Iowa State is putting Ames on the cutting edge of biotechnology research and development, helping to provide food and pharmaceuticals for the world.

Nearly one year ago, a group of citizens, under the direction of the Chamber of Commerce, came up with a vision for Ames, in association with Iowa State, called “Vision Ames,” Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco said.

“The program is a statement by the citizens that they’d like to see Ames and Iowa State at the center of providing safe food resources to the entire world,” he said.

The program will seek to provide resources for food, animals and plants, Tedesco said.

Tedesco said he and ISU President Gregory Geoffroywill be co-chairing an implementation committee later this month to begin leading various sub-committees in initiated the “Vision Ames” program.

“Communities need to have a vision that they feel are their strengths and weaknesses and then pinpoint their efforts in trying to strengthen the economy and present opportunities for jobs and business entrepreneurships in their knowledge areas,” Tedesco said.

“That’s why these areas were picked for ‘Vision Ames.'”

Monte Parrish, who came in third for the at-large seat on the Ames City Council Tuesday, emphasized the need for further development in biotechnology during his campaign.

Ames is at the forefront of biotechnology research and development, he said.

“You don’t have to look too far to find biotechnology in Ames,” Parrish said. “Fundamentally, for many years, Iowa State has been on the leading edge of biotechnology and has a great intellectual partnership with various local agencies.”

As a member of the Ames Convention of Visitors Bureau Board, Parrish said he continues to urge the board and its director to bring biotechnology conferences to Ames.

“One of the challenges that presents itself is that other entities are also in this competition to be leaders in the biotechnology industry,” he said.

“It’s a competition to develop technologically and develop federal funding.”

Parrish said he hopes Ames and Iowa State take a proactive response to biotechnology in the near future.

“With biotechnology we have an academic strengthener and we should be making the best use of it we can,” he said. “With ‘Vision Ames,’ the mayor and others are taking the next step to develop a strategic plan in how to make this happen.”

Mike Zeller, program coordinator of biotechnology, said biotechnology can be described as “taking what we learn from nature and applying it technically to make useful products which humans can use.”

Zeller said biotechnology is a complex blend of all sciences, including chemistry, physics and biology.

“It crosses just about every discipline that involves anything with a life science,” he said.

Zeller said biotechnology is centered around agricultural and medical development.

“[Biotechnology] has been in medicine for about 20 years now,” he said. “Medicine is one of the first places it originates from.”

Biotechnology continues to evolve on a day-to-day basis and although new techniques can be costly, the end results often outweigh its cost, Zeller said.

“The reality is its pace is dictated by humans’ ability to apply technology to the nature around us,” he said. “The whole idea behind using biotechnology is to make things cost-effective and commercially to get more than what you put in.”

In the future, Zeller said he expects there will be many innovative breakthroughs in the field of biotechnology.

“[On a national level], I think we’re going to see a lot more in the stem-cell arena and potentially the medicine arena,” he said.

“Agriculturally, the next move is pharmaceutical kinds of crops, which is actually putting medicine into a crop and having it available for commercial use.”