If Asia can focus its limited resources on translating such knowledge into real-life uses, so much the better. The Western near-monopoly on patents rankles, especially on products like medicine. And many of the researchers and entrepreneurs leading Asia into the technological future are academics and students trained in the West. As globalization advances through the Internet, peripatetic scientists and engineers, and border-straddling businesses, the national origins of knowledge are becoming irrelevant. Yet Asia's scientific lag does matter.
Science provides doorways into the future, and the doors to be opened are being chosen in the West.
Priorities are being determined, standards are being set with little input from Asia. To be part of the discussion, the region must become more scientifically competent. The need is more acute as the opportunities and problems we face become more grounded in science. They must be decided by the region's own governments and societies, and they require understanding of the scientific as well as the political, economic and social issues involved. Asian governments are keenly aware of the importance of science.