Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
It was nice, it was powerful, and for some, it was worrisome. Alarms sounded. What mischief might ensue such
meddling with the natural order? Before long, the research community had implemented a voluntary moratorium
on research with recombinant DNA until the issue of safety could be resolved. In December of 1974, concerned
parties met at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California, and drafted the first of several sets
of guidelines by which recombinant DNA could be pursued. . . . For Herb Boyer, the Asilomar conference was
a “nightmare,” an “absolutely disgusting week,” and the biohazard committees that the conference sired, “an
incredible waste of time and money.”
3
The moratorium on genetic engineering was short-lived—which shows how these types of decisions
often go unmarked in the public at large and move forward with no debate. Change was coming fast and
furiously.
In 1976 Robert Swanson, a venture capitalist in San Francisco, heard the scientific buzz about the new
breakthroughs. With a BS in chemistry and a master's degree in management, he also saw the lucrative
potential in commercializing biotechnology. Swanson approached Boyer, and after a short time, they
launched Genentech—and a new industry was born. Genentech was focused on replacing chemical treat-
ments with genetically engineered (GE) drugs made from living cells that would act as drug factories. The
company developed the first genetically engineered human therapeutic drug by taking a human insulin
gene and inserting it into bacteria that would continue to reproduce itself, then extracting the protein and
purifying it for use as a medicine.
An academic commercializing his discovery was almost as revolutionary as the GE technology itself.
In the mid-1970s, it was not yet common for scientists to benefit financially from scientific achievements
made in a university laboratory. So perhaps Boyer should also be recognized as one of the first scientists
to focus on advancing this concept—a practice that has dramatically changed academic institutions—and
in many ways sullied scientific integrity.
Boyer has been actively engaged in Genentech since the beginning, serving as vice president from 1976
to 1990 and as a director of the board since the company was formed, while simultaneously serving as a
professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California at San Francisco until 1991 (he is
now an emeritus professor).
At the company's inception, Swanson rented space, found investors, and breathed life into the company,
while Boyer hired and oversaw young scientists. The culture has been described as “macho” because “bi-
otech began as a guy thing.”
4
A poster of a topless woman surfing graced one of the labs until the end of
the 1980s, when a female staffer finally complained. The employees of Genentech, who call themselves
GenenExers, have gone on to form dozens of biotech companies. Tom Abate, a journalist writing for the
San Francisco Chronicle
, captures the company's culture.
Genentech has been stained by scandals involving its inventions, its sales force and its chief executive. Company
veterans say Genentech's accomplishments and excesses both stem from the same traits: a fierce competitive-
ness, a drive to succeed, a sense of making history. . . . To blow off steam, Genentech created the Friday after-
noon Ho-Hos, beer and pizza busts that evolve over time. Departments would compete to put on the best Ho-Ho.
Once a year, Swanson and Boyer would don grass skirts, order a pig and stage a Hawaiian extravaganza.
5
An intense and aggressive race had begun to establish biotech companies and to push new products out
the door ahead of competitors. California, with its culture of cutting-edge thought—from the free speech
movement and counterculture of the 1960s to the entrepreneurialism of Silicon Valley—was ground zero
for the new industry. But then again, before the millions could begin rolling in, someone had to bankroll
the start-ups. And biotechnology is a very expensive proposition that requires not just initial funding but
also frequent and large infusions of cash.
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