The words “bioscience,” “bio,” “biotech,” and “biomedical” are becoming an increasingly common sight in Arizona. They are included in the names of companies, university buildings, a high school, and featured in curriculums, media stories, and advertisements.
For nearly two-and-a-half decades, the word “bioscience” has been part of the name of the state’s long-term strategic plan—Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap—and prominently featured on the Flinn Foundation website.
But what exactly is bioscience? “Bios” is Greek for life, and bioscience— also known as the life sciences—at its core is the study of living organisms.
Watch: “Bioscience is everything related to life.” — Flinn Foundation’s Mary O’Reilly on Arizona PBS’ “Arizona Horizon.”
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap describes it this way:
“Bioscience focuses on the research, development, and commercialization of therapies and products to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease, improve health outcomes, enhance crops, and generate solutions for environmental and industrial challenges. It employs scientific methods to answer questions about what life is, how it works, and how it changes.”