It’s always nifty to hear of Hawaii folks pursuing science and research that could be game-changers on the global stage.

Such is the case of Hawaii Biotech Inc., which just opened a new $3 million laboratory to continue its research of vaccines to combat viruses such as zika, West Nile, ebola and chikungunya. The 20-employee company also is working on antitoxin drugs to counter bioterrorism threats like anthrax for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Pretty heady stuff coming out of the new digs at Dole Cannery.

Institute will take local cuisine to a new level

Remember back in the day, when ramen was saimin, Pacific Rim cuisine was plate lunch, and no respectable person would be called a “foodie”?

We’ve come a long way. In late March, the University of Hawaii will open the first phase of its new Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head, a multimillion-dollar food laboratory and training facility for top chefs, culinary students and dedicated amateur cooks.

When fully built out, the facility, on the old Cannon Club site, will comprise 6,500 square feet of foodie heaven — a testament to the seemingly endless variety of imaginative cuisine now available to us from the corner gas station to the finest restaurants. Of course, that includes saimin and a plate lunch, if you still go for that sort of thing.