Bay Area Bioscience Center

The Bay Area Bioscience Center is a public-private partnership and forum organized to strengthen the competitiveness of the region as the premier global location for bioscience research, education, and industry.

Formed in 1990, the BABC serves as the hub of the region's bioscience community and a center for public education and outreach. The BABC's 21st Century agenda brings together the region's bioscience community, promotes its culture and important biology-based discoveries, proactively identifies and addresses members' needs, and forges a potent, savvy regional constituency. Our functions include answering information requests (e.g. 81 different local reporters contacted us last year), researching and preparing reports and analyzes, hosting seminars and conferences, providing networking opportunities, maintaining a bioscience company directory, and bringing the regional bioscience community together with local governments on quality of life and business related issues.

The Asilomar Conferences, the creation by Boyer and Cohen of the recombinant DNA techniques; the founding of Cetus (the discovery of PCR) and Genentech (the first recombinant product, insulin); and the origin of the GeneChip, all happened here. Today, Northern California is home to more than 500 bioscience companies, four major research universities, twelve private research institutions, four federal research laboratories, and more than 100,000 residents who depend on this industrial sector for their livelihood. The Bay Area is recognized as the largest industrial region for biology-based research, education and industry in the world.

After nine years in Oakland, the Bay Area Bioscience Center moved to San Francisco in July 1999. At our new office on California Street, a world-class Resource Center focused on regional bioscience accomplishments and community exists.