Something pretty important happened last week at Protein Attachment Technologies, an Amherst bio-tech firm started by UMass chemistry professors. It just wasn't initially clear what that was.
The press release read like one of those weird bridge columns for card aficionados—it was in English, yet its meaning remained as elusive as the famed Norwegian Blue parrot: "Where traditional solution-based HTS fails to present the enzymes in the relevant membrane-proximal context, our TDA-based Smartscreen platform enables Blue Sky to aggressively develop an array of turn-key kits and assay services that can present high value membrane associated proteins in a more native context."
Sounds like the kind of problem that's hard to solve even with duct tape.
The heart of the matter seems to involve a continuing partnership with Worcester-based Blue Sky Biotech to develop better testing of the interactions of drugs and proteins. (A call to Protein Attachment Technologies seeking clarification was not returned by press time.) It's clear, even if you don't have a biology degree, that the goal of the high-tech collaboration between Blue Sky and Protein Attachment Technologies is a worthy one: "Compounds that are effective in interacting with membrane-associated proteins are coveted for their ability to address enormous unmet medical needs in cancer, diabetes, obesity, central nervous system disorders and a number of other important diseases."
But the reason it's important is simpler than that. The biotech industry, highly technical and specialized by nature, is indeed emerging as an economic driver in Massachusetts not only in the "biotech corridor" nearer Boston, but right here in the Valley. And that can only be a force for economic good in a region which no longer thrives on traditional manufacturing.
