ALA Scientific Instruments, Inc. began as Adams and List Associates Ltd. in 1986. It was founded by Jonathan J. Adams, a holocaust survivor, and Jurgen List, a German businessman and president of List Medical and List Electronic GmbH. In the beginning, Adams and List Associates’ primary purpose was to import and market the products of List Medical and List Electronic in the U.S. In 1988, Alan Kriegstein joined Adams and List as the General Manager and a year later he obtained the title of President. In 1990, Andrew Pomerantz joined the company as Vice President. Kriegstein and Pomerantz quickly realized that for the company to grow and prosper it must develop its own product line. ALA’s first product was a system to internally perfuse patch pipettes. This was quickly followed by the DAD-12 drug application device and the TLCMI temperature control system.