HP teams with NASA on nano and bio

The Valley icon will be part of a triumvirate known collectively as the Bio-Info-Nano Research and Development Institute. As the name suggests, the group's main focus areas are biotechnology, nanotechnology and IT.

Of course, HP's reputation as the paragon of research and development virtue has taken a knock in recent times with the business realpolitik of the Fiorina era and the imperfect spies of the Hurd watch. Perhaps this move will help it restore some of its tarnished, nay besmirched, glory.