2007 BIO International Convention in Boston, Boston MA (5/6-5/9)
www.bio20007.org
The 2007 Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) International Convention drew a record 22,366 attendees, a nearly 15 percent increase from the previous year, with representatives from 48 states and one-third of attendees from outside the United States. (www.bio2007.org)

Days of Molecular Medicine 2007- Emerging Technologies and Cancer Biology
presented by Massachusetts General Hospital, Karolinska Institutet and Nature Medicine, Cambridge, MA (5/22-5/24)
http://www.massgeneral.org/cvrc/meetings.html
The Days of Molecular Medicine is an interdisciplinary two and a half day symposium held every spring, rotating between Boston, Massachusetts and Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting brings together scientists and physicians from both academia and the private sector, whose work is capitalizing on utilizing regenerative medicine to address specific human disease. The Days of Molecular Medicine 2007, entitled Emerging Technologies and Cancer Biology, drew hundreds of scientists from around the world. In addition, each Days of Molecular Medicine meeting features a forum, which this year focused on Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease in Global Health.

Bill Gates Speech at Harvard Commencement (6/7)
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/06.14/99-gates.html
On June 7th, following Harvard's morning Commencement ceremony, Bill Gates spoke to an assembly of Harvard alumni spanning the classes of 1925 to 2007. He emphasized the obligation of all people to help those who are poor, sick, and dying and spoke of the devastation caused by diseases such as measles that are eradicated in the United States. Because cures exist for these diseases, Gates believes that the issue is less scientific than humanitarian: how to deliver cures to those who need them.

Gates praised the recent advances of science and technology and attributed the rapid pace of innovation to enhanced collaboration made possible by the internet. He said, “the defining and ongoing innovations of this age – biotechnology, the computer, the Internet – give us a chance we’ve never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.”

Gates outlined a plan for achieving his goals, with four stages: “determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have — whether it’s something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bed net.” His plan would include not only scientific research, funded both publicly and privately, but also educating people susceptible to diseases like AIDS about how to avoid contracting the disease.

Gates believes that a "creative capitalism" that will enable poor people to make a living, have some power in the market, and thus have some say in their government and that this can be achieved by making it profitable for those in charge. "If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians," he asserted, "we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world."

2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair(5/13-5/19)
www.sciserv.org/isef
High school students from all over the world traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair from May 13-19 2007. PhD-educated professionals from the nation’s top firms and universities judged their science projects in 18 fields, from Animal Sciences to Energy and Transportation to Physics and Astronomy. Winners took home prizes totaling over four million dollars, in the forms of scholarships, paid internships, and trips to other science fairs around the world. Winning creations ranged from soluble carbon nanotubes to cooperating bumblebees, to a computer design for analyzing DNA. The Intel International Science and Engineering fair is a highly selective opportunity for high school students, requiring several rounds of qualifying trials in state science fairs and selecting the brightest young scientists from 40 countries and territories.

Read More: Junior R&D (07/23/07)
http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0723/060.html
Winners of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair focus on researching real-world issues and produce groundbreaking discoveries even before they enter the workforce.