the institute of biosciences and technology (ibt), a component of the texas a&m health science center represents the texas a&m university system, one of the two main texas state university systems, in the state's and world's largest medical center, the texas medical center, in houston, texas. the institute provides a bridge between texas a&m university system scientists and other institutions' researchers working in the texas medical center and the biomedical and biotechnology research community in houston. it emphasizes collaboration between member scientists and others working in all the fields of the biosciences and biotechnology. ibt encourages its scientists to transfer discoveries made in their laboratories to the clinic and marketplace.