It saves these countries money and time and it will bring the technology that much faster to farmers. Biosafety is also important from the donor s point of view. They know that any problems with biotechnology in Southeast Asia will adversely affect their business elsewhere. And so they are anxious to ensure that the technology is safely used and that the necessary biosafety infrastructure has been put in place. She s right.
Science is messy.
Most things don t work, and knowing where and why they don t work is very valuable to a scientist pursuing a similar project. The same point applies to an administrator learning about the ins and outs of preparing a biosafety field trial application. For those involved, the fellowships have been transforming experiences. Having seen what biotechnology can do, the Fellows return not just with new knowledge but with an enthusiastic determination to bring biotech s benefits to their country. Some of them have decided to become specialists in agricultural biotechnology.