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South Lake Union proudly touts itself as a "biomedical center," and this scares me. What experiments are occurring in these advanced buildings? I certainly hope, and presume, they're looking for the cure for cancer. But I have nightmares about H. P. Lovecraftian demons arising out of vats of electrified soul-ooze hidden beneath Starbucks and Uptown Espresso (because I believe demon creators are equally divided between ultra-corporate and semi-communist types).
Of course, in reality, I simply worry about human error. What potentially dangerous pathogens could be released if some absentminded professor pressed the wrong button and then failed to press the eight or nine emergency backup buttons?
Stranger Personals
I'm allergic to everything that grows, so I spend a lot of time sneezing. But when I sneeze in South Lake Union, I wonder if I'm the indigenous dude whose sovereign body has just been invaded by biomedical cavalry soldiers.
Maybe those demons are Custerian. 
2
Have you considered Google?
Seattle BioMed is currently in clinical trials for a Malaria vaccine (ya know, the disease that kills nearly 700K people in third world countries a year). So...STFU
Seattle BioMed is currently in clinical trials for a Malaria vaccine (ya know, the disease that kills nearly 700K people in third world countries a year). So...STFU
3
Eyeroll for anti-science bull.
Plus, Sherman, how are those stereotypes working out for you? Have you ever met a professor? Was she absent-minded? Did she look like Doc from 'Back to the Future'? Gimme a break.
Plus, Sherman, how are those stereotypes working out for you? Have you ever met a professor? Was she absent-minded? Did she look like Doc from 'Back to the Future'? Gimme a break.
4
It is a little unnerving to see all these sprung-up biotechs in your backyard, in the same way I didn't like seeing a Marriot replace the RCKNDY.
And it is likely that Seattle Biomed has a few cryovials of active viruses in liquid nitrogen storage - somewhere, not necessarily at that location.
I can understand your apprehension at such a thought. Treatment of Native Americans, the poor, and - lately - the middle class, by corporations and the government has not been kind.
But be calm Mr. Alexie. You have much more to fear, biologically, from a stranger on an airplane or a drunken bar crawl with an ex, than you do from vaccine research.
And it is likely that Seattle Biomed has a few cryovials of active viruses in liquid nitrogen storage - somewhere, not necessarily at that location.
I can understand your apprehension at such a thought. Treatment of Native Americans, the poor, and - lately - the middle class, by corporations and the government has not been kind.
But be calm Mr. Alexie. You have much more to fear, biologically, from a stranger on an airplane or a drunken bar crawl with an ex, than you do from vaccine research.
5
Yeah, actually there isn't a whole lot of 'super scary science' going on down here. Most of us work on human pathogens that are readily treatable in developed countries, but are a significant problem in global health. At Seattle Biomed, for instance, the scariest thing there is probably tuberculosis, No one is working on any 'super pathogens/bioterrorism/damn those scientists trying to play god' doomsday movie cliches. Yes, we do have active virus in liquid nitrogen. Yes it is very safely contained. No, its not going to kill us all.
All studies involving human pathogens are conducted in very safe, contained environments that only trained personnel have access to. Its a requirement before you start any work on a human pathogen. You know when you're doing something dangerous, and what to do if anything goes wrong.
Don't worry, we got this.
(and for the record, most of us that work in the lab, aren't professors. And the few that are mostly get stuck in their offices doing paperwork. that cliche of the absentminded professor in a lab is way far from reality)
All studies involving human pathogens are conducted in very safe, contained environments that only trained personnel have access to. Its a requirement before you start any work on a human pathogen. You know when you're doing something dangerous, and what to do if anything goes wrong.
Don't worry, we got this.
(and for the record, most of us that work in the lab, aren't professors. And the few that are mostly get stuck in their offices doing paperwork. that cliche of the absentminded professor in a lab is way far from reality)
6
At 815 Mercer, I worked on Acute Lung Injury- no pathogens. Others on our floor worked on diabetes and obesity. Conversely, at the Rosen Building, I worked on 1918 pandemic influenza. But don't soil yourself- the actual experiments were done at the CDC, we were shipped RNA for our analysis, and that was kept in locked freezers in locked rooms within a key-card access building, and to do anything dangerous with the RNA you'd have to be a billionaire geneticist. So pretty much, just keep Craig Venter away from SLU and you're fine.
7
Right on, Mr. Alexie. I'm a scientist and, like you, sometimes that word scares me too! Also like you, biomed (or anything vaguely pharm-ish) makes my skin crawl because of fact that such places involve humans -- with all our shared flaws.
8
I know that the reality of BioMed is fairly mundane, but I have very little interest in the prosaic details of what actually goes on in those labs. It is more fun to imagine that South Lake Union is full of mad scientists who are only moments away from accidentally creating some kind of giant monster, or starting a zombie apocalypse.
9
This is a stupid and uninformed piece of writing. Why is this even on the Stranger? There are amazing scientists at Seattle BioMed fighting some of the world's biggest killers of young kids in Africa. Scientists that are a lot smarter than Sherman Alexie.
10
This is a stupid and uniformed piece of writing. I don't know why this is even in the Stranger. Seattle BioMed is full of amazing scientists that are fighting some of the biggest killers of young kids in Africa - I know several working on a malaria vaccine. Try thinking something through before publishing it in a public forum, Sheman Alexie. Sheesh, you're embarrassing yourself.
11
If they were real sigh-N-tists they would be working on a Republican vaccine in an effort to truly save the world.
12
@slade, remember, a Republican vaccine isn't a cure for someone already infected with republicanism, but can prevent a future republicanism infection. I know this probably isn't funny to you, but to a biomedical professional like me, it's hilarious.
13
I live in S Lake Union at times, and the change in Allentown is kind of scary. Never mind bio-anythings- just the destruction of the old and heaving-up of the new is terrifying.
14
I'm a chemist at a chemical factory and I get more anxious about a truck delivering gasoline or when I see gallon jugs of hydrofluoric acid (seriously!) being sold in craft stores to etch glass.
16
also... #9
"This is a stupid and uninformed piece of writing. Why is this even on the Stranger?" Have you READ the stranger ever? Also, if scientists want to save African children, they should KILL WHITE PEOPLE.
"This is a stupid and uninformed piece of writing. Why is this even on the Stranger?" Have you READ the stranger ever? Also, if scientists want to save African children, they should KILL WHITE PEOPLE.
17
The ZymoGenetics factory is the building that scares me. I know it's probably just a place that makes glowing pigs or something, but the building looks like ground zero for the zombie apocalypse.
18
For one of the 'most literate cities' in America, I am seeing a weakness in people's ability to interpret what is being read. Go back to your Dean Koontz novels everyone.
20
I'll bet if you stormed the building with an AK and a backpack full of ammo, you could manage to get out of the building with something no one would want a bad-natured psychopath to have in his possession. So unless you have a secure facility with armed guards, a flippant attitude about potential danger seems pretty ignorant in the 21st century.
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