ESA at the World Life Sciences Forum 2005 in Lyon
ESA joined forces with 1500 high ranking experts from Science, Society and Industry to contribute to the largest World Life Sciences forum of the year: BioVision 2005 in Lyon (April 11 to 15).
The aim of BioVision is to bring high profile decision-makers from fields as varied as politics, research or consumercare together to discuss the important issues Life Sciences face today.
Various prestigious guest-speakers introduced their visions – Life Sciences should be advanced through cooperation in the targeted areas of healthcare, agriculture and the environment.
Highlight of the event was the participation of ESA astronaut and physician André Kuipers to the BioVisionaries Closing Plenary Session.
Kuipers introduced the benefits of space research, bringing his personal experience of performing experiments on board the ISS in the fields of Biotechnology and Health to the audience. Impressively, he managed to capture his audience from the start showing footage of the launch of ESA’s Eneide Mission – a real show-stopper, as the Soyuz carrying the Eneide-crew had taken off only a couple of hours before.
Not only did ESA Astronaut Kuipers direct the focus of Life Sciences community towards R&D in space, but also ESA’s Commercial Agent ISS Lab Ruhr ran a workshop “Space for Research and Innovation”, where the participants exchanged ideas about exploiting the International Space Station for their commercial purposes.
ESA also provided more in-depth information to the Life Sciences community at Bio-Square, the international trade fair taking place in parallel with BioVision. On the ESA booth at BioSquare, scientists from both ESA and the Commercial Agent instigated discussions with visitors to update them on applied research opportunities that exist on board the International Space Station for companies from the Life Sciences sector.
