ICARDA
News
INTERNATIONAL
CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Director
General Participates in BioVision 2003
BioVision 2003 was held at the International Conference Center, in Lyon, France, 8-11 April, under the chairmanship of Philippe Desmarescaux. Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, DG, participated in this Forum. The deliberations started with a pre-Forum event, “Nobel Laureates’ Day” on 8 April, under the title “Beyond DNA: Fifty Years After the Double Helix Discovery.” Eleven Nobel Laureates made presentations covering such topics as ‘Dimensions of the Molecule,’ ‘The Age of Molecular Biology,’ and ‘Broader Aspects of the Discovery,’ and had a round-table discussion. The Day was formally closed with a keynote speech delivered by the Prime Minister of France, Jean-Pierre Raffarin. The main deliberations of the BioVision were held in the form of an opening plenary session and four parallel conferences on 9 April, plenary thematic sessions, and a closing plenary session on 11 April. The parallel session C-III was of special interest as it was devoted to ‘Securing Enough Safe Food. It was co-chaired by Prof. M.S. Swaminathan and covered aspects of ‘State of the Art,’ ‘Impact on Human Life,’ ‘Life Sciences and Development,’ and ‘The Vision in Life Sciences.’ The thematic plenary sessions covered the following topics: ‘Life Sciences at the Interface of other Sciences and Technologies,’ ‘Biosciences and Tomorrow,’ ‘Industrial Sustainability,’ and ‘Life Sciences and Global Environment.’ There were a series of debates during the dinner on 10 April, covering various scientific topics, which have been attracting keen attention of the general public (e.g. ‘Designing Babies: Myth or Reality,’ ‘Patenting Life?’ and ‘Biosciences: Satisfactory Answer to Hunger’).
BioVision 2003 provided an extraordinary opportunity for discussion with scientists deploying cutting-edge technologies for developing solutions to the problems facing the humanity in the 21st Century. Contacts were made with the European Federation of Biotechnology for possible collaboration with ICARDA in its biotech research.
The next meeting of the Forum will be held under the title “BioAlex 04’’ at Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt, 3-6 April 2004, and will be chaired by Dr Ismail Serageldin, who was the Vice-Chair of BioVision 2003.
Following his participation in BioVision 2003, the Director General visited various agricultural research institutions in Switzerland (Zürich and Berne) to review on-going activities and develop new collaboration.
ICARDA's (www.icarda.org) mission is to improve the welfare of people and alleviate poverty through research and training in dry areas of the developing world by increasing production, productivity, and nutritional quality of food, while preserving and enhancing the natural resource base. ICARDA is a Future Harvest Center.
