Governor

Governor’s Council convenes at Rice to discuss technology
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BY GREG OKUHARA
Rice News Staff

The Governor’s
Council on Science and Biotechnology Development gathered
on the Rice campus Sept. 13 to discuss issues that included
research funding, technology transfer and research collaboration
in Texas.

Rice President
Malcolm Gillis spoke to the council, which includes Rice’s
Richard Smalley, University Professor, the Gene and Norman
Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics,
and the presidents of several Texas state universities.
Gillis noted the strong overlap between nanotechnology and
bioengineering research at Rice and biotechnology research
at other Texas institutions, especially those in the Texas
Medical Center.

Gillis concluded
by saying there still is much to discuss with the advent
of new technology and information, but the dialogue is going
on at campuses across the nations, including Rice, and in
Congress.

“There is,
however, another side,” Gillis said. “A still
unresolved and complex welter of ethical — and perhaps
moral — issues raised by our fast-expanding capacities
in biotechnology. With the resolution of these issues, the
economic and social impact could be as profound and as positive
as wrought by any previous revolution in human history.”

Governor Rick
Perry created the Council on Science and Biotechnology Development
in January to help improve the transition of technology
from the laboratory to the marketplace.