Susan Gasser, of Molecular Biology at the University of Basel and Director of the Friedrich Miescher Institut, wants to turn Basel into Europe’s reference point for life sciences.
Basel unites many strengths in life sciences: a strong university, strong industry and strong scientists. However, despite all this wealth, Basel has so far been lacking a big showcase for its life sciences. With a full week dedicated to Europe's excellence in life sciences, Basel Life aims to fill this gap. An interview with Susan Gasser, Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Basel, Director of the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) and Chair of the new conference Basel Life. Uni News: What was your motivation to establish a new life science conference? Susan Gasser: The idea has been fermenting for a long time and not just with me. For several years, different people had been exploring ideas for a scientific showcase for Basel. But the question was always what shape this should take. My colleagues and I felt that a scientific meeting of high impact was what Basel needed. But my motive wasn't just local but also European. The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) had decided not to continue their annual Europe-wide meeting. I thought that that was a shame. Europe too often takes the second seat to the U.S. regarding scientific questions, when in fact; our science is just as good. However, European scientists are less good at actual translation and risk-taking. I thus felt that it was essential to have a showcase not just for Basel but for European science and biomedical application at the same time. Together with the technology exhibition Miptec and the Innovation Forums for academic and industry researchers already taking place in the same week we came up with what is now called Basel Life. How does Basel Life manage to combine these aspects?
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