As the U.S. Open golfers leave town, legions of biotech pioneers will repopulate area hotels June 17-20 when BIO International hosts a convention with an expected attendance about as large as the population of Coronado.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gen. Colin Powell will highlight Wednesday and Thursday luncheons, respectively, at the San Diego Convention Center. Biotech guru J. Craig Venter, who mapped the human genome and was on Time magazine's 2007 and 2008 list of 100 most influential people, also will appear. Venter, who runs a research institute in Maryland, is now opening one in La Jolla.
Star power also will come from Hollywood. Harrison Ford (a.k.a. Indiana Jones) will make Invitrogen's private reception the invitation to covet. Ford's appearance stems from his involvement with biodiversity conservation – not “crystal skulls.”
Event co-chairs Catherine Mackey, a Pfizer senior vice president, and Greg Lucier, CEO of Invitrogen Corp., describe the convention of 25,000 as the largest biotech gathering in the world.
