Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
central area of the building. On the west side of the building, separated
from the offi ces only by glass doors and walls, are the laboratory spaces
proper.
On the one side, people sit at their computer terminals; on the
other, they stand at bench tops, pipetting or carefully adjusting various
medium-sized instruments. From almost anywhere on either side, it is
possible to see directly into the other, even though, for reasons of bio-
logical safety, doors must remain closed and air pressures must be main-
tained at different levels. In the open spaces around and between the
offi ces, the overall impression is one of openness—ample light, neutral
tones, glass, and the white walls and benches of the laboratory create a
space that feels both scientifi c and businesslike, both a lab and a man-
agement consultant's offi ce. For most visitors, scientifi c and otherwise,
this is the Broad Institute. However, no DNA sequencing—the activity
on which almost all other activities at the Broad depend—takes places
at 7CC. Less than a ten-minute walk away lies the building known as
“320 Charles,” or the Broad Sequencing Center. Although only a few
blocks distant from 7CC, 320 Charles presents a very different scene.
On the other side of Binney Street, behind AstraZeneca, BioGen Idec,
and Helicos Biosciences, this part of East Cambridge reminds the ob-
server of the abandoned and dilapidated mill towns of western Mas-
sachusetts. The neighbors of 320 Charles include an outstation for an
electric company and a pipe manufacturer. The building itself shows
almost no external signs of the high-tech science within—only a small
plaque near the entrance emblazoned with the Broad insignia would
provide a clue to a passerby. Also a block long, 320 Charles is low and
squat, barely two stories high. Its only external features are large venti-
lation shafts on the roof and warehouse-style truck-loading docks at the
rear (fi gure 3.2). Indeed, the building used to be used by Fenway Park as
a warehouse for Red Sox paraphernalia, and for a time, the sequencers
and the famous red and white jerseys must have shared the space before
the Broad expanded and took it over in its entirety.
Inside, the warehouse feeling is still evident. The interior, presumably
fairly rapidly adapted to its new purpose, still seems somewhat uncom-
fortable in its role. In contrast to the open, easily navigated spaces of
7CC, 320 Charles presents itself to the newcomer as an almost impen-
etrable rabbit warren. Windowless rooms, long corridors that seem to
lead nowhere, unevenly partitioned spaces, unnecessary doorways, and
fl ights of stairs leading to odd mezzanine levels are a result of the several
rearrangements that the lab has undergone as it has had to be adapted
to suit various needs. When I i rst took up my place in the lab, it was
