Most of Sunday will be a travel day to get to Chicago so the next time your hear from me I’ll be in the windy city. One of the 60+ press releases I’ve received on BIO 2006 is about “what’s new at BIO.” Well for me it will all be new since I’ve never been. I’m guessing that there’s some other newbies in the 18,000 plus expected to show up. But in case you’re a BIO veteran here’s what they say is new.
· Four new topics have been added to the list of breakout sessions: Devices and Diagnostics, Emerging Markets, Marketing, and Regenerative Medicine.
· Three new specialty pavilions in the BIO2006 Exhibit Hall which offer a unique set of exhibits. The specialty areas are: Food and Agriculture, Industrial and Environment, and Supplier and Service Providers.
· “Innovative Solutions for Translational Research,” a new program sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Discussion of case studies of internal and external entities established to provide resources, assistance, and acceleration in translational research and/or the commercialization of university discoveries.
· The exhibit hall at BIO 2006 will be the largest gathering of biotechnology exhibitors in history, including more than 1,600 companies, organizations and institutions representing every aspect of the biotechnology industry. With 176,000 net square feet of exhibit space, the hall is approximately the size of three football fields.
Three football fields. I guess I had better put on my walking shoes. Sounds like I won’t need an extra workout.
AgWired coverage of BIO 2006 is made possible by: 
Talk about getting the word out in advance. I guess this show is so big you’ve got to start working on it over a year out. Shelley Khal, chairman of the World Ag Expo Media Committee, has been named 2008 
A report from Ipsos Reid shows most Canadians will support extreme measures to contain the threat of a human pandemic resulting from avian influenza. With many experts predicting H5N1 Avian Flu could reach North America by this fall, a survey of 16 hundred Canadians conducted earlier this month, as part of a tracking study of attitudes toward the issue, found six in ten Canadians have concerns about the virus.
I’ve been meaning to follow up on a 
If you’re not “horsey” then you might not have heard about the fact that a couple of horses were cloned recently and seem to be doing very well. They’re the result of a collaborative effort between 
It’s all going to be here on AgWired too. I’ll be blogging the 
The biggest news though is that my coverage is being sponsored by 
I just had to post this because of the picture. We just sent out a 
ARF stands for 
High speed internet access in the countryside just keeps growing and USDA’s rural development assistance program is helping make that happen once again. This time three loans totaling $43.7 million were announced to provide broadband service to an estimated 41,000 rural households and businesses in four states. I would have to believe that some of those folks are farmer wouldn’t you?