- For the non-canon hoax website, see Mittelosbioscience.org.
Mittelos Bioscience, also known as Mittelos Laboratories, is a front company used by the Others to recruit people from the outside world. It dates back to 1972 and possibly earlier.
Biotech Firm[]
Mittelos Bioscience is introduced in "Not in Portland", in which Richard Alpert acts as a representative attempting to hire Juliet. She originally had to turn down his offer to work there, saying, sarcastically, that she would only be able to if her controlling ex-husband, Edmund Burke, got hit by a bus. After Edmund actually did get hit by a bus, Richard Alpert came back along with his associate from the company, Ethan, and successfully recruited her, saying that her job would only be for six months. He originally claimed that the laboratory was based in Portland, Oregon, but then admitted that that was "not quite" true, adding that the location was very remote. Juliet also mentioned that no-one in the medical community had ever heard of Mittelos Bioscience. Before being taken to the Island, Juliet went to Herarat Aviation (another possible front company).
Science Camp[]
30 years earlier, when John Locke was a teenager, Alpert spoke on the phone to his science teacher, Gellert, at Cowin Heights High School and sent the teacher a brochure advertising the company's youth science camp. Locke rejected his invitation to the camp, asserting that he did not want to become a scientist, and complaining that his interests in science were the cause of his being targeted by school bullies. The company was again stated to be based in Portland, Oregon.
Employees[]
- Richard Alpert
- Ethan Rom
- Juliet Burke (hired later)
- Diana (not seen, confirmed Juliet's appointment)
Trivia[]
- "Mittelos" anagrams: The producers confirmed in the February 12, 2007 Official Lost Podcast the anagram they had hinted at is indeed Mittelos / "Lost Time". On the Season 3 Blu-ray, the producers claimed we will learn how this relates to the Others' time off the Island.
- "Mittelos" is similar to the name of the former Hanso Foundation president and chief technologist, Thomas Mittelwerk.
- "Mittelos" is very similar to the German adjective mittellos, which means "fundless", "lacking money" or literally "without means". "Mittellos" can also mean "stranded" (though there's another term for "lost").
- The image of employees walking outside the laboratory is clearly digitally altered to add in the people.
- The photos from the Mittelos presentation (the bikers and the hikers) were taken where Lost films in Hawaii. The bikers appear to be near the clearing where Sayid first tried the radio in Season 1, and the hikers seem to be near the hill which the tail section survivors had to climb while lifting an unconscious Sawyer. The photographer's website includes the original photos. [1] One of the photos was doctored to replace a "Jurassic Park" sign with a Mittelos company sign. [2]
- The logo features two hexagons. Each hexagon likely represents the organic compound cyclohexane or benzene. Cyclohexane is a common industrial solvent and precursor to nylon. Benzene is also an industrial solvent. In addition, it is commonly used in the synthesis of drugs, plastics, synthetic rubbers and dyes. Neither is of direct biological significance, though benzene is a known carcinogen.
- "Mittelos" is very similar to the Korean preposition (of place) "밑에로" (pronounced "mee-tay-low"), meaning "to go under" something.