Writing for Australasian Biotechnology ahead of the Agricultural Bioscience International Conference (ABIC) 2015, Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb AC, says what “We need is a new approach: a national commitment that makes science a priority for every Australian.”
Professor Chubb will deliver a keynote address at ABIC 2015, titled ‘Policy improvements to accelerate the adoption of agri-biotechnology developments’, on the program featuring international leaders in bioscience who will address common developments and challenges facing broad acre cropping, horticulture and plantation crops as well as developments in improvements to livestock productivity. In parallel sessions, regulators, trade and communications experts will address the public acceptance of advances in bioscience and the interface between trade and the regulation.
According to Professor Chubb, “When the potato arrived in Europe in the sixteenth century, it met with a mixed response. Some forward-thinking individuals grasped its potential, including the Royal Society, which came out as pro-potato in one of its very first public statements. Others – amongst them the aristocrats who owned the land, the peasants who worked it and the city-dwellers who lived on its produce – were unconvinced.”
“It took decades of advocacy, experimentation and encouragement to make a knobbly vegetable the staple crop.
“The story of the potato is instructive, not least as a reminder that progress can come with consequences we don’t foresee. We are, many people say, living in the Biotechnology Age – an era in which biotechnology will define not simply the way we live, but the way that we conceive of life itself. People say that, at least, in the biotech sector, where the potential is visceral and the urgency is clear.
“But what about parents putting food on the table? What about farmers in the field, or manufacturers on the factory floor? What about students thinking about their subjects for Year 12? Do they know they are living in a biotechnology age, and are they ready to help deliver its potential?
“I don’t know that Australians are ready, and I am certain that we are less prepared than other nations. On so many measures, we are falling behind the global pace – in both the effort we invest and the return that effort secures.
“Participation in science and mathematics in Years 11 and 12 is the lowest it has been in two decades. What does that say about our capacity to have an informed conversation about biotechnology?
“The level of collaboration between our universities and our industries is one of the worst in the OECD. What does that say about our prospects for realising the benefits of biotechnology across the economy?
“In agriculture, in particular, there are documented shortages of workers trained for science-reliant roles – from technicians to environmental planners to R&D managers. What does that mean for the biotechnology revolution?
“Too many of these questions have only received partial answers in the measures we have pursued so far – partial answers with terminating funds. What we need is a new approach: a national commitment that makes science a priority for every Australian.
“Science taught in an interesting and engaging way to every child. Science encouraged as a field of study, leading to careers in every industry and many roles. And science of high calibre, drawing on and contributing to the global stock, answering to our needs as a nation.
“We can achieve it, we ought to achieve it, and I believe we will achieve it.”
Ag and food biotech in the spotlight as the Agricultural Bioscience International Conference comes to Australia
ABIC 2015 is the premier global meeting linking business, science, and government to promotes innovation in bioscience to ensure sustainable food, feed, fibre and fuel security as the climate changes. The theme for ABIC 2015 is ‘New thinking, new discoveries and new applications’. In addition to building on past accomplishments to create a strong and sustainable industry, the program will celebrate innovation in agricultural biotechnology. By connecting people, ABIC gathers not only the common answers but also the different approaches each participant is taking to address the common challenge.
ABIC 2015 will be held 7-9 September in Melbourne.
View the program and register at http://www.abic.ca/abic2015/index.php?page=program