By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – 
Since the late 1990's, St. Louis has been steadily positioning itself as a world leader in biotechnology. With a nucleus of research universities and life sciences companies, the region is seeking to carve out a lucrative niche in a market once dominated by more established bioclusters on the east and west coasts. As part of that strategy, St. Louis is looking beyond American shores to forge scientific and economic alliances with a huge potential business partner -- Japan. KWMU's Kevin Lavery reports.