Life and science

The goals of the life sciences -- coming soon to Southeast Missouri -- are lofty. The objectives have as much in common with charity as with anything found inside a beaker: feeding the hungry, curing the sick and improving the environment.

But science it is.

The method of reaching those goals involves genetic engineering, such as making some fruits and vegetables more resistant to disease and, therefore, more plentiful. Genetic manipulation can also increase vitamins in some foods.

Life sciences involves research, such as figuring out ways to do complex medical procedures better or finding the origin of disease in order to find keys for treatment.

Soon enough that work will be done right here in our area, though exactly what form life sciences will take is not yet known. Southeast Missouri State University is developing a business incubator that will yield life science-related businesses.

Those businesses will eventually graduate to a 400-acre research park of laboratories, greenhouses and research facilities just north of Cape Girardeau.

The university is banking on the research park to be a success. It has hired Dennis Roedemeier to oversee the project. Roedemeier is a former business recruiter who also worked with the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

What makes the project exciting is the business potential. Life science is a marriage of science and economic development.

The technology park on the east side of Interstate 55 -- it's the university farm right now -- is expected to become the home of thousands of new jobs.

There will likely be a close working relationship with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. That five-year-old institution works with plants to meet life-sciences goals. The center's leaders say there's little room in St. Louis for agriculture. Southeast Missouri, on the other hand, has ample room.

It's within the realm of possibility that after the testing leaves the greenhouse phase, plants could be brought here for planting, evaluation and cultivation.

There is also room in the technology park for businesses outside life sciences, such as manufacturing or processing plants. There is a need for such new businesses and the jobs they will create.

The life sciences are about making the world a better place. Some of the concepts may seem like science fiction, but the potential of life sciences is very real.