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Some Issues We Explored in 2006

The BioAgenda 2006 Summit examined these crucial issues and policies in the life sciences: 

• Darwin vs. God: Why do so many people not believe in evolution?
• Cells: The reality versus the politics
• The Drug Pricing Wars: Can we afford medical miracles? What is the fallout on Medicare's "Plan D" to pay for drugs?
• Neuroscience: Will machines become more like brains, or brains more like machines?
• Ideology versus Science: How it's done in Europe and Asia
• The BioAgenda "Great Debate": Creating the Perfect Human: The case for and against (smarter, stronger, taller, faster, impervious to disease...immortal, perhaps?). Two leading thinkers debate
• Haves and Have Nots: About a billion people live longer and healthier lives. What happens to the rest? A participatory brainstorming workshop
• India and China Pharma Rising: Are these ancient superpowers going to leave the upstart West behind, or blow apart? (Includes a brief talk about when India was the world's science superpower.)
• Science and Politics: How can they co-exist?
• Nanotech: Is small really that big?
• Has Genomics Arrived? Hap maps, the cancer genome, sequencing dogs and monkeys, super-cheap DNA Sequencing – Is the hype of genomics finally hitting paydirt for people and for companies?
• A New Pharma Model: (Two Parts) Big Pharma and the dodo: evolve or perish; and: The case for $200 million drugs, "flat earth" pipelines, and a refocus on strong ethics in the age of Vioxx
• Is the Biotech Industry Paying Off? Four proposals to reform how we pay for applying new discoveries so they pay off for patients and Investors
• Obesity and Diabetes: The Great Plagues of the Twenty-First Century: How the good life is killing us. Is it genes or lifestyle, and can anything be done?
• Chimeras and Synthetic Life: 100-Watt Bugs and Flying Mice: What are we creating and about to create, who should own it, and should we ever say no?
• Public Health and Pathogens: From bioterrorism to avian flu and the biohazards of Katrina, are we ready?
• Communications: The Big Barrier: Why do the media and the public largely ignore real science, but read Michael Crichton?
• Science and the Arts: What is the role of the Arts in interpreting science?
• Personalized Medicine: When and how is this coming?

Arts and Science

A photo essay: "The Year That Science Reality Trumped Science Fiction" – Face Transplants, Cloning Humans and Dogs, Artificial Wombs, and Controlling Machines Using Thought". By Hollywood photographer Art Streiber; an excerpt from theatrical offerings that will include scenes from "Inherit the Wind", about the Scopes Monkey Trial; a provocative, interactive sculpture of pluripotent stem cells the size of beach balls, by Mara Haseltine; a book club discussion (with delegates highly encouraged to read the selection!) with a famous author about his or her book about science. We're inviting John le Carré to talk about The Constant Gardener.

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