The Biotechnology Industry Organization Pacific Rim Summit on Biotechnology and Biofuels wrapped up on Friday. I would like to conclude my coverage of this conference by giving out a few undoGE awards for the best and the worst of what I saw.

undoGE awards:

Quote of the conference: BIO promotional video

Micro cells, really miniature industrial factories…

Runner-up: Christina Drake

Biotechnology is just chemistry

Least evil: Martin Bliemel, Simon Fraser University. Bliemel gave a presentation analyzing companies involved in nanotechnology, including the regions they operate in and the number of employees. He made no comment on the value of the technology, or any specific work done by any one company.

Most frightening job description: Christina Drake, Senior Research Engineer, Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control. Charged with the responsibility of integrating nanotechnology and biotechnology research.

Greatest oxymoron in a title: Tamas Torok, Staff Scientist, Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Worst argument: Christrian Morgen, Sr. Manager, Business Development, Inbicon A/S.

We have solved the food versus fuel debate because a biproduct of our process, c5-molasses, can be fed to cattle…we are currently searching of a suitable technology to convert c5-molasses to ethanol.

Best communicator: Drew Endy, Assistant Professor, Stanford Bioengineering & President of BioBricks Foundation. Endy spoke about his vision of the future of synthetic biology with such passion and conviction that one could not help but be convinced. His open and trustworthy nature was incredibly disarming, making it challenging to not buy into his vision.

To all those who tried out, great effort. The competition was tough, and unfortunately we cannot offer awards to each and every one of you. Better luck next year in Montreal.