University of Salamanca hosts the first edition of 'BIO.IBEROAMÉRICA 2016. Integrating Continents'
JPA/DICYT Researchers in Biotechnology from the Latin American community will meet for the first time at the congress 'Biotechnology BIO.IBEROAMÉRICA 2016. Integrating Continents', to be held in Salamanca (Spain) between the 5th and 8th of June, this 2016. Experts in biotechnology from all over Latin America, Portugal and Spain will attend this first edition of an event, which will be subsequently held every two years in different countries.
"Biotechnology very much related with almost every aspect of our daily life and that gives it a great economic potential," says Eva Maria Martin del Valle, researcher at the University of Salamanca and President of the Organizing Committee BIO.IBEROAMÉRICA 2016.
The conference is divided into eight symposia: Bioenergy, Biomedicine, Food, Agricultural Biotechnology, Environmental Solutions, Engineering Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Bioethics. Each of these areas will have a plenary lecture starring some of the most prominent experts in the field.
Latin America is a leading biotechnology region, especially in three areas: biomedicine, bioenergy and the environment. "Every country is strong in some disciplines and some of them have relevant expertise in all those areas. There are powerful projects aimed at combating cancer, water treatment or reduction of CO2 pollution," says Eva Maria Martin del Valle.
The meeting programme is complemented by several parallel activities as business appointments with promising startups in the biotechnology sector, a debate on education and biotechnology and a specific event focused on the fight against rare diseases.
A federation of biotechnology societies
This conference will lead to the birth of the Latin American federation of several Biotechnology societies. The new institution will "help to establish international relations and synergies between multidisciplinary groups, all aimed at expanding and improving the tools we have so far," she says.
The University of Salamanca will initially be the headquarter of this new federation. An honour due to the high quality of biotechnology research inside the institution, and to the fact that Salamanca's University is the oldest of all higher education institutions of Latin America.
Indeed, this meeting will be part of the activities programmed for the celebration of USAL VIII Hundred anniversary, and a contribution to the consolidation of the Latin American Knowledge Area