The study of life is important to us. Our  heritage of engagement with the land and with natural process expresses itself in the research and development that goes on at the University of Minnesota's Saint Paul ag campus and many other institutions of higher learning, as well as at agribusiness giants like Cargill. The flourishing biotech industry in the the Twin Cities had rather humble, even grim, beginnings--artificial limb companies that catered to  sawmill workers missing an arm or leg. It was a long way from wooden legs to Medtronic and the other companies that have put our towns on the biomed map; the distinguished University of Minnesota medical school and life sciences departments and, of course, the proximity of the Mayo Clinic, helped the evolution along even as these institutions made their own discoveries and advances.