Breakthroughs in biotechnology are redefining the very concept of life, transforming society and presenting unprecedented opportunities and challenges: Will human genome sequencing help to treat genetic diseases and indefinitely prolong life? Will stem cell therapy and tissue engineering allow routine regeneration and replacement of diseased organs? Can new diagnostic tests revolutionize medicine and healthcare? Will genetic engineering allow parents to design perfect babies? Can nature’s workshop inspire superior biomaterials that transform industries? Will genetically modified super crops feed a hungry world? With biotechnology set to be the driving force of the twenty-first century, mastery of the life sciences will be the key to wealth generation and economic ascendancy. Can the Arab World regain its past supremacy in these fields? Can it benefit from the biotech revolution while avoiding its perils? Such implications were debated by experts at the ECSSR Eighth Annual Conference titled Biotechnology and the Future of Society: Challenges and Opportunities, held from January 11-13, 2003 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This volume of conference presentations explores the broad impact of the biotech revolution, highlighting trends in healthcare and molecular medicine, the genetic revolution in agriculture, the future of materials production, new drug discovery technologies and national security issues, including the threat of bio-terrorism. It also examines the complex ethical, legal and social issues raised by the biotech revolution that need to be resolved by governments and decision makers.

Everything you need to know about the most important trend in the history of the world Within most people's lifetimes, the developments in the biotechnology sector will allow us to live increasingly long and healthy lives, as well as provide us with technological innovations that will transform the way we live. But these innovations offer more than just hope for a better life, but hope for better returns too. Financial returns of incredible magnitude await savvy investors and businesspeople who can see the massive changes on the horizon. This book details these fast-moving trends and innovations and offers extensive advice on how to profit from them in business and investing.

Fighting disease, combating hunger, preserving the balance of life on Earth: the future of biotechnological innovation may well be the future of our planet itself. And yet the vexed state of intellectual property law—a proliferation of ever more complex rights governing research and development—is complicating this future. At a similar point in the development of information technology, “open source” software revolutionized the field, simultaneously encouraging innovation and transforming markets. The question that Janet Hope explores in Biobazaar is: can the open source approach do for biotechnology what it has done for information technology? Her book is the first sustained and systematic inquiry into the application of open source principles to the life sciences. The appeal of the open source approach—famously likened to a “bazaar,” in contrast to the more traditional “cathedral” style of technology development—lies in its safeguarding of community access to proprietary tools without discouraging valuable commercial participation. Traversing disciplinary boundaries, Hope presents a careful analysis of intellectual property-related challenges confronting the biotechnology industry and then paints a detailed picture of “open source biotechnology” as a possible solution. With insights drawn from interviews with Nobel Prize–winning scientists and leaders of the free and open source software movement—as well as company executives, international policymakers, licensing experts, and industry analysts—her book suggests that open source biotechnology is both desirable and broadly feasible—and, in many ways, merely awaiting its moment.

The 21st century will undoubtedly witness unprecedented advances in understanding the mechanisms of the human body and in developing biotechnology. With the mapping of the human genome, the pace of discovery is now on the fast track. By the middle of the century we can expect that the rapid progress in biology and biotechnology will utterly transform human life. What was once the stuff of science fiction may now be within reach in the not-too-distant future: 20-to-40-year leaps in average life spans, enhanced human bodies, drugs and therapies to boost memory and speed up mental processing, and a genetic science that allows parents to ensure that their children will have stronger immune systems, more athletic bodies, and cleverer brains. Even the prospect of human immortality beckons. Such scenarios excite many people and frighten or appall many others. Already biotechnology opponents are organizing political movements aimed at restricting scientific research, banning the development and commercialization of various products and technologies, and limiting citizens'' access to the fruits of the biotech revolution. In this forward-looking book Ronald Bailey, science writer for Reason magazine, argues that the coming biotechnology revolution, far from endangering human dignity, will liberate human beings to achieve their full potentials by enabling more of us to live flourishing lives free of disease, disability, and the threat of early death. Bailey covers the full range of the coming biotechnology breakthroughs, from stem-cell research to third-world farming, from brain-enhancing neuropharmaceuticals to designer babies. Against critics of these trends, who forecast the nightmare society of Huxley''s Brave New World, Bailey persuasively shows in lucid and well-argued prose that the health, safety, and ethical concerns raised by worried citizens and policymakers are misplaced. Liberation Biology makes a positive, optimistic, and convincing case that the biotechnology revolution will improve our lives and the future of our children, while preserving and enhancing the natural environment.

A comprehensive overview of the new business context for biopharma companies, featuring numerous case studies and state-of-the-art marketing models Biotechnology has developed into a key innovation driver especially in the field of human healthcare. But as the biopharma industry continues to grow and expand its reach, development costs are colliding with aging demographics and cost-containment policies of private and public payers. Concurrently, the development and increased affordability of sophisticated digital technologies has fundamentally altered many industries including healthcare. The arrival of new information technology (infotech) companies on the healthcare scene presents both opportunities and challenges for the biopharma business model. To capitalize on new digital technologies from R&D through commercialization requires industry leaders to adopt new business models, develop new digital and data capabilities, and partner with innovators and payers worldwide. Written by two experts, both of whom have had decades of experience in the field, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the new business context and marketing models for biotech companies. Informed by extensive input by senior biotech executives and leading consultancies serving the industry, it analyzes the strategies and key success factors for the financing, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutic products, including strategies for engagement with patients, physicians and healthcare payers. Throughout case studies provide researchers, corporate marketers, senior managers, consultants, financial analysts, and other professionals involved in the biotech sector with insights, ideas, and models. JACQUALYN FOUSE, PhD, RETIRED PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, CELGENE “Biotech companies have long been innovators, using the latest technologies to enable cutting edge science to help patients with serious diseases. This book is essential to help biotech firms understand how they can–and must–apply the newest technologies including disruptive ones, alongside science, to innovate and bring new value to the healthcare system.” BRUCE DARROW, MD, PhD, CHIEF MEDICAL INFORMATION OFFICER, MOUNT SINAI HEALTH SYSTEM “Simon and Giovannetti have written an essential user’s manual explaining the complicated interplay of the patients who deserve cutting-edge medical care, the biotechnology companies (big and small) creating the breakthroughs, and the healthcare organizations and clinicians who bridge those worlds.” EMMANUEL BLIN, FORMER CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB “If you want to know where biopharma is going, read this book! Our industry is facing unprecedented opportunities driven by major scientific breakthroughs, while transforming itself to address accelerated landscape changes driven by digital revolutions and the emergence of value-based healthcare worldwide. In this ever-changing context, we all need to focus everything we do on the patients. They are why we exist as an industry, and this is ultimately what this insightful essay is really about.” JOHN MARAGANORE, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS “Since the mapping of the human genome was completed nearly 15 years ago, the biotechnology industry has led the rapid translation of raw science to today’s innovative medicines. However, the work does not stop in the lab. Delivering these novel medicines to patients is a complex and multifaceted process, which is elegantly described in this new book.”