Keynote bio-scientists launched the opening plenary session of the second day of the BioVision Alexandria Conference on "The New Life Sciences: Ethics, Patents and the Poor", under the chairmanship of Andrew Bennett, Executive Director of the Syngenta Foundation in Switzerland.
Entitled "The New Biology: A Survey of the Issues", the plenary session included several presentations by renowned scientists and authors in the field of biotechnology. Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria spoke of the " Economic Issues: Providing the Conditions for Life Science Research and Development". M.S. Swaminathan, UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology and Head of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in India, discussed the "Ever-green Revolution and Biohappiness", whereas Malcolm Elliott, Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for Plant Science Research in the UK, talked about "New Biology for Developing Countries: Opportunities and Constraints". Massimo Garzelli, Head of the UNIDO Regional Office, presented the audience with a report on the Global Biotechnology Forum in Chile, which was held under the auspices of both the Chilean government and the UNIDO.
This was followed by a roundtable discussion with members of the European Action on Global Life Sciences Initiative (EAGLES). Chaired by Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Chairman of the EAGLES Initiative, the consortium included members like Huanming Yang, Professor of Genetics, Director of Beijing Genomics Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Co-Vice-Chairman of the EAGLES, as well as Boerge Diderichsen, President of the European Federation of Biotechnology and David McConnell, from the Smurfit Institute if Genetics, Trinity College in Ireland.
Four parallel sessions were scheduled from 2:30 p.m-4:00 p.m and from 4:30-6:00 p.m, issues included "Healthcare and the Poor", "Agriculture and Safe Food Sufficiency", "Exploiting Biodiversity and Protecting the Environment" and "Trade, Patents and Developing Countries".
To view live sessions from the BioVision Alexandria 2004 Conference, visit the event"s website at www.bibalex.org/bioalex2004conf