It is home to a groundswell of ingenuity.
In the incubator of the University City Science Center, more than 30 companies are assembling the plans to improve planet earth.
"Tony is preparing some of the raw materials we use in our kits in our diagnostics," explained Nick Siciliano, Invisible Sentinel.
Invisible Sentinel is finding ways to reduce food borne illnesses.
"We have a rapid detection system that can detect food pathogens early in real time on the production line, so food manufacturers can remediate when they have problems and keep the food supply safe," said Siciliano.
"This is seven long years that we've been at this now, and it's nice to see an uptick in the marketplace with a tool that manufacturers so desperately need," says Ben Pascal.
Graphene Frontiers is developing ways to bring a Nobel-prize winning technology into the mainstream.
"We're actually producing Graphene at a large scale," said Victoria Tsai, Graphene Frontiers. "Right now, Graphene is a miracle material for the 21st Century, and is really hard to produce in large quantities. So our company is taking it to the next level."
Graphene is known to have a myriad of possible applications because of its extraordinary properties.
"Electrical properties, mechanical properties, and heat transfer properties," says Ryan Mendoza, Graphene Frontiers.
With Graphene, medical researchers expect to be able to detect diseases much earlier.
Adaptimmune is a company, based in the UK, with a small satellite office at the Science Center doing oncology research.
"We are active in the clinic in some trials in myeloma and ovarian cancers," said Jason Howe, Adaptimmune.
"I lost both of my parents to cancer, so just working with a company that works in oncology is very important to me," said Michael Cooper, Adaptimmune.
CEO Steve Tang says the young men and women who work there are making important discoveries. He cites the products and successful companies that have already been founded at the center.
"Companies like Centocor, which is now called Janssen Biotech, started here at the science center. Their drug, Remicade, is the biggest-selling drug in all of J&J right now," said Steve Tang.
