In his 2000 State of the State Address, Gov. Michael Leavitt envisioned a world made better by science.

As an example of what U faculty and students are capable of, Leavitt described the Utah Electrode Array, a device that “was designed and built by the U’s department of bio-engineering.”

This chip, when attached to optical regions in the human brain re-creates the visual sense for those who are blind. This stunning accomplishment garnered both praise and press from those in the community.

However, another recent accomplishment, this time from the Keck Center for Tissue Engineering, a laboratory at the U, earned scientists a superfluous amount of press coverage. The endeavor was called “The Living Rings.”

Scientists in the lab spent two weeks creating the Olympic rings out of mouse nerve cells, only to flaunt their creation before Gov. Leavitt, who had scheduled a visit to the center.

Admittedly, the arrangement of red-stained cells was aesthetically pleasing. However, the mere prospect of manipulating cells into the shape of a business icon, conjures images straight from Ripley’s Believe It or Not?not one of the state’s most respected and accomplished research institutions.

The staining killed the cells within four days?an anecdote that is a coincidental indication of the relevance (or rather irrelevance) of the Olympic ring nerve cell creation.

The rings, which were for “demonstration purposes only,” did illustrate a technology that has the potential to repair damages to the nervous system.

However, scientists could have easily edified Leavitt on the enormous potential of their research and shown him work that did not expire within a matter of days.

The scientists at this university have an enormous amount of talent, and they have proved it.

With hope, this rare slip in judgement will become a lesson for the future?rings are temporary, but diligent research lasts forever.