A Good Run

(Skeeze, Pixabay)

11 Dec. 2023. I started this publication, then called Science Business, in July 2010 to report each day on a fascinating topic, and in an honest and straightforward way. After 13 and a half years, the intersection of science and business remains a compelling subject, but there are other things I now want to do, and it’s time to bring Science & Enterprise to a close.

Science & Enterprise tells stories of people worldwide solving difficult problems with genius and hard work, but also about their support system in finance and government. The economic engine of advanced societies in the 21st century may be the brainpower of their people, but history shows turning good ideas into solutions requires a marketplace. The free market provides an efficient way for people with good ideas to connect with investors willing to back those ideas with real money, to create products and services with real value.

Good ideas from science often begin in university labs, where researchers seek to create new knowledge as well as attack specific problems. Where those ideas may have market value, top research universities in the U.S. and elsewhere now encourage researchers to become entrepreneurs and start companies to commercialize their findings, which make up many of the stories published here. And Science & Enterprise reports on financial and regulatory developments that affect businesses advancing science to the marketplace.

Respect the reader’s time and intelligence

I first became aware of these research entrepreneurs in my previous work as managing editor of Science Careers, the careers section of Science magazine, where starting a company provides an alternative career option to academic science. And before then, I wrote regularly on information technologies for a business audience. But in this publication, I also applied a honest definition of news that respects the reader’s intelligence. Plus, I tried to respect the busy reader’s time, thus stories are usually kept to about 500 words.

In Science & Enterprise, you find reporting six days a week on tangible advances in science or a business, without speculation or hype. Stories cover research by company scientists in academic journals or scientific meetings, new business formations, collaborations between business and academic researchers, patents awarded, licensing deals, early venture financing, IPOs, mergers, and regulatory actions.

Because most research, at least in the U.S., is health-related, so are most of the stories in Science & Enterprise. Whenever possible, I looked for more innovative solutions rather than more of the same, and the earlier the better. As a result, this publication first reported on a start-up biotech called Moderna and its messenger RNA therapeutics in 2012 and Crispr genome editing in 2013. And in Jan. 2020, I reported on a “novel coronavirus” emerging in the previous month from Wuhan, China, causing a mysterious disease that became known as Covid-19. Science & Enterprise also reported on new financing mechanisms, particularly challenge competitions that promote faster development of scientific breakthroughs.

What’s next? I’ll probably pursue my photography interests, but with more emphasis on visual storytelling and publishing than just snapping photos. Whatever happens will occur under Technology News and Literature, the publisher of Science & Enterprise.

Let me thank the Science & Enterprise readers, particularly subscribers through WordPress or email, as well as advertisers and agencies over the years. And a special thanks to my wife Sharon, who had to listen to my recitation of daily stories in this publication for 13 and a half years. I’m sure we’ll find much more to talk about over dinner.

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