On July 08, the 10th European Congress on Biotechnology, held at the Congress Center "Palacio de Congresos" in Madrid, Spain, and organized by the Spanish Society of Biotechnology (SEBIOT) under the chairmanship of Prof. Rafael Mellado, opened its doors to more than 1200 participants from all over the world. In a series of plenary lectures, keynote speeches, scientific talks and poster discussions, important issues of biotechnology ranging from biochemical engineering to cloning, from biocatalysis to genome research and from microorganims to mammals were covered. When the congress closed on July 11, every participant could take home a load of new information and many new contacts.

At the beginning of the meeting, Prof. Pierre Crooy, President of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB), informed about a number of important changes within the EFB. At the General Assembly, held in the morning of July 08, new statutes were unanimously approved. This was a cheerful ending to two years of hard work by the Executive Board of the EFB, who had taken on the responsibility to work out and submit the new statutes. From now on, membership is no longer restricted to Learned Societies, but is also open to Universities, Institutes, Companies, NBAs and also Individuals. The Working Parties, for a long time the workhorses of the EFB, have changed into Sections, Task Groups or Working Groups. New Sections and Task Groups have already been formed or are under formation.

If you want to learn more about the new EFB or if you want to become a member, please see here...