Bruce Brandfon
From The Publisher
Olympic years remind us of the most satisfying achievements that come from global competition, respectful sportsmanship and the desire for continued improvement. Recently, the world watched as its greatest athletes overcame personal, physical and mental challenges to excel at the very enterprises they have given their most formative years to master. Thse feats, as always, inspire us, edify us and push us towards the same spirit of improvement and perfection.
The metaphor for the exigencies of science could not be clearer. As this new decade unfolds, we find epic
challenges everywhere. And as our interconnected world continually ties our fortunes or failures together,
we look to innovation as our most promising currency for progress.
It is in this spirit—of cooperative solutions—that we offer Scientific American Worldview: A Global Biotechnology Perspective. This special annual edition, from the publisher of the world’s most renowned consumer science magazine, in collaboration with the Biotechnology Industry Organization, is intended to spark and sustain an important international conversation.
Through this project, we hope to elucidate the many ways governments, scientists, industry players and all life science stakeholders are advancing innovation and the potential for turning great ideas into real solutions.
Facilitating a climate for true innovation is a considerable task, but one that every nation, of any size, can accomplish with the right balance of sound policy, creative thinking and a desire to make the most out of its scientific assets. Indeed, the stakes are far too high for any nation to ignore this goal, especially in a world still reeling from an international financial collapse and hungering for new solutions in medicine, energy, sustainable agriculture, food production and industrial processes.
We think this is an important conversation. We know you do, too. And that is the fundamental mission
behind our Worldview enterprise: to foster a productive, meaningful dialogue on the ways every nation can best leverage its strengths (and deficits) for the betterment of its life science and biotechnology sectors.
We are sincerely grateful to the forward-thinking organizations that have helped support this project,
including: the Biotechnology Industry Organization; Victorian State Government, Australia; Pfizer; and Amgen, our Marquee Sponsor.
We are eager to continue this critical discussion, and greet the new decade with an all-hands-on-deck,
truly global approach to innovative thinking. Please join us.
Sincerely,
Bruce Brandfon
VP & Publisher
