Page 19 - Abacoa Community News - December '24

Abacoa, Page 19

Science On The Cutting Edge from page 18

“The philosophy is that, well, first of all, you need to be Building On Biotech
fearless,” something she found more difficult in a public
university setting because of her teaching responsibilities.
“Without risk, it’s really hard to have a transformative
discovery, especially with developing technology. So
Max Planck, their philosophy is that, to tackle the most
challenging questions, they really encourage your high-
risk, high-reward research.”
Collaboration will help spread Max Planck’s message,
she said, particularly with success. “I’m thinking, ‘how
can we leverage as a resource to make a big difference?’
The only way to do that is to collaborate … and then make
a big discovery.”

Redefining Serotonin

With that she launched into an explanation of her Max Planck scientist Lin Tian in the lab
project.
It focuses on probing and observing neurochemicals She uses the development of the iPhone to help explain
dyed with fluorescence in the brain, “so you can actually her commitment to technology.
start to measure or visualize the release events of those “There’s an initial prototype, and then you go to the first-
neurochemicals and how they are modified by treatment.” generation iPhone, right? … So the same thing for this type
The release of dopamine, she said, is connected to of technology, we just have to keep optimizing them, making
happiness. Too much dopamine can lead to addiction, where them better, more precise, faster. So, we can measure with
drugs stimulating dopamine hijack the reward system. more precision in the brain to gather more information. …
Scientists used to think of serotonin, which is We develop a technology that we prove is useful. And now
chemically close to dopamine, in a similar way. It became we need to work on the new generation of this technology.
a key target of antidepressants, in drugs such as Prozac. “So, this plan is about bringing the technology to the next
“We have, actually, really interesting findings about why generation.” It speaks to the initial effort to bring biotech to
this drug does not work very well,” she said. “Because we Palm Beach County. Like many who promoted biotech in
can monitor serotonin now. … When you only take it like, the early 2000s, she wants to make sure there are high-tech
say, one week, short-term, you actually make (patients) jobs here for her children.
more depressed and have the trend for suicide,” she said. “How do you create those jobs to bring your kids back?
“But if you take them longer, for example, four weeks, I feel like this investment is really for the next generation.
they start to feel relieved. So why is that? “We actually It’s not just for research, but really for the next generation,
found serotonin is not a happy molecule. It’s actually the to build Florida as the east coast (version of) San Diego.”
opposite.” Photos by Joel Engelhardt/Stet

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