Life sciences research tops IU agenda

Humankind's desire to understand the way living things work dates back almost as far as humankind itself. Understanding the processes, systems and functions of every part of an organism is vital not only for understanding the world around us, but also for increasing the quality of life for humans as a species. To this end, IU has been rapidly advancing its life sciences programs for the past five years, with the intention of becoming a national and even global leader in life sciences research.\nEffective discussion of life sciences requires a definition of the topic. But, as Joann Roskoski, an executive officer at the National Science Foundation, points out the answer is not very simple.\n"The science of life, or if you use biology as an equivalent term of 'life science' then it is 'the study of life,' ... Since life is hierarchical, 'life science' includes studying everything from the atoms that make up DNA strands all the way up to the entire biosphere," she said in an e-mail.\nDavid Bricker, of IU media relations, gave a more specific definition.\nHe said the core of the life sciences is health and medical science. He said basic biology and biochemistry are also considered more core facets of the life sciences. But "life sciences" also include some of the more fringe fields such as biophysics and environmental sciences, he said.\nIn the past six months, administrative life sciences developments have been many, massive and highly visible. The foremost in all three of these respects was the December announcement of a $53 million grant from the Lilly Foundation Inc., the largest the Bloomington campus has ever received. The grant funds IU's new Metabolomics and Cytomics Initiative, known as METACyt, a conglomerate of researchers studying how cells work. \n"METACyt is the really critical initiative that sort of pulls it all together," said Michael McRobbie, the vice president for research, vice-president for information technology and chief information officer. "It really gives us a big focus, an umbrella for major new developments in the life sciences."\nStudents can see the impacts of the push for life sciences around campus, too. Nearly every day, heavy equipment drives in and out of the fenced-off construction site of the $55.7 million Simon Hall. The 140,000 square-foot building -- also called Multidisciplinary Science Building Phase I -- will house life science researchers from many fields. At its January meeting, the IU board of trustees also approved the construction of the $42.4 million MSBII. Both buildings are an effort to fill a campus need for more research space. \nThe administration has also been taking smaller steps to promote research in the life sciences. On Jan. 30, The Herald-Times published a letter by IU President Adam Herbert extolling the benefits of life sciences research for IU and for the state of Indiana. \n"Life sciences research at Indiana University has long-term benefits for mankind and benefits Indiana by creating jobs and contributing to economic growth," Herbert wrote.\nDespite all of these advances, IU still has a great deal of ground to cover in its goal of becoming a national life sciences research leader.\nIU as a whole ranked eighth in the Big Ten in 2002 for non-medical life sciences research spending -- with $179 million -- and sixth in the Big Ten for National Institutes of Health funding -- with $122 million, according to the National Science Foundation. The leader in the Big Ten for NSF life science spending was the University of Wisconsin-Madison with $410 million.\nBut life sciences is such a wide field that it allows for many leads in many different areas, said College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kumble Subbaswamy.\n"It's a really broad frontier," he said. "So in that sense, leadership doesn't necessarily mean leadership across the waterfront. There are certain aspects in which you can have a leadership role with a lot less investment."\nSubbaswamy said IU can compete with schools and states which receive much more funding for life sciences research if it plays to its strengths.\n"I think there are certain areas where we already have leadership ... for example, proteomics analysis," he said.\nProteomics analysis examines the proteins that are generated in the cell by the genome's instructions.\nDevelopments in life sciences research will also bring improvements for the undergraduate education, said Subbaswamy.\n"In all these investments we have some very exciting new programs for undergraduate students," he said. "We have several new course offerings ... not the mention research opportunities for undergraduates using really state of the art, cutting edge technologies."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.