHS). The PHS was authorized to conduct research into
noncontagious diseases and into the pollution of streams and lakes in the U.S. During
World War I, the PHS attended primarily to sanitation of areas around military bases in the
U.S., and when the 1918 influenza pandemic struck Washington, physicians from the
laboratory were pressed into service treating patients in the District of Columbia because
so many local doctors had fallen ill.
1918 -- Spanish Influenza Pandemic.
It is estimated that between 25 and 40 million people died
from the the influenza outbreak that began in 1918, swept across America in a week and
around the world in three months. In all, between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans
--civilians and soldiers-- died from the influenza, more than were lost in World War I,
II, and the Korean and Viet Nam wars combined.
The Spanish Flu reached Portland on Oct. 3, 1918 when Private James McNeese, a young soldier on his way
from Camp Lewis, Washington to the cavalry officers’ training camp at Leon Springs, Texas arrived in Portland.
Despite feeling fine the day before, McNeese suddenly felt very ill, and made the wise choice to stop at the
Portland city hospital. Doctors quickly determined he had the “Spanish” influenza, and immediately sent him
by ambulance to the military hospital at the nearby Vancouver Barracks, just across the Columbia River in
Washington. It was the first reported case of the epidemic strain of influenza to appear in Portland.
In Portland, the epidemic was generally a long, arduous slog over the course of many months. As a result,
Portland experienced a cumulative excess death rate (that is, the death rate during the entire epidemic
period above and beyond the normal deaths one would expect) of 505 per 100,000 people, even though
none of its peaks climbed above 60 per 100,000.
1930 -- The name of the Hygienic Laboratory was changed to the National Institute of Health.
In 1930, the Ransdell Act changed the name of the Hygienic Laboratory to the National Institute
of Health (NIH) and authorized the establishment of fellowships for research into basic biological and medical
problems. The roots of this act extended to 1918, when chemists who had worked with the Chemical Warfare
Service in World War I sought to establish an institute in the private sector to apply fundamental knowledge
in chemistry to problems of medicine.
1933 -- Thomas Hunt Morgan was awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his
chromosome theory of heredity.
Thomas Hunt Morgan pioneered the new science of genetics through experimental
research with the fruit fly (Drosophila), laying the foundations for the future of biology. On
the basis of fly-breeding experiments he demonstrated that genes are linked in a series on
chromosomes and that they determine indentifiable, hereditary traits.
1934 -- William Parry Murphy was awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.
William Parry Murphy (A.B., University of Oregon, 1914) shared the
1934 Nobel Prize for
Medicine for discoveries concerning liver therapy in cases of anaemia.
In 1923 Murphy practised medicine and engaged in research on diabetes mellitus and on diseases of the blood.
Murphy researched pernicious and other forms of anaemia. For the treatment of pernicious and
hypochromic anaemia and for granulocytopenia he used intramuscular injections of extract of liver, and
was associated with George Richards Minot and George Hoyt Whipple in work on pernicious anaemia and the
treatment of it by means of a diet of uncooked liver. For this work he was awarded the Nobel Prize, together with Minot
and Whipple.
1937 -- The National Cancer Institute was created.
In 1937, the National
Cancer Institute (NCI) was created with sponsorship from every Senator in Congress, and was authorized
to award grants to nonfederal scientists for research on cancer and to fund fellowships at NCI for young
researchers.
Today, the NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health, is the federal government's
principal agency for cancer research and training.
1944 -- Public Health Service Act was established.
The 1944 Public Health Service Act defined the shape of medical research in the post-war world.
The entire NIH budget expanded from $8 million in 1947 to more than $1 billion in
1966, now fondly remembered as "the golden years" of NIH expansion. The 1944 PHS Act
authorized NIH to conduct clinical research, and after the war Congress provided funding to
build a research hospital, now called the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center on the
NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The Center which opened in 1953 with 540 beds
was designed to bring research laboratories into close proximity with hospital wards in
order to promote productive collaboration between laboratory scientists and clinicians.
The NIH today, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency
for conducting and supporting medical research and is composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, providing
leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.
1947 -- Transistor was invented at AT&T's Bell Laboratories.
The transistor, the invention that marked the dawn of the
information age, was invented by John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain at AT&T's Bell Laboratories. Bardeen,
Shockley and Brattain were awarded the 1956
Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the transistor effect.
Transistors have become an invisible technology that is
part of almost every electronic device. Every major information age innovation was made
possible by the transistor and its application can be found all around us.
1953 -- Double helix structure of DNA was revealed.
The double helix structure of DNA, the hereditary molecule is revealed by
two scientists, James D. Watson and Francis Crick. This is one of the key
discoveries of the century. Watson and Crick shared the 1962
Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with Maurice Wilkins for their discoveries
concerning the molecular structure of nuclear acids and its significance for information
transfer in living material.
1954 -- Linus Carl Pauling was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Linus Carl Pauling (B.Sc., Chemical Engineering, Oregon State University, 1922)
awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize for
Chemistry for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its
application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances.
Jack Kilby, an engineer at
Texas Instruments shows only a transistor and other components on a slice of
germanium. This invention (7/16-by-1/16-inches in size), called an integrated
circuit, revolutionized the electronics industry. Kilby was awarded
the 2000 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his invention of the integrated circuit.
(Photo: Jack Kilby courtesy of Texas Instruments)
Jack Kilby went on to pioneer military, industrial, and commercial applications of
microchip technology. He headed teams that built both the first military system and the
first computer incorporating integrated circuits. He later co-invented both the hand-held
calculator and the thermal printer that was used in portable data terminals.
Mr. Kilby officially retired from TI in 1983, but he maintained a significant involvement
with the company throughout his life.
1959 -- Institute of Molecular Biology at the University of Oregon was founded.
The Institute of Molecular Biology,
was founded in 1959 by Aaron Novick, Frank Stahl, and George Streisinger. These visionary
scientists built a highly collaborative, integrated group where physicists, chemists and
biologists work together to dissect the molecular underpinnings of living organisms.
They established a thriving research institute that, to this day, exemplifies this culture.
1960 -- Oregon Regional Primate Research Center was founded.
Designated the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) in 2002, the center
conducts basic and applied biomedical research in three fields: Division of Reproductive Sciences,
Division of Neuroscience, and the Division of Pathobiology and Immunology. As one of eight
national primate centers, ORPRC is a resource, both local and international,
for scientists and academic and research institutions.
1961 -- Parks Medical Electronics was founded.
Parks Medical Electronics, founded in 1961
by Loren Parks, is the world's oldest manufacturer of Doppler Ultrasound Systems. The company,
established initially as Parks Electronics Laboratory, manufactured impedance plethysmographs, mercury strain-gage
plethysmographs, hearing testers, EKG telephone telemetry and exercise EKG telemetry in
the years before Doppler. Parks made the first directional Doppler in 1965.
Today, Parks has offices and manufacturing facilities in Aloha, Oregon, and
Las Vegas, Nevada, and manufacturers Doppler ultrasound instruments, from pocket Dopplers
to complete vascular laboratories.
1961 -- President John F. Kennedy expanded the U.S. Space Program
Listen to President John F. Kennedy's speech in
his historic message to a joint session of the Congress, on May 25, 1961 declared,
"...I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade
is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." This goal was
achieved when astronaut Neil A. Armstrong became the first human to set foot upon the
Moon at 10:56 p.m. EDT, July 20, 1969. Shown in the background are, (left) Vice
President Lyndon Johnson, and (right) Speaker of the House Sam T. Rayburn. The expansion of
the U.S. Space Program resulted in the development of a wide range of technology with
enormous benefit to human and animal kind.
(Photo: courtesy National Aeronautics & Space Administration)
1964 -- OHSU's Dr. Charles T. Dotter performed the world's first percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.
OHSU's Dr. Charles T. Dotter,
considered the father of interventional radiology, performed the world's first percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, a procedure
in which a tapered Teflon catheter was used to open a blocked artery with the help of a live X-ray shown on a television monitor.
The procedure allowed Laura Shaw, an 82-year-old woman to keep her gangrene-ravaged left foot, which was nearly amputated due to a
blocked artery. Her pain disappeared within a week and the ulcer soon healed.
1966-97 -- Federal revenues flowed into Oregon under political leadership of U.S. Senator
Mark Hatfield.
Mark Hatfield served in the State Legislature from 1951-1957; was Oregon secretary of state
from 1957-1959. He was elected governor in 1958 and re-elected in 1962, becoming
Oregon's first two-term governor in the 20th century. Hatfield served in the U.S. Senate from
1966-1997 where he focused on health, education, research and social service programs. In 1995,
Senator Hatfield received the Albert Lasker Public Service Award "For energetic leadership
and enduring advocacy in support of biomedical research."
Senator Hatfield's support of medical research related initiatives remains a foundation of the
biotechnology industry in Oregon, as well as nationally. Examples include the Hatfield Award for
Clinical Research established by the Alzheimer’s Association to honor his long commitment to
Alzheimer’s disease research, especially clinical investigations; the Mark Hatfield Marine
Science Center in Newport; and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center opened in 2004.
The new NIH Center is home to patient care facilities and research labs, and connects to the existing Warren Grant Magnuson
Clinical Center established in 1953. Together, the Magnuson and Hatfield centers
form the NIH Clinical Center, the world's largest clinical research complex, providing patient
care as well as the environment clinical researchers need to advance clinical science.
(Photo: Mark Hatfield courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office)
1969 -- Man walked on the moon.
In July of 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, American astronauts, made
history by becoming the first men to walk on the moon.
Listen to Neil Armstrong's first words as he steps onto the lunar
surface (66 kb .wav file). Photo: Courtesy of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration)
An important benefit of the Apollo Lunar Program and
other NASA programs is the ever-growing pipeline of technology that improves human and
veterinary healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics.
1969 -- Victor McKusick published "Mendelian Inheritance in Man".
Victor McKusick, widely acknowledged as the father of medical genetics, spent his career studying
the genetic basis of diseases and disorders with the belief that such an understanding could lead
to new methods of diagnosis and treatment. He studied, identified, and mapped genes responsible for
inherited conditions such as Marfan syndrome and dwarfism (specifically in Amish communities).
In 1969, he proposed the idea of mapping the human genome, over 30 years before the Human
Genome Project was established.
McKusick, a graduate of Johns Hopkins (M.D. 1946), spent his entire career there and founded
the Division of Medical Genetics in 1957, the first research center and clinic of its kind. In
1969 he published the 1st edition of his
book "Mendelian Inheritance of Man",
one of the most comprehensive collections of inherited disease genes. In 2002, McKusick received the
highest scientific honor in the U.S., the National Medal of Science.
1971 -- NASDAQ Stock Market was founded.
NASDAQ Stock Market was founded as the world's first electronic stock market by the
National Association of Securities Dealers. The NASDAQ system, created by the Bunker Ramos
Corp. allowed the financial community, for the first time, to determine which market
offered the best price on a given security.
1971 -- President Nixon declared war on cancer creating the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute.
On Dec. 23, 1971, the National Cancer Act of 1971, enacted by President Richard Nixon as part of the
nation’s war on cancer, established the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute.
The National Cancer Act, "The War on Cancer," gave the NCI unique autonomy at NIH with special budgetary authority.
The annual budget of NCI, called the bypass budget, be submitted directly to the president, bypassing traditional
approval by the NIH or the Department of HHS required of other NIH institutes.
1973 -- Recombinant DNA was perfected.
The modern era of biotechnology begins when Stanley Cohen of Stanford University and Herbert Boyer of the University of
California at San Francisco successfully recombined ends of bacterial DNA after splicing a toad gene in between. They
called their accomplishment recombinant DNA, but the media preferred the term genetic engineering.
(Photo: Courtesy Stanley Cohen)
Boyer and Cohen's achievement was an advancement upon the techniques developed by Paul Berg, in 1972,
for inserting viral DNA into bacterial DNA. Cohen's research at Stanford was with plasmids—the nonchromosomal, circular
units of DNA found in, and exchanged by, bacteria, while Boyer's was restriction enzymes produced by bacteria to counter
invasion by bacteriophages.
1974 -- University of Oregon Health Sciences Center was formed.
In 1974, the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center (OHSU)
is formed as an independent institution under the direction of the Oregon State System of
Higher Education. The schools of Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing are brought together
to create this new center. The center, located in Portland, becomes Oregon's only academic
health center and one of 125 in the nation. In 1981, the institution was renamed Oregon Health
Sciences University.
In 1998, the Mark O. Hatfield Research Center was dedicated. The Center houses a variety of basic and clinical research programs that have
the potential to spark new therapies. It includes such programs as the Clinical Research Center, the Oregon Hearing Research Center,
Doernbecher Children's Hospital Pediatric Research Laboratories, the Bone and Mineral Unit's osteoporosis studies, the Oregon Stroke
Center, and the Oregon Cancer Center. In 2001, the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute and Neurological Sciences Institute buildings
opened on OHSU's west campus, and that same year, OHSU's name changed to Oregon Health & Science University as Governor John Kitzhaber
signed legislation that expanded OHSU's mission and paved the way for a merger with Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology
that was completed July 1, 2001.
1974 -- Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) was enacted.
John N. Erlenborn, the ranking Republican on the House Committee, was responsible for
bringing the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to a floor vote, and
is one of the ERISA’s "Founding Fathers." Together with Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY), Senator
Pete Williams (D-NJ) and Congressman John Dent (D-PA), Erlenborn crafted provisions and
participated in negotiations that were instrumental to the enactment of ERISA which was - and
remains - the single most important legislation governing employee benefit plans in the United
States creating a growing source of new capital.
(Photos: Jacob Javits and Pete Williams courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office).
1975 -- Monoclonal antibodies were produced.
In 1975, Georges Köhler and César Milstein, showed how monoclonal antibodies can be generated by
isolating individual fused myeloma cells.
Bend Research was founded in 1975 by Harry Lonsdale and Richard Baker using the SBA's Small
Business Innovation Research program to develop synthetic membranes. Bend Research worked
exclusively with Pfizer to develop new drug delivery technologies for over a decade.
In 2008, terms of the Pfizer agreement changed from exclusive to non-exclusive and the company
began to independently offer it's drug delivery expertise and technologies to other firms.
1975 -- Molecular Probes was founded.
Molecular Probes was a biotechnology company located in Eugene, Oregon that specialized in
fluorescence. The company was founded in 1975 by Richard and Rosaria Haugland in their
kitchen in Minnesota. The Hauglands developed the Texas Red dye, a rhodamine derivative, and
other dyes with names that reflect their Oregon heritage, including the Oregon Green
and Cascade Blue dyes, while Marina Blue and the Alexa Fluor dyes are named after
the Hauglands' children, Marina and Alex.
Invitrogen bought Molecular Probes in 2003 for $325 million in cash. The company
became part of Life Technologies, through the merger of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems,
and is now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, following Fisher's acquisition of Life
Technologies in 2014.
1976 -- Genentech was founded.
Genentech was founded by venture
capitalist Robert Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert Boyer. In the early 1970s, Boyer
and geneticist Stanley Cohen at Stanford University pioneered recombinant DNA technology.
Within a few short years Swanson and Boyer invented a new industry - biotechnology.
In 1980, Genentech issued its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and raised $35 million
with an offering that jumped from $35 a share to a high of $88 after less than an
hour on the market. This event was one of the largest stock run-ups ever, and that
event set the stage for future biotechnolgy industry offerings.
1977 -- First human gene was cloned.
Walter Gilbert induced bacteria to synthesize insulin and interferon, and Frederick Sanger
published the complete sequence of phage FX174. The 1980 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry was
awarded jointly to Frederick Sanger and Walter Gilbert for "for their contributions concerning
the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids, and to Paul Berg for his fundamental
studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA.
1980 -- U.S. Supreme Court ruled man-made organism patentable.
Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds five-to-four the patentability of
genetically altered organisms, opening the door to greater patent protection for any
modified life forms.
In 1972, Mohan Chakrabarty, a microbiologist, filed a patent
application, assigned to the General Electric Co. for a human-made genetically engineered
bacterium capable of breaking down multiple components of crude oil. Because of this
property, which is possessed by no naturally occurring bacteria, Chakrabarty's invention
was believed to have significant value for the treatment of oil spills. The application
asserted 36 claims related to Chakrabarty's invention of "a bacterium from the genus
Pseudomonas containing therein at least two stable energy-generating plasmids, each of
said plasmids providing a separate hydrocarbon degradative pathway.
Opinions: Chief Justice Warren Burger delivered the opinion
of the Court, in which justices Potter Stewart, Harry Blackmun, William Rehnquist, and
John Paul Stevens joined. William Brennan filed a dissenting opinion, in which Byron
White, Thurgood Marshall, and Lewis Powell joined.
1980 -- Bayh-Dole Act provided for university technology transfer.
H.R.6933, Public Law: 96-517, December 12, 1980. A bill to amend title
35 of the United States Code. This Act known as the Bayh-Dole Act provided for the legal transfer of research and
technology originating from U.S. universities and federal laboratories to private
companies for commercialization. Technology transfer offices are now common in
universities and federal laboratories and are the technology foundation for numerous
biotechnology and medical device companies. (Photos: Birch Bayh and
Robert Dole courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office)
1980 -- AntiVirals (AVI BioPharma) was founded.
AntiVirals, now known as
Sarepta Therapeutics was founded in Corvallis 1980. In 2002, the company was
renamed AVI BioPharma, and in 2009, the company relocated their headquarters from Portland
to Bothell, Washington, near Seattle. In 2012 the company relocated a second time, to
Cambridge, Massachusetts, retaining their Corvallis laboratory facility, and changed their
name to Sarepta Therapeutics.
Today, the company is focused on developing first-in-class
RNA-targeted therapeutics to improve and save the lives of people affected by serious
and life-threatening rare and infectious diseases.
1981 -- Synthetech was founded.
Synthetech, Inc., founded in Albany in 1981, was a fine chemicals company
specializing in organic synthesis, biocatalysis and chiral technologies. Synthetech
developed and manufactured amino acid derivatives, specialty amino acids, peptide fragments,
proprietary custom chiral intermediates and specialty resins, primarily for the
pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.
Synthetech, one of the oldest companies in Oregon, was founded by Paul Ahrens who served as President and
CEO of the company from 1989-1995, and VP of Technology from 1981-1989.
1982 -- George Streisinger cloned the first vertebrate -- a zebrafish.
George Streisinger at the University of Oregon (UO) clones the first vertebrate -- a zebrafish.
The UO houses the Zebrafish International Resource Center,
a central distribution center for zebrafish worldwide.
1983 -- Orphan Drug Act was created.
The Orphan Drug Act
encouraged the research and development of drugs for rare or "orphan" diseases defined as a disease or condition that
affects fewer than 200,000 Americans.
The Orphan Drug Act provided for financial incentives to help companies recover the cost of developing much needed
therapies for small patient populations. The FDA estimates that more than 11 million patients in the U.S. and millions
more around the world, have benefited from this legislation.
1984 -- Alec Jeffreys and technician Vicky Wilson discovered minisatellites leading to the development of genetic fingerprinting.
In 1984, geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys, and technician Vicky Wilson at the University of
Leicester in England discovered minisatellites leading to the development of genetic fingerprinting.
The new technology was first used in 1985 to resolve a disputed immigration case
that confirmed the identity of a British boy whose family was from Ghana.
In 1988, Colin Pitchfork was convicted of murdering two girls in 1983 and 1986 in
Narborough, Leicestershire, England after his DNA samples matched semen samples
taken from the two dead girls. Jeffreys' work in this case convicted the
killer, but also exonerated Richard Buckland, a suspect who otherwise might
have spent his life in prison. In 1994, Jeffreys' was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II for his services to genetics.
1985 -- Bioject Medical Technologies was founded.
Bioject Medical Technologies
was founded in 1985 to develop needle-free injection systems to improve the comfort
and safety of routine injections, was a leader in the development of needle-free
injection therapies.
On March 14, 2016, Inovio Pharmaceuticals announced an agreement to acquire all of Tigard-based Bioject
Medical Technologies' assets including pioneering needle-free jet injection technology,
devices, and intellectual property for $5.5 million in cash and stock.
1988 -- Calypte Biomedical Corp. was founded.
Calypte Biomedical Corp.,
founded in 1988, is a pioneer in non-blood-based HIV antibody testing, and were the first
and only company to earn approval from the FDA for a urine-based HIV-1 antibody-screening
test and supplemental Western blot.
Based in Portland, Calypte takes its name from Calypte anna, a humming bird with
brilliant emerald and ruby feathers that makes its home on the west coast of North America.
Calypte issued its IPO in 1996 when it offered 2,300,000 shares at $6 per share with
gross proceeds of $13.8 million.
1989 -- Oregon Bioscience Association (Oregon Bio) was founded.
Oregon Bioscience Association (OBA) was established
in 1989 as the Bioforum Foundation by a consortium of universities, public officials, educators and bioscience executives.
The organization became the Oregon Biotechnology Association in 1990, and started doing business as the Oregon Bioscience
Association in 2000 (Oregon Bio). Today Oregon Bio supports the regional bioscience community through networking,
educational programs, enterprise support, advocacy, and the enhancement of research collaboration.
1990 -- Human Genome Project was established.
The U.S. Human Genome
Project was established -- a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S.
Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The main goals of the
Human Genome Project were to provide a complete and accurate sequence of the 3 billion
DNA base pairs that make up the human genome and to find all of the estimated 20,000 to
25,000 human genes. The project, originally planned to last 15 years, was expected
to be completed by 2003 due to rapid technological advances.
1992 -- Riverfront Research Park at the University of Oregon dedicated its first building.
Riverfront Research Park
project is a cooperative effort of the University of Oregon and private developers to build a
university-related research park on a state-owned site adjacent to the university campus
on the south bank of the Willamette River.
1992 -- Electrical Geodesics Incorporated (EGI) was founded.
Electrical Geodesics Incorporated (EGI),
a University of Oregon spin-off founded in 1992, set the goal of making dense array EEG (dEEG) practical and affordable
for research laboratories. There are now over 500 sites in over 450 academic institutions,
hospitals, and clinics using EGI's Geodesic EEG Systems, in over 30 countries. There are
over 1966 research papers published in leading scientific and medical journals using EGI
technology.
1993 -- Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) was founded.
Biotechnology Industry
Organization is the world's largest organization to serve and represent the
biotechnology industry. BIO's leadership and service-oriented guidance have helped advance
the industry and bring the benefits of biotechnology to people everywhere.
1993 -- Kary B. Mullis was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
PCR allows scientists to quickly replicate small strands of DNA, greatly simplifying
the sequencing and cloning of genes. First presented in 1985, PCR has become one of
the most widespread methods of analyzing DNA. Notably, PCR requires the heat-stable enzyme
Taq (Thermus Aquaticus) which originated from hot springs located in Yellowstone
National Park.
1995 -- Siga Technologies was founded.
Siga Technologies, founded in Corvallis in 1995, was a spin-off company from Oregon State University,
that specialized in the development and commercialization of therapeutic solutions for
some of the most lethal disease-causing pathogens, including smallpox, Ebola, dengue, Lassa
fever and other dangerous viruses.
In 2011, Siga was ordered to pay $232 million in damages in a legal dispute with
PharmAthene over rights to the smallpox drug tecovirimat. In November 2013,
Siga laid off its entire R&D division located in Corvallis, and liquidated all laboratory
equipment from that site. In 2014, Siga filed for bankruptcy protection.
2001 -- Human Genome Project draft sequence was published.
The February 16 issue of Science and February
15 issue of Nature contained the working draft of the human genome
sequence (U.S. Human Genome
Project). Nature papers included initial analysis of the descriptions of the sequence
generated by the publicly sponsored Human Genome Project, while Science publications focused
on the draft sequence reported by the private company, Celera Genomics.
2001 -- The FDA approved Gleevec, developed by OHSU's Dr. Brian Druker.
On May 10, 2001, the FDA approved Gleevec, the world’s first targeted cancer therapy in record time for
treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia.
The bright orange pill, formerly known as STI571,
was developed by Novartis in collaboration with Brian Druker, M.D., director of the Oregon
Cancer Institute's Leukemia Center at Oregon Health & Science University. Gleevec was
later approved for nine more cancers.
2003 -- Molecular Probes was acquired by Invitrogen.
In 2003, Invitrogen bought Molecular Probes for $325 million in cash. The company
became part of Life Technologies through the 2008 merger of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems,
and has been part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, following Fisher's acquisition of Life
Technologies in 2014.
Molecular Probes was founded in 1975 by Richard and Rosaria Haugland in their
kitchen in Minnesota. The biotechnology company, located in Eugene, Oregon specialized in
fluorescence. The Hauglands developed the Texas Red dye, a rhodamine derivative, and
other dyes with names that reflect their Oregon heritage, including the Oregon Green
and Cascade Blue dyes, while Marina Blue and the Alexa Fluor dyes are named after
the Hauglands' children, Marina and Alex.
2003 -- The Oregon Nanoscience & Microtechnologies Institute was founded.
Oregon Nanoscience & Microtechnologies
Institute (ONAMI), founded in 2003, was the result of a collaboration among
Oregon universities, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and industry. ONAMI, a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded by the State of Oregon Economic Development
Department, was created to dramatically grow research revenue and accelerate
commercialization of resulting technology in Oregon.
2006 -- Genentech announced establishment of Beaverton, Oregon facility.
In 2006, Genentech announced the acquisition of a 75-acre property
20 miles west of Portland in Hillsboro, Oregon, for the construction and development of a new facility.
Genentech broke ground on the facility in December 2006, and opened the Hillsboro operation
in April 2010. The site is home to a state-of-the-art fill/finish facility and warehousing and
distribution center.
Genentech, founded in In 1976, is among the world's leading biotech companies with
multiple protein-based products on the market for serious or life-threatening medical
conditions.
2007 -- The National Institutes of Health established the Human Microbiome Project.
On Dec. 19, 2007, the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), a $150 million initiative, was established by the National
Institutes of Health with the mission of generating resources that would enable the comprehensive characterization of
the human microbiome and analysis of its role in human health and disease.
The HMP is the collection of all
the microorganisms living in association with the human body, including eukaryotes, archaea, bacteria and viruses.
Bacteria in an average human body number ten times more than human cells, for a total of about 1000 more genes
than are present in the human genome.
2008 -- Philip H. and Penny Knight donated $100 million to OHSU Cancer Institute.
In October 2008, Philip and Penny Knight pledged $100 million to
Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute.
In recognition of the transformational impact the donors’ generosity will have on the treatment of cancer,
OHSU will rename its cancer institute – the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated center – the
OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.
The first $2 million of the gift will name the Linda Conant Laboratory Suite, a key component of the Center for
Cancer Cell Signaling in OHSU’s new Biomedical Research Building. Conant, who died of breast cancer in January,
was a close friend of the Knight family. The remaining $98 million will establish the OHSU Cancer Institute Knight
Fund for use at the discretion of the institute’s director. Acclaimed cancer researcher Brian Druker, M.D.
As the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center between Sacramento and Seattle, the OHSU Knight
Cancer Institute is committed to translating discoveries into better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
Through a robust basic and clinical research program and compassionate, multidisciplinary care, more than 200
research scientists and medical professionals are working to bring new hope to patients and their families.
2008 -- Oregon BioEvolution published illustrating technology origins of state's industry.
Oregon BioEvolution --
is a one-of-a-kind genealogy chart, published in 2008, that illustrates the "technology
origins" of more than 100 firms and non-profit research organizations that comprise
the biotechnology and medical device industry in the state of Oregon.
2010 -- Synthetech was acquired by W. R. Grace & Co.
On Nov. 18, 2010, W. R. Grace & Co. announced it had completed its acquisition
of Synthetech at a price of $1.163286 per share. Synthetech, Inc., founded in Albany,
Oregon in 1981, was a fine chemicals company specializing in organic synthesis,
biocatalysis and chiral technologies. Grace is a leading global supplier of catalysts;
engineered and packaging materials; and specialty construction chemicals and building
materials.
2013 -- Bend Research was acquired by Capsugel.
On Oct. 1, 2013 Capsugel
announced it had completed its acquisition of Bend Research.
The company was founded in 1975 by Harry Lonsdale and Richard Baker using the SBA's Small
Business Innovation Research program to develop synthetic membranes. Bend Research worked
exclusively with Pfizer to develop new drug delivery technologies for over a decade.
In 2008, terms of the Pfizer agreement changed from exclusive to non-exclusive and the
company began to independently offer it's drug delivery expertise and technologies to other
firms. Today, Bend Research is part of the Capsugel Dosage Form Solutions business unit
headquartered in Morristown, N.J.
2013 -- Nike co-founder Phil Knight and wife Penny issued $1 billion cancer challenge.
On Sept. 21, 2013 Philanthropists Phil and Penny Knight pledged $500 million to kick-start a $1 billion cancer
research initiative at the Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU. Phil Knight, Nike co-founder and
chairman, said the pledge was contingent on OHSU’s success in raising at least $500 million
more for cancer within two years.
Siga Technologies, founded in Corvallis in 1995, was a spin-off company from Oregon State University,
that specialized in the development and commercialization of therapeutic solutions for
some of the most lethal disease-causing pathogens, including smallpox, Ebola, dengue, Lassa
fever and other dangerous viruses.
In 2011, Siga was ordered to pay $232 million in damages in a legal dispute with
PharmAthene over rights to the smallpox drug tecovirimat. In November 2013,
Siga laid off its entire R&D division located in Corvallis, and liquidated all laboratory
equipment from that site. In 2014, Siga filed for bankruptcy protection.
2015 -- OHSU set fundraising record by meeting $1 billion challenge from Nike co-founder and wife.
On June 25, 2015, OHSU announced it had met Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his
wife Penny’s $1 billion challenge and raised $500 million in less than two years to
earn the Knights’ matching gift and set a fundraising record. In 2013, the Knights
pledged $500 million to kick-start a $1 billion cancer research initiative at the
Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU. The pledge was contingent on OHSU’s success in raising
at least $500 million more for cancer within two years.
2015 -- Genentech announced plans to expand Hillsboro facility.
Genentech,
a member of the Roche Group, announced plans to invest more than $125 million
for the expansion of its fill/finish facility in Hillsboro. Genentech opened operations in
Hillsboro in April 2010. The site is home to a state-of-the-art fill/finish facility and
warehousing and distribution center.
Genentech, founded in In 1976, is among the world's leading biotech companies with
multiple protein-based products on the market for serious or life-threatening medical
conditions.
2016 -- Bioject Medical Technologies was acquired by Inovio Pharmaceuticals.
Bioject Medical Technologies
was founded in 1985 to develop needle-free injection systems to improve the comfort
and safety of routine injections, was a leader in the development of needle-free
injection therapies.
On March 14, 2016, Inovio Pharmaceuticals announced an agreement to acquire all of Tigard-based Bioject
Medical Technologies' assets including pioneering needle-free jet injection technology,
devices, and intellectual property for $5.5 million in cash and stock.
Learn about the history of the life science industry in other states:
If you are aware of a notable event or person at your company or organization
that should be included in Oregon Life Science History, please e-mail us
at: suggestions@inforesource.org.
The 
It is estimated that between 25 and 40 million people died
from the the influenza outbreak that began in 1918, swept across America in a week and
around the world in three months. In all, between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans
--civilians and soldiers-- died from the influenza, more than were lost in World War I,
II, and the Korean and Viet Nam wars combined.
Listen to 
Molecular Probes was a biotechnology company located in Eugene, Oregon that specialized in
fluorescence. The company was founded in 1975 by Richard and Rosaria Haugland in their
kitchen in Minnesota. The Hauglands developed the Texas Red dye, a rhodamine derivative, and
other dyes with names that reflect their Oregon heritage, including the Oregon Green
and Cascade Blue dyes, while Marina Blue and the Alexa Fluor dyes are named after
the Hauglands' children, Marina and Alex.
Synthetech, Inc., founded in Albany in 1981, was a fine chemicals company
specializing in organic synthesis, biocatalysis and chiral technologies. Synthetech
developed and manufactured amino acid derivatives, specialty amino acids, peptide fragments,
proprietary custom chiral intermediates and specialty resins, primarily for the
pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.
The 
Riverfront Research Park
Electrical Geodesics Incorporated (EGI)
