TECHNOLOGY FORESIGHT SUMMIT - Unido

Plenary: Cross-cutting Issues
on Biotechnology
Issues
Biotechnology as a new chapter of scientific and cultural evolution;
Cross-cutting issues of agricultural and industrial biotechnology: common
themes of regulation and property rights;
Biotechnology in a developmental framework: What the developing world needs.
Abstracts
The Interaction between Academia and Industry in the Development
of European Biotechnology
Frank Gannon, Executive Director, European Molecular Biology
Organization, EMBO, Germany
The interaction between academia and industry has been a powerful driving
force worldwide. This trend towards such complementary actions was initiated
in the United States and it is now a mature way of working between
two parties. In most of Europe, there has been a delay in breaking down the
barrier between industry and academia. It is also now common for scientists
in universities to depend on industry for support for research that is relevant
to industry and for industry to look towards academics to provide cutting
edge research for them.
Although the interaction may be perceived as totally compatible with the
expert scientists receiving funding for the research that they would wish to
perform and industry receiving information that they need, closer analysis
however, points to tensions that can arise and distortions that can occur if
this process is not correctly managed. The academics will suffer in the longterm
if they accept money to carry out research at all costs independently
of its relevance to their major interests. The possibility of academic research
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