As he unpacked boxes in his new home, Lawrence Farwell explained why his company, Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories, left Iowa with an eye toward joining the biotech boom that is remaking an old industrial neighborhood in central Seattle. Farwell, who grew up in Seattle, says he is glad to see the Cascade Range to the east and the Olympic Mountains soaring in the west, and he certainly will not miss Midwest winters. But he is here for the talent, not the scenery. To make “brain fingerprinting,” a futuristic lie-detector technology, into a profitable business, Farwell needs highly educated workers. And the politicians and billionaires of Seattle are doing their utmost to serve them up on a platter.
