In order to develop a new drug or a new product for surgeries, scientists need to work on their inventions in so-called ‘wet labs.’ Then, to prepare the product for market, the developer needs an incubator. The problem is, there are very few of either.
That’s why the new Bioscience Incubator at Austin Community College (ACC) is such a novelty.
Dr. Tyler Drake leads this new wet lab and incubator. He says a wet lab is a facility that conducts research and development for biological products. It provides surfaces and facilities suited to easy cleanup, and safety features like showers and eyewashes. A dry lab, by contrast, might be as simple as “workbenches in a box,” Drake says.
Drake says the ACC facility is extremely unusual among community colleges. There are no more than six like it in the country.
“What we do is lease this wet lab facility to entrepreneurs and startup companies or other companies commercializing products in central Texas,” Drake says.
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– How community college students benefit from the lab
– What role the state of Texas played in developing the lab
– What kinds of products and inventions the lab could generate
