Dr. Wendell Lim of the University of California, San Francisco (USCF) Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, shares his experience with the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition, a “Biotechnology Olympics” that brings together teams of students whose challenge is to design and build a novel genetically engineered system that carries out a useful function. The projects that have emerged from iGEM rival those of professional research laboratories and biotechnology companies in sophistication, and frequently exceed them in innovative thinking. Dr. Lim discusses how this innovative contest foreshadows new ways in which biology could be taught, practiced, and applied in the future.

Dr. Chad Boult and his team have created a new model of comprehensive health care, called Guided Care, which targets people living with multiple chronic conditions, the typical high-cost Medicare beneficiaries. His plan is based on the simple premise that a patient’s “care plan” is well coordinated, and patients and families are involved in and educated about the care plan. Guided Care is based on the simple notion that one trained professional should guide all aspects of care, uniting the patient, the family, and the medical team.

There is an ecology of interacting laws, regulations and institutions that are intended to support innovation – a traditional strength of the U.S. Unfortunately, the current elements of that ecology were designed a long time ago for the technologies that existed at that time and are not well suited to the technologies of today and tomorrow. This talk explores the nature of the problem and some possible solutions.