We went to a Mediterranean place last night called Astaria in downtown San Mateo. It’s got nice presentation, and feels like it should have been a good experience and came highly recommended, but we were thoroughly unimpressed with everything we had.
The food is not strictly mediterranean, but more of a fusion with french (they served duck l’orange for example). We had the saganaki, a standard greek appetizer of cheese set alight in burning brandy. Then my wife had the mousaka and I had an herb stuffed salmon. Everything was just ok, but not as good as any of half a dozen generic greek places we went to when we lived in Florida (hardly a bastion of greek culture). I think the difference is that we are used to Greek food prepared in family owned restaurants and it’s got a more authentic flavor. This tasted like someone’s own takeon Greek. Not bad, but not what we were looking for. We won’t be going back.
The price was $60 total for the dishes above plus 1 glass of wine.
I’m a researcher in a pharmaceutical biotechnology company, and I’m concerned by the lack of public understanding about what it is we do. In this article I’ll explain some of the process of pharmaceutical manufacture at a biotechnology company, and how you go from a cell stored in liquid nitrogen to a vial of drug for injection. This is intended to be a readable, layman’s explanation of the process. My perspective is fermentation-centric, so apologies to the areas I can’t fully represent. In a later article I’ll discuss more of the research process, where I am involved. I’m also going to sprinkle the article with links to references that have more detail and explanations of technology or equipment.
The master cell bank
The basic concept in biotech is that you identify a molecule that you want, and the sequence of DNA that could be used to produce that molecule. Then you genetically engineer a cell line (CHO or E. coli) to produce it and come up with the correct bioreactor conditions so that they can grow and produce it. Once you have settled on this combination of cell and DNA you place that “master” cell line in liquid nitrogen for permanent storage. This is your gold standard copy from which all drug production starts. You probably have more than one master cell bank to protect you from things like fire and earthquake, since if you lose the master cell line you will have no FDA certified source of cells to produce your product! That would be bad.
The first step in production is to take some of your master cell bank and carefully grow it up in a bioreactor. The goal here is not to make any product, but just to make some more cells, which can then be frozen as a “working cell bank.” Because the master cell bank is so important you try to avoid accessing it as much as possible. Every now and then you take some master cells and create a new working stock.
Continue reading ‘How biotech drugs are produced’