BiotechExchange.org Debuts

Joining the movement in online networking, the American Chemical Society this week launched its own social-networking website for biotechnology professionals.

BiotechExchange.org allows registered users to create a profile, form groups, share documents, and communicate with other registered members. For example, a researcher attending a scientific meeting could get in touch with other researchers at the same meeting. Or a scientist in China could use the site to communicate and collaborate with a researcher in the U.S.

"It's harnessing the power that the Internet offers us and the tools we now have available to create a community to advance science or to advance interactions among scientists," says April Orr, ACS assistant director of member research and technology.

BiotechExchange.org was first envisioned by the ACS Board of Directors and is based on the same concept as the wildly popular social-networking websites MySpace.com, Facebook, Friendster, and Linked In.

Currently, BiotechExchange.org features primarily ACS content, such as journal articles related to the biotechnology field, latest news from C&EN, job postings from ACS ChemJobs, and occasional podcasts. The first podcast is an interview with Paul J. Reider, vice president of chemistry research at Amgen, that complements the C&EN story of biotech drug discovery expanding into small molecules (Oct. 30, page 14).

But the content will likely change as the site's online community grows. "We're not sure a year from now what the site's going to have on it," says Peter Kelly, ACS manager of industry member programs. "As the site populates, it will morph as the users dictate."

"We're hoping that most of the information on there will be brought forth by members of the online community and include contributions from ACS," says Alan J. Hutchins, ACS director of membership marketing and administration.

Dennis Loney, ACS lead Web associate in member research and technology, says that if the site is successful, ACS will branch out to other areas of science.

Becoming a member of BiotechExchange.org is free and requires only registration at the site. Participants do not have to be ACS members.

"I think the younger people will have an easier time accepting this because they are more familiar with these types of sites, but we want to get all people," Loney says. "We want the experienced chemist to be an online mentor for the younger chemist."

As with any social-networking website, there are risks that some posted material might be of questionable quality or inappropriate. But Loney says "there are mechanisms in place for the community to police the site."

Orr says she doesn't think it will be a problem, because the website's targeted community is known for its integrity.