8 minute read
aBic 2010
All eyes on sAskAtoon AS ABIC COMES HOME
Taking place September 12th to September 15th at TCU place, ABIC is an international conference devoted to science and business development in agbiotech, where scientific and industry leaders gather from all over the world to address agricultural biotechnology and its impact on world agriculture from meeting the growing demand for food and feed production, to the development of sustainable biofuels.
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“It is exciting to have ABIC back in Saskatoon for 2010 because it is a time when our agbiotech community is experiencing a rebirth. The age of genomics, market demand for green products and global concern about climate change has created a new energy in our scientific and business community,” states ABIC Foundation chair,
Jerome Konecsni.
This enthusiasm is reinforced says Konecsni by unprecedented spirit of collaboration and a collective determination to seize a unique opportunity brought about by what has been described as the “perfect storm” of global challenges. As the first president of Ag-West Biotech and now the co-chair of the ABIC Sponsorship committee, Dr. Murray McLaughlin knows the history of the conference and understands the significance of it being back in Saskatoon. Through Ag-West Biotech (now Ag-West Bio, was the founder of the ABIC conference series), he was personally instrumental in getting ABIC off the ground. “There really wasn’t a conference around agriculture and biotechnology that looked at it from a global perspective. We felt it was time to develop a conference or establish an international conference for agriculture, that’s what we structured for the first conference in 1996 and it just kind of built from there,” he said. The ABIC Conference was started in 1996 in Saskatchewan. Following on the success of the 1996 conference, a second conference in 1998 led to the formation of the ABIC Foundation. The Foundation was set up to ensure continued success of the ABIC series, and, to ensure ongoing opportunities for continuous learning and networking within the international agbiotech community. Since then, the conference has been held in Toronto (2000); Saskatoon (2002); Cologne, Germany (2004); Melbourne, Australia (2006); Cork, Ireland (2008); and more recently in Bangkok, Thailand (2009). In response to requests to hold the conference on an annual basis, the conference ended its biannual circuit, and became an annual event beginning with the 2006 conference. “Having the 10th conference here, I think it’s nice to see where we were in the mid90’s when we were first really talking about biotechnology and what the opportunities were going to be, to how it is now where biotechnology has really taken over the farming crops that we grow, and we just continue to see a lot more knowledge, a lot more capabilities and information out there today by using the tools of biotechnology that 16 years ago we probably wouldn’t have even dreamt. Technology today has allowed us to move much more rapidly.” He adds that getting it back into Saskatoon, is a way to let the people of Saskatoon and of Saskatchewan know that this conference that was established in the community is alive and well and making things in the agricultural community better because of it. “We’re definitely seeing a conference that was established here in Canada become a global phenomenon.” Not surprisingly, due to its Canadian The Agricultural Biotechnolheritage ABIC conferences continue to enjoy strong representation from Canada in ogy International Conference terms of its delegates and have continued (ABIC), a made in Canada to strengthen ties within the Canadian agbio sector. The ABIC Foundation remains event, has returned to its incorporated in Saskatchewan, and its board birthplace, beautiful is made up of Canadian directors who are able to keep strong ties with Canada. At Saskatoon, SK. the same time, the conference continues to build its international flavour by drawing in international directors from the regions where an ABIC conference has been held, or will be held. “I think if you look at Canada from the agricultural side, we definitely are a leader, and this conference has helped in bringing it all together,” states Dr. McLaughlin. “We’ve built up a strong base on both the crop side and animal side.” ABIC 2010 co-chair, president and CEO of Ag-West Bio, Wilf Keller echoes McLaughlin’s thoughts. “The conference has strong ties to Canada, and to Saskatoon. It’s definitely an indication of where we rank globally in the agbiotech sector. We are very much a leader, and you only have to look at the ag-bio cluster we have here in Saskatoon. I think Canada has embraced new crop technologies such as GMO crops; we’re among the leaders in acreage and one of the major players in this new technology. We’ve certainly embraced
– Jerome Konecsni
diagnostics, new ag-bio genetics, and new ways of evaluation. I think Canada is highly regarded for its agricultural production system and the science and the quality that’s behind it,” states Keller.
“Moreover, a conference like this certainly wants to get the message out there that agriculture is a significant economic driver in this country and globally, in terms of GDP and in potential. The voting public is not very familiar and agriculture is not understood as a high level intensive technological advanced industry that contributes in a major way through high quality foods at every level, be they animal or plant derived. But, Canada has a tremendous reputation in this space, it is a major exporter, the food industry itself is well over $100 billion, canola alone is a $14 billion industry and we need to do a better job of selling this to the voting public. I believe we have to put more attention at the food end as opposed to commodity crop end. Promoting Canadian products, sending a message and having it translate or feed back to where those products come from, that’s the way to go. Hopefully the health pillar we have this year will go a long way to address that.”
The city of Saskatoon and the province are also fully behind the conference’s objectives as well as its success. The Premier of Saskatchewan, the Honourable Brad Wall, will participate in the opening ceremonies of the conference on Monday September 13th. Both levels of government have provided welcoming letters to delegates, which will be included in the final program. The Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Agency is involved, as well as the Saskatoon Chamber. These groups are working with the organizing committees in various capacities.
“We strive here on the prairies to really work hard in a cooperative mode to bring people together, to provide a venue, to provide a program that’s attractive and you get more value than what you read on the program,” states Keller.
As for the programs and themes, ABIC managing director Muriel Adams explains there are many. “With every ABIC Conference, the goal is to increase awareness within a region. For 2010, the goal is to increase the awareness of Canada as a leading-edge centre for biotechnology, genomics and commercialization among key international ag-bio contacts; to highlight research excellence and infrastructure; and to generate positive out-of-country interest in Canada as a place to do business,” states Adams.
“ABIC is more than a showcase - ABIC Conferences bring together knowledge from industry, government and academics and provides a forum for creating dialogue, aiming to enhance science and business intelligence which in turns leads to identification of opportunities and innovation,” she adds.
In choosing Bridging Biology and Business as the theme for this, its 10th event, Adams says the Steering Committee intends on putting further emphasis on this fact as the conference looks to address ag-bio and its impact on world agriculture – from meeting the growing demand for food and feed production to the development of sustainable biofuels – to the economic impact now, and over the coming years.
“The goals of the conference are really reflected in the main theme of ABIC 2010, bridging biology and business,” adds Ron Kehring, ABIC 2010 Program Committee chair and manager, Biofuels and Bioproducts at Enterprise Saskatchewan. “The fact is science doesn’t operate in isolation from the economy, it’s not disconnected from other factors that include quality of life, environment impact, the real role of science and technology through commercialization, and as such we’re trying to create a stronger bridge between the ag-bio industry and the ag-bio research community. For this reason, this year probably has a stronger industrial flavour to it than the past couple conferences.”
In all, ABIC 2010 features a dynamic line up of 66 expert session speakers, a public forum and five keynote presentations over the course of the conference. There will be a welcome reception on Sunday, a networking event on Monday evening and a gala event on Tuesday where organizers will announce the location of ABIC 2013.
On Monday, the opening keynote speaker, Dr. John E. Hamer, managing director Malaysia, Latin America, Burrill & Company will deliver: “Agricultural Biotechnology and the Next 10 years: An Investors Perspective.” “Dr. Hamer / Burrill & Company were chosen to discuss investment opportunities and risks in agbio and provide the audience with perspective for the coming 10 years,” says Adams.
Dr. Hamer will be followed by Julian Cribb, specialist in Science Communication, Australia, on the topic: “The Coming Famine: Risks and Solutions for Global Food Security.” According to Adams, Cribb, a controversial presenter, was chosen to encourage discussion and keep the debate going over the risks and solutions.
On Tuesday, the opening keynote speaker is Dr. Prem Warrior, Gates Foundation, delivering a presentation entitled: “Agbiotech: The Global Sustainability Challenge.” Following Dr. Warrior, Dr. Karl Dawson, Alltech Center for Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition, takes the discussions further with his presentation entitled: “The role of Biotechnology in Nutrition and Food Security.”
On Wednesday, the conference continues with addressing environmental sustainability through biotechnology with keynote speaker: Dr. Clive James, chairman ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications).
A closing plenary session is currently being considered, which will tie all of the presentations together with: “The Global Challenges ahead in Energy, Security and Food.”
In addition, as of July 17, there are over 31 international companies registered to attend this year’s conference. Organizers have a target of 1,000 participants, with more than 100 private sector organizations involved.
For more AGBIOTeCh information visit our NATURAL HEALTH PRODUCTS Web Portal at
