BIO 2000 Science Presentations Feature Latest Research Breakthroughs
BIO 2000 is the annual International Meeting & Exhibition of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). More than 7,000 company executives, scientists, investment experts and government officials from 40 nations are expected to attend the five-day conference at Boston's Hynes Convention Center. More than 700 speakers will participate in 200 symposia and sessions on the latest developments in science, business and public policy.
For the first time this year, the conference will include a series ofscientific symposia, Monday, March 27, to Thursday, March 30, exploring how research on the immune system and on the functions of genes and cells is applied to development of new drugs and vaccines.
On Wednesday, March 29, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in a symposiumtitled, "Biomedical research: a vision for the future," experts from Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Massachusetts will examine the latest scientific work in fields such as cancer, aging, tissue engineering and computer-assisted surgery.
On Monday, March 27, from 8 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and from 1:15p.m. to 2:45 p.m., scientists from universities and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies will discuss "Putting the immune system to work" in fighting autoimmune diseases, cancer and infections.
Other symposia Monday and Tuesday, March 28, will examineuse of cell therapies to regenerate damaged tissues and gene therapies to battle cancer and the application of genomics to drug development.
BIO 2000 also will feature well-known speakers with ties tobiotechnology, including Christopher Reeve, paralyzed five years ago from a fall in an equestrian competition; U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass Peter Lynch, vice chairman of Fidelity Management and Research Co.; Eric Lander, director of the Center for Genome Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and David Lander, an actor with multiple sclerosis who played Squiggy on the Laverne and Shirley television sitcom.
A full program of conference activities is posted on BIO's website(www.bio.org) in the BIO 2000 News Room. Look here for selected highlights, featured speakers, contacts, a schedule of press conferences, pressroom hours and other news. Pre-registration also is available through this site.
Registration is complimentary for credentialed press. Free-lancers must provide names of news organizations and editors who assigned them to cover the conference. Members of the press can register on-site in the pressroom at the Hynes Convention Center any day of the conference.
BIO represents more than 900 companies, academic institutionsand state biotech centers in 47 states and 26 nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.