MOORPARK PLOWING BIOTECHNOLOGY FIELD.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

The students peer into their microscopes, scanning a slide for a glimpse of rod-shaped bacteria.

For more than an hour, they've stained, dried, steamed and counterstained their slides, hoping to reveal endospores, an element of some types of bacteria.

Finally, a whoop comes from one station in professor Marie Panec's laboratory.

``Oh, my God! It worked!'' shouts Katie Scherrei, pulling lab partner Tracey Marande toward the microscope. ``It looks like a Christmas tree!''

Panec walks over and looks through the lens, adjusting the magnification and focus as she peers at a cluster of red and green rods.

``Please don't tell us it's the wrong thing,'' Scherrei begs. ``Don't tell us we're just looking at a water drop.''

Panec sits back from the microscope.

``Very good,'' she pronounces.

The 24 students in Panec's lab are learning the detailed, patient work of laboratory microbiology. Beginning next year, many in the group will venture even further into the high-tech world when they enroll in a two-year biotechnology program debuting at Moorpark College.

The program, sponsored in conjunction with Baxter Healthcare in Newbury Park, promotes the goal of training more students for work in the growing field of biotechnology, said Floyd Martin, the Math and Science Division dean.

``The first year, the courses are the normal courses for a biology major - bio, chemistry, statistics, etc.,'' Martin said. ``But it gets more exciting during the sophomore year when students branch into biotechnology courses.

``They'll take the capstone introduction to biotechnology course, and a human physiology course will also be required. It's a necessary course since most of the products created by biotechnology companies are designed to go into the human body.''

Students completing the two-year curriculum will earn a biotechnology technician certificate and associate's degree, and some may transfer to a four-year university. Maureen Harrigan, a new faculty member and molecular biologist who worked as a researcher at the Salk Institute in San Diego, heads the program.

Harrigan said that so far interest in the program is strong, even though students will not begin biotechnology course work until next year.

Cindy Wallace, a 43-year-old divorced mother of two with a 20-year-old chemistry degree, hopes to complete the new program and go back to work in the growing field. Other students, including those who hope to go on to four-year universities, want to complete the program because the course work will expose them to career possibilities.

``And that's in keeping with the mission of Moorpark College,'' Harrigan said. ``There are some students with long-term goals like a four-year degree, or even a higher degree beyond a bachelor's degree.

``And there are students like Cindy who would like to go back to school and brush up on skills. She has a chemistry degree, but has no biotechnology training. This program would allow her to re-enter the work force in biotechnology.''

According to employment projections, there should be no lack of jobs for students with skills like the ones learned in the Moorpark program.

John Greiman, executive director of the Ventura Institute of Technology, which tracks local employment trends, estimates that about 5,500 people are employed by Ventura County biotechnology firms. That represents a 50 percent growth over the past five years.

And companies like Baxter Healthcare will continue to add employees as markets for its products grow. Baxter - with main headquarters in Deerfield, Ill. - produces a genetically engineered blood-clotting factor at its Newbury Park plant. The recombinant antihemophilic factor replaces the substance missing in the blood of 1 in every 7,500 males who suffer from inherited hemophilia.

``We will incrementally increase capacity at this plant as more and more hemophiliacs move over to recombinant therapy,'' said Ernie Bogner, a Baxter executive working with Moorpark College. ``Part of growth will be driven by more and more physicians prescribing (the drug) . . . and Baxter is also a global organization, and we expect to expand into this market worldwide.''

The company has two goals in sponsoring the new program, Bogner said.

``We wanted to give something back to the community in our area of expertise, and in a way that would increase awareness about what we do,'' Bogner said. ``And second, it's potentially a homegrown source for future candidates for employment.''

Students are interested in the program not only because it might provide a direct route to a job, but because it can introduce them to a growing field.

``I want to work in a lab and do research,'' said David Pesta, an 18-year-old freshman who expects to complete a bachelor's degree in biology after completing two years of lower-division courses at Moorpark College.

``For me, the program is an opportunity to get a glimpse into the field. It's really exciting to think that we'll be able to talk to working scientists, and tour the plant,'' he said.

During the second year, Baxter employees will teach eight two-week units, including quality control, contamination control, creating and controlling process solutions, and maintenance procedures.

Unlike Pesta, the direct route to a job may be appealing to some students. Wallace, who worked as an industrial research and development chemist before she started a family, hopes to return to work for a biotechnology company.

``After the divorce, I started looking at my options, and I always kept abreast of developments in science, and I was aware of the upsurge in biotechnology,'' she said. ``Because my degree was so old, I needed additional training if I wanted to work in that field. So I started researching programs and found out about Moorpark College's.''

Wallace hopes to work for a biotechnology company in manufacturing, with the goal of eventually moving again into research and development.

The cycle of research and development to manufacturing means that more jobs will be available to students with specialized training in lab and biological manufacturing procedures.

``That's a transition that's beginning now, as more companies that have spent years developing a product become ready to shift from research and development to manufacturing,'' said Harrigan, who heads the program.

``But wherever students end up, this represents a wonderful opportunity,'' she said. ``By the time they finish, they'll be familiar with the workings of a biotechnology plant, and they will have a set of skills that are transferable. . . . They can work in biotech or a genetics lab or a forensics lab.''

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Photo

PHOTO Moorpark College professor Marie Panec oversees student Cindy Wallace's biology lab work.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News