From Biomaterials to Biomanufacturing Today & the Next 10-50years of Materials Chemistry & Materials Science

In my earlier post (cf. Saturday, 8 March 2008 Introduction to RSC's Journal of Materials Chemistry below) I reported the 13 fields defined by the RSC for their contributors to (& readers of) their journal the "Journal of Materials Chemistry":

From the defined 13 main fields the first was:

1.BiomaterialsIncluding reviews on drug delivery, implants and bio-mimetic synthesis.

It also transpired from my very first posts which kicked off this web-log series, (Friday, 22 February 2008 "Materials Chemistry Defined" & web-log on this subject on Monday, September 17, 2007. on my original log: "Conversations-on-Innovations". that application - applied science, are major motivations for Materials Chemists.

Applications and their scientific foundations obviously under-pin the "Conversations" themes of my very first web-logs. It follows that the recent Roadmap report from MIT, via NIST Tech Beat text below, may be of primordial interest to the entrepreneurial faction of the materials chemistry, materials science and engineering professions. Finally, before you read the text or visit the MIT pdf file, let me add that the importance of Roadmaps in "all fields" has been increasing in my mind and since my recent refs ( "The Top Ten Advances in Materials Science & What will define the next 50 years of Materials Science? THE MATERIALS TODAY ROADMAP CHALLENGE
["THE MATERIALS TODAY CHALLENGE - In Search of Materials Science Foresight- Road Maps throughout the next 50years!" recorded also in "Conversations-[link]" I shall treat these themes as often as possible

TEXT: "New Report Outlines Research Roadmap for Bio-manufacturing
On-line process tools, improved sensor calibration and analytical and data analysis methods are among the technological challenges facing the bio manufacturing industry over the next 10 years to greatly increase manufacturing efficiency for protein drugs while ensuring safety, according to industry, government and academic experts.
The analysis was developed during a special brainstorming session as part of the annual meeting of the International Foundation for Process Analytical Chemistry (IFPAC) held at the end of January. Representatives from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) co-chaired a session to develop a vision for the future of bio-manufacturing that attracted representatives from pharmaceutical companies, vendors, academia, research and development labs and other interested parties.
These improved measurement standards and technologies are essential initial steps towards the group’s “blue sky vision” for the future of bio-manufacturing. In this vision, bio-reactors will mimic the cellular signaling and regulation systems of higher order living systems by regulating nutrients and waste with built in mechanisms to allow real-time analysis and control of fermentation, monitor metabolism and impact of variables within the system.
The group detailed some of the challenges facing the industry over the next 10 years and announced their intention to stimulate discussion and cooperation among stakeholders, including the federal government, academia, and research interests, as a way to address those technological and scientific hurdles.
The team also planned future sessions for the rest of the year, including conferences and site visits scheduled for the summer and fall of 2008 and further workshops to set research priorities during the fall of 2008. "

To read the full report, see IFPAC 2008: A 10 year Vision for Biotechnology Manufacturing Session

Good reading.