BOSTON -- The week-long Bio2000 conference, one of the largest international biotechnology events ever, set records for both attendance at the conference and attendance by protesters.
Close to 8,000 biotechnology industry representatives attended the convention here. On Sunday, an estimated 2,500 demonstrators gathered in Copley Square for BioDevastation 2000, a four-hour rally and march protesting the growing influence of biotechnology in society.
The biotech industry has shown remarkable expansion in the past few years. Biotech stocks now compete with Internet stocks as the Wall Street darlings of potential earnings growth.
As it has grown, the industry has attracted some unwanted attention. Chiefly vilified is the Monsanto Corporation, makers of Bt corn, a genetically modified food plant that produces a bacterial toxin in its leaves that is harmful to insect pests.
But the toxin is also produced in the pollen of the plants, where it has been shown to harm the larvae of monarch butterflies in laboratory tests. This unanticipated side effect has put Monsanto on the defensive, and the company has launched a marketing blitz promoting the safety of its products.
Other Monsanto biotech crops are genetically engineered to tolerate the Monsanto herbicide RoundUp, a move calculated to allow the company to sell more of the product, but one which has drawn strong criticism from environmentalists and pure foods groups.
The growing importance of biotech companies in the economy shows in the large numbers of foreign countries and states competing to bring biotech companies to their areas. At Bio2000, nine different "hospitality suites" offering free food and drink were hosted by countries such as Switzerland, and nation states including Scotland; Queensland, Australia; Bavaria, Germany; and U.S. states including Delaware, Illinois, and Kentucky.
Foreign countries and states eager for economic development set up many of the exhibit booths. Booths from companies within the Netherlands alone took up an entire aisle. Arkansas, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Maryland all had sizeable booths as well.
Helping to fuel support for the positive economic aspects of biotech, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), on Tuesday praised the biotech industry for providing 25,000 jobs and bringing 1.2 billion dollars in federal research funding to Massachusetts.
Biotechnology shows indications of enjoying strong future growth as the science advances and more potential applications are discovered.
There was much speculation on the financial and technological impact of the Human Genome Project, now nearing completion. This coordinated effort will characterize all human genetic material by determining the complete sequence of the DNA in the human genome. The project's ultimate goal is to discover all the more than 80,000 human genes and make them accessible for further biological study.
Once fully sequenced, the human genome can provide drug companies with specific targets to tailor drugs to, reducing the time and expense of research.
Speaking on Tuesday night, Eric Landers, director of the Center for Genome Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, said the completion of the Human Genome Project would be the single most important event of the last 100 years.
In the next 20 to 30 years, Landers predicted, researchers will have a good understanding of the genetic basis of disease, allowing for increases in both quality of living and life span.
A few of the most current advances displayed this week include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Liver Chip, a 3-D cell culture of liver and blood vessels that closely emulates liver function and allows researchers to view metabolism in real time.
Other products in the pipeline include a painkiller 1,000 times more powerful than morphine derived from the venom of cone snails, which is scheduled to enter clinical trials next month.
More than 600 nutritionally enhanced foods -- such as broccoli that contains higher amounts of anti-oxidants than usual -- were discussed.
As the industry continues to expand, additional public scrutiny and criticism are inevitable. The biotech industry appears to welcome the idea.
"We need to be aware that people are uneasy with modifying life," said Landers in a speech Monday night. "We must engage society" on these issues, he said.
"We are recommitting ourselves to a new level of public education about the benefits and challenges facing this industry," said Carl Feldbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which organized the event.
As the tide of industry representatives receded, BIO issued self-congratulatory press releases, praising the event as a success. One release obliquely referenced the protest: "Boston lived up to its reputation as a venue for informed dialogue and spirited debate."
But there was no debate, at least not a formal one. During a press conference on Sunday, the organizers of BioDevastation asked the participants of Bio2000 to engage in a public debate.
Bio2000 organizers declined to participate, so BioDevastation leaders staged an informal debate. On Tuesday, they set up a small table outside the convention center for four hours and discussed their concerns with any willing Bio2000 participants that wandered by.
"I don’t think they have addressed any of our concerns," said Jessica Hayes, one of the organizers of BioDevastation. But despite the sometimes carnival atmosphere and mixed messages of Sunday’s protest rally, Hayes said she felt it had the desired effect of raising the visibility of the protesters’ concerns.
"I think we have got their awareness up," Hayes said. "Nobody has returned my calls. I take that as a sign that we got to them."
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2000.
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