Bridges to biotechnology

Oregon's engineers and other skilled workers who lost their jobs in the economic downturn have a new alternative, thanks to a recently established biotechnology retraining scheme. The Bioscience Foundations Program, which is jointly funded by a US$136,000 federal-stimulus grant and the state of Oregon, aims to match people to short internships at Portland-based bioscience companies — particularly medical-device firms — that could lead to permanent positions. Internship applicants will be interviewed by the firms themselves; those selected will be tutored by bioscience experts on process and compliance in the industry, as well as on issues of policy, environment, ethics, and research and development.