Calvin News

Biotechnology is expected to be the number-one applied science of the 21st century. 
And Calvin College wants to equip its students to be leaders in the field. Last month the school approved a new major in biotechnology. In February 2000 it will offer its first course, Introduction to Biotechnology. 
The biotechnology industry is relatively young; its birth is often given as October 15, 1980, the day a company named Genentech saw its stock first publicly traded. But, despite its youth, biotechnology has made a significant impact on both the world of science and the world of the everyday consumer. 
Human insulin is seen as one of the first products of biotechnology. In fact, Genentech developed a method for producing human insulin in genetically altered organisms, often yeast or E coli. Mass produced human insulin meant diabetics no longer had to rely on "foreign" insulins such as cow or pig insulin. It was biotechnology of a very positive sort. 
Such positive developments continue. For example, in the works now is a vaccine-filled banana. Targeted for use in Third World countries such a banana may include in its genetic make-up a vaccine against cholera or hepatitis B. Health care workers could then transport the bananas to the people for painless ingestion which, unlike present vaccines, would need no special handling, equipment or refrigeration. Such a biotech development could revolutionize health care in Third World Countries. 
Other developments in biotech have met with resistance. The use of recombinant bovine growth hormone to boost milk production has been approved in the United States, despite opposition, but still has not been approved in Europe and Canada. Genetically modified corn, which is resistant to the European corn borer, may also inadvertently kill monarch caterpillars. Such developments have evoked considerable criticism and media scrutiny. And the production of genetically modified pigs with "humanized" organs for transplants led some critics to accuse the biotech industry of playing God. 
And now, into the fray, wades Calvin College. Those involved in the creation of the new biotechnology major at Calvin say the time is right for a Calvin presence in the industry. And they have tailored the major so that its graduates will make a difference. 
"Much of the biotechnology industry is profit driven," says Calvin professor David Koetje (above), a biotechnology expert who next February will teach Biology 256 - Introduction to Biotechnology. "That can raise ethical and philosophical questions. And many of the people working in biotechnology have a narrow area of expertise, often molecular biology. They don't have any training in ecology or the humanities. They don't see the big picture. We want to train students who do not have that narrow focus. We want to equip students to address the many ethical, philosophical and social issues that biotechnology raises." 
In fact, the biotech major will have as its capstone a course on biotechnology regulations and ethics, a course that will include students writing position papers on thorny ethical issues in biotechnology. 
Says Koetje: "We want our students to be leaders and thinkers in the biotech industry." But, he adds, Calvin also wants its biotechnology majors to be proficient, so that upon graduation they are able to secure jobs in the biotech industry. 
"If our graduates are to be leaders," he says, "they need first to be hired. And to get hired they need to have the training and the expertise. So, a big part of the major is centered on preparing students with essential laboratory skills for careers in biotechnology." 
To that end, Calvin already has set up a state-of-the-art cell culture lab in its brand-new John "Doc" DeVries Hall of Science. That lab has intentionally been equipped to mimic the labs that the biotech industry uses, so that when students leave the Calvin major they can make a seamless transition to industry. Calvin also recently acquired two DNA sequencing machines, identical to those being used by the well-known Human Genome Project. And the school has grant applications near approval for more high-tech equipment. 
Calvin also is committed to giving its students research experience. Internships will be a big part of the new major as will real-world research projects done in tandem with Calvin professors. And a biotechnology advisory committee, made up of industry leaders, academic investigators and Calvin faculty, will regularly evaluate and update the curriculum to include new biotech trends and advances. 
Koetje, a 1985 Calvin graduate who earned a Ph.D. in plant physiology at Purdue University, is excited about his alma mater's entry into this brave new world. 
"Biotechnology is a very important field," he says. "It's not the savior that some people in the industry claim that it is, but we neglect it at our peril. We need to identify and encourage appropriate uses of biotechnology that balance the needs of producers, consumers and the environment. I can't think of a better place to do that sort of work than at Calvin. To have a Christian voice in the technology is going to be critical." 
Koetje, who came to Calvin from the State University of New York at Fredonia, already is adding his Christian voice to the discussions of the public square. In August he was a presenter at the Second International Molecular Farming Conference in London, Ontario. 
In early December he will give the keynote address at a conference of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario at the University of Guelph. The Christian Farmers Federation has given cautious approval to the use of biotechnology in agriculture along with mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods, a decision that has aroused the ire of other farming groups in the province. Koetje expects that the upcoming conference will attract heavy interest, including significant media attention.