Bioscience

What NIST Does

NIST standards and reference materials underpin advances in bioscience and biotechnology, contributing to human health and the U.S. economy.

NIST provides: 

• Quantitative measurements
• Reference materials for quality control
• Data for benchmarking
• Leadership and technical advice for U.S. and international standards development efforts

We have specialized expertise in and equipment for measuring biological processes and systems, along with experience in managing the large amounts of data these measurements produce. Our work benefits: 

• Clinical medicine
• The biopharmaceutical industry
• Regulatory agencies
• The DNA forensics community
• The mass spectrometry community
• The synthetic biology industry
• Equipment manufacturers

For example:

• DNA reference materials accelerate product development and provide quality assurance to clinical test labs and manufacturers.
• NIST expertise in genetic testing supports cancer precision medicine and forensic applications.
• The NIST Genome Editing Consortium addresses the measurements and standards needed to increase confidence and lower the risk of using genome editing technologies in research and commercial products.
• The NIST monoclonal antibody reference material — the NISTmAb — is used by biopharmaceutical firms for quality assurance and to evaluate new biomanufacturing methods and tools. 
• Facilities such as the NIST Center for Neutron Research help industry members develop the expertise to use rare neutron scattering tools. Leading biotech companies such as Genentech, Amgen, Regeneron and Pfizer are part of the nSoft consortium, using neutron science to explore protein-based pharmaceuticals produced by living cells. 
• In addition, NIST provides matched funds to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), part of the Manufacturing USA network, and participates in activities of Manufacturing USA’s BioFabUSA, dedicated to advancing regenerative medicine. 

WIPP: A Map App to Track Stem Cells

Say Hello to Our Little Friends: Toward Microbial BiotheraPOOtics and Diagnostics (blog post)

My fascination with the microbial world began when I was around 7 years old and my mother bought me a book called “The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur”. Nearly four decades later, I still vividly remember the story about the little boy Joey and the “invisible enemy” that had invaded his body. So began my journey into this tiny realm. Read more of Scott Jackson's blog post.