TRACK: International Challenges TITLE: Mobilizing Science To End Poverty in the Developing World DATE: Friday, February 17, 2006 TIME: 1:45 PM - 4:45 PM ORGANIZERS: Claude Fauquet, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden; Roger Beachy, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center   PARTICIPANTS:   * = invited, not yet confirmed. Per Pinstrup-Andersen (Speaker), Cornell University Crucial Role of the Food Economics in the Poor Countries Peter Raven (Speaker), Missouri Botanical Garden Agriculture and Deforestation, Population, and Biodiversity Carol Dahl (Speaker), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Harnessing Science and Technology to Meet the Grand Challenges in Global Health Claude Fauquet (Speaker), Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Science Is Required to Double Cassava Productivity Bruce Alberts (Speaker), University of California, San Francisco Building Strong Institutions for Science and Technology in Every Nation: Why and How? Jeffrey Sachs (Speaker), Columbia University A Year of Implementation: Next Steps Against Extreme Poverty AVAILABLE ABSTRACTS: No available abstracts. SYNOPSIS: Two billion people are considered to live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than U.S. $2 a day. They lack adequate access to nutritious food, safe water, health care, and education. Agriculture is the most important activity within the developing world and is a pivotal component for improved nutrition, health, and economic development. Technologies and products resulting from knowledge generated by science have revolutionized agriculture in the industrialized countries, reducing the cost of food and facilitating a greatly increased standard of living. Science capacity has also increased continuously to satisfy these needs, resulting in a concentration of knowledge in the North. It is time to divert resources toward building the science base required to benefit agriculture in developing countries; for example, how the power of modern genomics, proteomics, and biotechnology can improve crop productivity and alleviate pressure on biodiversity in developing countries. While the United States possesses the strongest capacity for science in the world, very few formal structures exist within this community to direct or fund research into agricultural issues specific to developing countries. As a result, incentives for U.S.-based scientists to engage in such activities remain low. Speakers will discuss how this situation can and must be changed to ensure that science and the knowledge it generates is harnessed to benefit the majority of the world’s people.