BioCity Turku is an umbrella organisation within which about 600 persons from various universities and institutes are working in several research teams. In summer 2000 Biotie Therapies became the first Finnish biotechnology company to list on the Helsinki bourse. She has been in that position for a couple of years and before that spent eight years in the USA, first as a researcher at Stanford University and then with companies in the pharmaceuticals sector. The Biotechnology Centre began as a community of 20 people in the early 90s and now employs around 140. Ten or so different teams all have their own projects, but the common denominator across the board is examining cell communications.
Cells have antennas which are constantly ready to receive or transmit messages.
When they receive a message, it triggers a chain of communication which is an enormously dynamic event. A human being is a vast network of cells, and we still know very little about that network. A lot of messages pass back and forth within it and there are many things that can go wrong and lead to an unfavourable outcome. Research groups are working on a variety of cells. One group is looking at how cells die, another at what happens when they become stressed.