Stanford-NIST collaboration aims to give the bio-economy a big boost by measuring tiny things

Today, the National Institute of Standards & Technology and Stanford University have announced the formation of the Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology (JIMB). This union of academic, government and industrial researchers aims to spur the already booming bio-economy by providing useful definitions of the equivalent of weights and measures for the molecular products and processes made possible by genomics and genetic engineering.

"To realize biotechnology’s tremendous promise, we need to develop measurement platforms – standards, methods and data – that support innovation within existing and entirely new industries," said Laurie Locascio, director of NIST’s Material Measurement Laboratory. “Stanford is a world-renowned research institution with strong relationships with area biotechnology companies that will continue to inform JIMB’s work so that it is as widely applicable as possible.”

That theme was echoed by her Stanford counterpart, Ann Arvin, vice provost and dean of research. “We have long considered NIST to be a key public partner in advancing biomeasurement science,” said Arvin, a professor of pediatrics and of microbiology and immunology in addition to her administrative duties. “We are delighted that NIST is now establishing a permanent West Coast presence to help advance basic science and promote innovative commercial developments.”

There are many multidisciplinary projects emerging from the JIMB consortia. The "consortia" are public-private-academic collaborations to develop standards for the bioeconomy. Consortium products include reference materials, reference data, reference methods, and documentary standards.

  Read the full article at Stanford News.