Biovision, April 8-11, 2003, Lyon

 

Biovision, the biannual World life Sciences Forum, aims to bring representatives from society, industry, and science together to discuss cutting edge developments in Life Sciences. The goal of this Forum is to contribute to the development of Life Sciences by ensuring that they remain beneficial to humankind and the environment, valuable to society at large, and committed to ethics.

At Biovision’s latest edition (April 8-11, 2003), at about 38% of the participants were from industry, 35% of the academic community (also including economical, philosophical, and social sciences), 17% represented the media, further participants stand for patient associations, NGO’s and others.

 

 

Plenary Sessions

 

The themes of the Plenary Sessions were ‘Life Sciences at the Interface of Other Sciences and Techniques, Biosciences& Tomorrows Industrial Revolution, and ‘Life Sciences and Global Environment’. During the Plenary Sessions emphasis was put on the need for communication between, society, and industry (e.g. the need for transparency in the Life Sciences field, the need for education in Life Sciences), the need for transfer of R&D to developing countries, the need for global efforts to resolve global problems (e.g. water scarcity, climate change, environmental pollution, biodiversity management, nutrition), the need for an clear international consensus and legislative framework on the use of novel technologies (e.g. the use of genetically modified organisms), the need for international bioethical standards (e.g. on human cloning), the need for an integrative multidisciplinary approach and convergence of all sciences, the need for international consortia and symbiotic partnerships between private and public sectors, and a strong political will  in order to provide incentives to solve planetary problems. The difference in perception of biosafety and risks between industrialised versus developing countries as well a divergence of cultural views were also considered as important factors to take in account when novel technologies in Life Sciences are introduced.

In relation to the need for communication between the different stakeholders in Life Sciences, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, David Byrne, announced that a forum on risk perception of agriculture in relation to GM food is being organised by the EC and will take place in Brussels, December 2003.

 

 

 

Parallel Sessions

 

The Parallel Sessions were conducted around four major themes:

 

1. Improving the Beginning of Human Life
2. Life Expectancy and Longevity
3. Securing Enough Safe Food
4. Life Sciences, Environment and Industrial Revolution

 

Topics discussed during the Parallel Sessions and of major impact on the development of Plant Sciences were mainly linked to nutrition (food quantity and quality, water availability) and the environment (biodiversity preservation and environmental management practices in relation to agriculture, urbanisation, and consumption). Some of the statements and future directions in relation to nutrition and environment that were considered during the Parallel Sessions, are following:

 

Nutrition:
 

• Improving the conditions of the beginning of human life, including nutrition, will have major benefits for the rest of it
• Diet is amongst major determinants of health in old age
• Small behaviour changes (such as change in nutrition) are associated with big differences in disease incidence
• There is an urgent need to satisfy the basic human right of safe food and drinking water
• Abundance of food and imbalanced nutrition lead to health problems including obesity, cancer, and diabetes in the industrialised countries. Example: Carbohydrate food
• Its nutritional value should be measured as glycemic response; more important for nutrition then simply the carbohydrate content
• Concept of Long Lasting Energy (digestibility, effect of food intake on certain body functions over a period of 4 hours after eating

Change nutrition from energy-dense nutrient poor foods into nutrient rich foods

à Implications for research into plant composition & manufacturing for food

• Food quality traits will become of main importance in the industrialised world
• There is a huge food challenge in the developing world having both a quantitative and qualitative dimension
• Agronomic productivity has been stagnating in developing countries, while further shrinking per capita arable and irrigation water demand new technologies
• There is a need for an ‘Evergreen’ revolution which will help to enhance productivity perpetuity without associated ecological harm
• Agriculture is the most effective safety against hunger and poverty in the rural communities around the world, since a majority of the population depend upon framing for their livelihoods, being producer and consumer at the same time
• Recent advances in technology are considered to be: genetic modification, integrated Mendelian and molecular breeding, resistance to biotic and antibiotic stresses, nutritive as culinary as well as processing properties, enlarging the food basket by including under-utilised crop
• The most advanced and appropriate technologies need to be applied in combination with traditional methods and ecological prudence
• Recent advances in delivery systems, amongst others, are considered to be: bridging the genomic divide, and technology sharing and incubation
• Global challenge projects are: water use efficiency and drought tolerance, nutritional enrichment, nutrition and health

 

 

   Environment:
 

• Developing countries are strongly dependent on agriculture, thus ecosystems
• Industrial revolution and urbanisation are constantly modifying the environment
• Future population growth and expected consumption growth will primarily impact ecosystems in areas stricken by poverty
• As the demand for water is expected to increase in the near future, water resources need to be managed carefully
• Technology transfer from the science community to water managers should be encouraged
• Biotechnology is a way, amongst others, to slow down or reverse environmental deterioration
• A long term view and public R&D is needed for the introduction of novel technologies in relation to environmental management practices 
• There is a need for stronger communication and cooperation between biologists and researchers, based on existing taxonomy (e.g. botanists versus zoologists) in biodiversity studies and preservation practices
• The share of best practices, the leverage of existing solutions, and the allocation of more resources in developing countries, will help to make biodiversity and genetic diversity an asset for people

 

  

 

More info and complete overview on the Key Challenges, Overall Themes, Conclusions, Recommendations, and Actions to be undertaken, from the Parallel Conference Sessions:

 

C III: Securing Enough Safe Food     
C IV: Life Sciences, Environment and Industrial Revolution  
 

Further information soon at the Biovision web site

 

 

 

Provided by EPSO, 17.4.2003