| KEY FINDINGS |
| KEY NOTE SPEAKERS
Marianne J. Legato,
MD, FACP, Founder & Director,
Partnership for Gender Specific Medicine,
Columbia University
Edie Weiner,
President, Weiner, Edrich, Brown Inc. |
| ROUNDTABLES
Re-Defining Luxury
The Chronobiological
Imperative
The Profitability
Maze
Convergence in Biotech
|
| CLOSING
REMARKS |
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KEY NOTE SPEAKER
Marianne J. Legato,
MD, FACP Founder & Director, Partnership
for Women’s Health, Columbia University |
| |
“Women’s
health is not just breast physiology or breast
cancer and reproductive concerns. There are
essential important differences between men’s
and women’s body systems. Unfortunately,
when I speak about this at symposia, half
of the male doctors leave the room. They don’t
want to deal with the issue of women’s
health, and neither do the drug companies
or academic medical centers. Women’s
health is important and can have tremendous
value to men’s health. It is going to
take the voices of women, powerful women like
you, to drive this change in healthcare forward.” |
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The
Mystique of the Male Doctor: In
1900, the average age of death for women
was 48. Nutrition, sanitation, infectious
disease, and social and economic conditions
were the big issues, not hormones. Women
had no power, unless they were wealthy.
That’s why prostitution was so rampant,
and women made liaisons with men of power.
Fewer than five percent of women were in
the workforce above the level of nursemaid
or governess –the only respectable
position for them at the time.
There were no x-rays, blood counts, or antibiotics.
Physicians watched and listened to patients
and knew the course of disease. Subsequently,
they were seen as “profits”
with “mystical powers” for “predicting”
the progression and outcome of most diseases.
Thus began the mystique of the male doctor. |
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Changing
the Role and Status of Physicians:
During World War II, with few men at home,
women assumed roles of more importance in
our society. Sulfa and penicillin were invented.
We learned how to do plastic surgery on the
battlefields, to treat shock, to diagnose
hepatitis, and, with the introduction of the
atomic bomb, learned the power of science.
American science and feminism inevitably emerged
from the war. The National Institutes of Health
and academic medicine were also born, and
the doctor was seen as scientist. |
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Women’s
Health Takes Center Stage: In 1988,
the voices of lay women drove the public health
service to look at what was known about women’s
health. The result: more than two-thirds of
all diseases that affect both women and men
had only be researched in men. The assumption
was that any outcomes could be extrapolated
to women, because they were just smaller men.
There were four key reasons why: research
is cheaper when you have only a limited number
of subjects, men are more stable physiologically,
there’s no danger they’ll get
pregnant during the course of the research,
and women were “protected.” This
was again, a response to events of World War
II.
The Office of Research on Women’s Health
was introduced in 1993. Twenty-two Women’s
Health Equity Acts have been introduced and
money was and continues to be appropriated
for research. Women’s health has rocketed
into the national consciousness. There is,
however, a huge backlash against this, as
evidenced by the doctors who don’t attend
or walk out on conferences on this subject.
Women also find it difficult to ask questions
in their doctors’ offices. As a result,
they learn about their health at their own
pace, on the web, from close friends, etc.,
rather than facing the challenge of trying
to ask their doctors. |
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Gender
Specific Medicine: Increased awareness
of women’s health, evolved into Gender
Specific Medicine. This is the study of how
men’s and women’s normal body
functions differ and how they experience disease
differently. The differences between men and
women are body-wide. The study of women’s
health is critical – and not just for
women. Studying the body functions and experience
of disease in women is having a beneficial
effect on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases
in men. Women, doctors, and scientists are
asking questions we never would otherwise
have asked and making important discoveries.
|
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The Physiological
Differences Between Men and Women: |
|
|
Skeleton:
On a second-to-second basis, your muscles
signal your skeleton with their needs for
support, and the skeleton responds to the
pull of muscle. If you stop exercising, and
there is no muscular “back talk,”
the skeleton scales down its weight, and this
results in osteoporosis. In studying this
disease in women, we learned that the window
for building peak bone marrow ends at 20 for
women and 26 for men. |
|
|
Bones:
The architecture for bones in also quite different
in men and women. At the base of the thumb,
men have two articulating faces that are exactly
the same size and shape, so there’s
no wear and tear. Women don’t and frequently
experience pain at the base of their thumbs
as they age. Designers of keyboards and workstations
need to consider this. |
|
|
Muscle
Strength: Men have more muscle mass
than women and three times the power and activity
of their hamstrings in jumping and leaping
than women. Women use their quads to stabilize
their joints, have lax joints in the middle
of their menstrual cycle, and are more prone
to injuries at different times in their cycle. |
|
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Brains:
Men’s brains are 20 percent larger than
women’s, but women’s brains are
more sensitive to detecting changes in expression
or tone of voice, etc., and have more connections
between both sides. Negotiating three-dimensions
is easier for the male brain, but women can
activate multiple areas of their brains at
once, and men can’t. |
|
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Stress:
Estrogen, if it’s at a high concentration,
as it is mid-cycle, intensifies women’s
responses to stress, and makes the memory
of stress more accurate and painful. The Framingham
study was the first to look at the impact
of stress on women and men. It reported that
the women least likely to die of coronary
artery disease are unmarried, in control,
and feel rewarded emotionally and financially
in their careers. The women at the highest
risk of coronary artery disease are those
in pink collar jobs who can feel invisible
and bear primary responsibility for juggling
work, home, and family. |
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Hearts:
Women’s hearts beat faster and take
longer to relax between beats than men’s,
and this leaves us more vulnerable to lethal
arrhythmias. One in three women will suffer
from heart disease by age 60 and will experience
this disease and respond to the treatments
differently than men. |
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Pain Response:
Men and women are socialized to respond to
pain differently. Women do, however, have
more long fibers that carry messages of pain
to the upper parts of the body, and, as a
result, pain is referred differently than
it is for men. That’s why some drug
trials on women and men are stopped for women
and continue for men. |
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The Immune
System: Women have a more vigorous
immune system, but this can work against us.
Because of the intensity of the anti-bacterial
response we mount, we’re more likely
to have lasting sequels of some diseases and
take longer to recover. It takes a much lower
dose of inoculums to infect women with HIV
or AIDS. Women present with intractable severe
pelvic and yeast infections; men with pneumonia.
Women with multiple infections; men with a
single infection. |
| |
The GI
Tract: Food takes a third longer
to leave women’s stomachs and pass through
the GI Tract than it does for men. We only
have about one-fifth of the enzyme that breaks
down alcohol in the stomach as men. The composition
of women’s saliva is different, and,
during our menstrual period, the sugar content
of our saliva increases nine fold. Women’s
Lepton levels – the hormones that tell
us when we are full from eating – are
higher. |
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Respiratory:
Women are four times more likely to develop
lung cancer from cigarette smoking. |
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Hormones:
All we know about hormone replacement therapy
is the negative outcome of one study on one
preparation. Our knowledge on birth control
pills is also limited. We know nothing about
any of the benefits of these therapies, and
it’s not likely we will. Hormone studies
are very expensive. It’s not likely
that another drug company will want to report
such negative findings on their product. Also,
women need to be followed for many years.
That means testing on younger women. This
is always problematic. Young women, able to
get pregnant, cannot participate in drug testing
and clinical trials. However, while hormones
may not be a cure for menopause, they may
be an antidote to aging, and, if studies were
undertaken, we might discover that men would
profit from supplemental testosterone. |
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KEY NOTE SPEAKER
Edie Weiner,
President, Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Inc.
"FIVE TRENDS THAT WILL IMPACT OUR FUTURE" |
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“We look
at the trends and hope that our future is
going to turn out a certain way. But hope
is not a strategy. Hoping doesn’t change
anything. If you hear trends or ideas or policies
that you like or don’t like, act on
that response; just do it. Because there is
only one way to access power in this world
and that is to take and do with it what you
believe is right.” |
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WATER |
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Water shortages
exist, are imminent. The availability and
ownership of water poses strategic concerns
equivalent to those surrounding oil. There
are 1.1 billion people without access to clean
water, and global warming can cause further
water contamination. About 80 percent of preventable
diseases in developing countries are a result
of contaminated drinking water, and it is
the major reason behind the refugee crisis.
Approximately 50 percent of all available
fresh water is used every year. Although technology
has decreased water usage by industry and
agriculture in the U.S., growing cities and
suburbs have increased usage. The CIA has
forecast that the world could witness major
conflicts over access to clean water as early
as 2015. |
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THE CLASH
OF CIVILIZATIONS |
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The Young
vs. The Old: The U.S., New Zealand,
and Iceland are the only three developed countries
with replacement populations for their older
people. The U.S. has Generation Y –
thanks to immigration. Throughout the Middle
East and the southern hemisphere, there are
enormous populations of young people. Many
are well-educated, but have little hope or
opportunity. They see people in other regions
with freedoms and possession they cannot access.
This disparity is feeding into terrorist movements,
ideological conflicts, and fundamentalism,
and western culture is increasingly in conflict
with non-western belief systems.
Modernity vs. Anti-modernity:
The struggles between those who want to move
into the future and those who don’t
are intensifying. Fundamentalism of every
stripe and religion is on the increase. Fundamentalists
are clinging to things they believe are true
as the rest of the world marches into a new
century. There is no win or lose in this conflict.
The issue is: how will this conflict and tension
impact our psyches, our productivity, our
choices, and, therefore, our futures. |
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NANO-TECHNOLOGY |
| |
Nano is a billionth;
a nano-meter a billionth of a meter, a measurement
at the molecular level. This is huge in the
world of quantum – or subatomic –
levels. Nanotechnology will enable the replacement
of cells in the body, the manufacture of process
materials, molecular robots, molecular computers,
the marriage of DNA to materials, and it will
eventually enable manufacturing of almost
everything at the consumer level. |
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THE ACCELERATION
OF HUMAN EVOLUTION |
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Anthropologists
will look back on the last 25 years as a major
point in the evolution of the human species.
We are full into the era of the man/machine
interface. People have artificial body parts.
Some people can’t function without a
PDA, cell phone, or beeper. We are becoming
media-bots – media on two legs. Even
in apparently homogeneous countries like Japan,
we are moving toward inter-racialism. Human
procreation in the laboratory is further accelerating
our evolution, so is our 24/7 lifestyle. |
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BOREDOM |
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Boredom accelerates
with each succeeding year. Because of our
hyper-busy lifestyles and the resulting boredom,
we stink at leisure. Even on vacation, we’re
looking for something to do. The upside is
that boredom is driving us to invent new things
and to solve problems. The things we do to
overcome boredom will shape our future. |
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|
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ROUNDTABLE
RE-DEFINING LUXURY |
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“Luxury is
all about imagery. As luxury brands drive
for volume, and they have to in order to grow,
they have to go down to the mass market. There’s
more money there, but there’s also the
risk that they’ll violate what the brand
stands for. Tiffany’s has done an excellent
job of maintaining their luxury image while
attracting a larger segment of the market.”
Cynthia Cohen, President Strategic Mindshare |
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“We are destroying
the planet. Purity – pure water and
air – is becomingly increasingly scarce.
Few of us are getting enough sleep or have
enough time to take care of ourselves. Safety,
security, and privacy are priceless. People
don’t want to be empowered anymore.
They want more time; they want to feel safe;
and they want things that are authentic and
pure. This is the new luxury, and the smart
manufacturers will provide access to these
intangibles.” Linda Stone, former VP,
Corporate & Industry Initiatives, Microsoft,
and Managing Director, Linda Stone LLC |
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“There
is a contradiction between people wanting
customized services and wanting to preserve
their privacy. If individuals have the right
to choose the information contained in personal
profiles and are assured that their information
is safeguarded, there is no obstacle to
developing personalized databases. Trust
is the currency in the new economy, and
the companies that develop close and respectful
relationships with their consumers will
gain the competitive advantage.” Ann
Cavoukian, PhD, Commissioner, Information
& Privacy Commission/Ontario |
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Luxury goods and
services are both mass market and high-end.
The manufacturers of luxury goods have created
this situation. Luxury brands need to grow
to make money. This requires them to broaden
their customer base. It also presents risks
A luxury brand has to stand for something
– limited access, expensive, fine quality.
|
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Luxury isn’t
about amassing stuff. It’s not about
excess. Luxury is defined as a substantive
aesthetic pleasure, something extremely rare
that one person can have and another can’t,
and we all covet what we can’t have.
This exclusivity is what drives the luxury
goods and services industry. |
| |
More women are
buying luxury goods, particularly at the entry
level price point, because they have less
time and more complicated lives. The Hermes
handbag, for example, is the reward for long
hours at work, or it is a replacement for
the positive feedback and pleasure they don’t
get from their families. |
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Since women are
often the caretakers at work and at home,
luxury can be defined as freedom from burdens.
For the J.C. Penney’s customers, as
the current advertising shows, luxury is time
to leave the kids at home with dad while she
goes shopping. |
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In the travel industry,
luxury is very personal. It’s about
the special touches, but even more so, it’s
all about the experience, access, and recognition.
The rich, and their numbers are increasing,
want to arrive at a destination with reservations
at all the exclusive places where it is impossible
to get a reservation. |
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Healthcare is a
new luxury industry. Good health – and
access to the tools and people that can help
us to maintain good health: body scans, massages,
the top doctors, etc. – is status. Luxury
is paying to see the doctor of your choice
at a moment’s notice versus waiting
to get an appointment with a doctor participating
in your health insurance plan – and
it’s the ability to buy medical care
to maintain youth. |
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Celebrity endorsements
attract aspirational consumers to luxury products.
The celebrity embodies qualities that are
identified with the brand he or she endorses
and a particular lifestyle, and the consumer
buys the dream of living that lifestyle. Smart
marketers carefully select celebrities because
negative press about a celebrity will reflect
negatively on a brand. |
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ROUNDTABLE
THE CHRONOBIOLOGICAL
IMPERATIVE |
| |
“Women are
moving up the corporate or professional ladder,
but they also are not staying in these positions
for a long time. Under stress, women seek
out other women for support. The further up
the ladder you climb, the fewer women you
find. There’s no network of support,
and this can be very unhealthy. Plus, women
in predominately male work environments develop
a male flight or fight response and along
with that lose all the benefits of estrogen.
Women need networks of women. It’s important
to our professional and personal success and
physical well-being.” Laura Cousino
Klein, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral
Health, Pennsylvania State University |
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“The same
proteins that help us have rhythmic digestive
systems and sleep/wake cycles are also responsible
for regulating the growth of cells. And regulating
the growth of cells is important in preventing
pre-cancerous cells from becoming cancer.
When we mess with our biological clocks and
don’t get enough sleep, we are messing
with the growth of cells and that will have
a major impact on human life.” Dr. Leslie
Vosshall, Assistant Professor & Head of
The Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior,
Rockefeller University |
| |
“We have
to be busy all the time. If we come home from
work after a very stressful day, and we have
responsibilities at home, and we haven’t
slept enough the previous night, we eat to
stay awake. So we pop something in our mouths
or have a very large meal in order to de-stress.
Then, we continue doing what we have to do.
This is particularly true for women because
we think we have to do much more than men.”
Cathy Nonas, RD, Director, VaItallie Center
for Nutrition & Weight Management, St.
Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center
|
| |
Chronobiology
maps our biological rhythms. It reflects
changes that occur in our social and biological
clocks – how long we will be adolescents,
how long we will be able to bear children,
how long we will be in retirement, etc.
It’s also about the daily rhythms
of our life – how long we sleep, our
stress levels, etc. We are moving away from
the traditional chronobiological imperative
and breaking the connection between our
body clocks and nature. |
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Thanks to cell
phones, laptops, and PDAs, we have the capacity
to be in 14 places at once. This has a very
deleterious effect on people’s relationships.
When the boundaries between work and personal
life blur, you have interfered with human
time. That’s the time we need to process
all the things that happen, the choices we
have to make, and the conflicts in life. |
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Human and animal
studies have proven that women and men have
very different “fight or flight’
responses. Under stress women turn to each
other, affiliate with one another, seek
social support, and talk. This “tend
and befriend response” is triggered
by the hormone Oxytocin. Under stress, Oxytocin
helps to decrease blood pressure, heart
rate, and feelings of anxiety and depression.
The affects of Oxytocin are enhanced in
the presence of estrogen. Women, by affiliating
with one and other, can, in fact, improve
our health. |
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Men experience
anger as a momentary burst that dissipates
immediately. It takes women longer to process
and resolve conflicts. Their stress hormone
response diminishes as they talk about it.
When men revisit an angry moment, their hormone
response is the same as it was the first time
the event occurred. |
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Women are much
more susceptible to social isolation than
men. Women at the top feel this isolation
acutely. Plus, when women leave work and
go home, their stress levels are more elevated
than those of men. That’s because
they have the responsibilities of their
jobs and their home. |
| |
There is a universal
need for all animals and plants to be synchronized
to the earth’s day/night rhythms. It’s
extremely important for human health and animal
health that we are in synch with the outside
world. In our hyperactive society, that is
very difficult, and, in the future, we are
likely to see sharp declines in cognitive
skills and productivity.. Sleep deprivation
has profound physical and emotional ramifications. |
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There is no other
species curtailing rest or sleep time. There
is no other species living in a state of constant
heightened alertness as we are. There is no
other species trying to sleep against the
natural light/dark cycle. We’re not
hard-wired for any of this – not one
of our 35,000 genes – and sleep is not
a luxury. It is required for life. |
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The recommended
normal amount of sleep is eight hours a night.
Since 1965, Americans have curtailed their
sleep by about two hours a night. Sleep loss
is a risk factor for weight gain, hypertension,
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression.
Plus, sleep is an extremely important modulator
of our hormones. Some hormones are secreted
exclusively when we sleep. |
| |
The “Sleep
DEP” Study restricted sleep to 4 hours
per night for six nights for some very healthy,
fit young adults. Then, sleep was extended
to 12 hours a night for six nights. After
one week of sleep restrictions, blood tests
were taken on the subjects, and the results
were consistent with a pre-diabetic condition.
Lepton levels of the test subjects were also
low – the equivalent of under-feeding
by 1,000 calories a day – and they craved
high carbohydrate and high fat snacks. |
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Today, Marilyn
Monroe would be in obesity treatment. The
issues of health and ideal body image have
changed dramatically over the last 40 years.
We have confused health and body image, beauty,
stress, life, and food. Over the last 20 years,
the Miss America competition has been won
17 times by the thinnest contestant. Recently,
the World Health Organization announced that
most female celebrities and models are at
a weight that would be considered malnourished.
|
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A reduction in
estrogen causes a thickening around the waist,
slows the metabolism, and reduces the benefits
of Oxytocin. If food intake is not adjusted,
there will be a gain in weight, sometimes
extreme. Reductions in Oxytocin change our
ability to deal with stress and our interactions
with others, and over-eating can become a
replacement for our strained relationships
– a self-soothing activity. Massage,
exercise, yoga, and other relaxation techniques
increase Oxytocin. Alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes,
and stress deplete this hormone. |
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Behavioral issues
are the root cause of obesity. STARBUCKS has,
for example, become an activity in our day;
a reward to our long hours of hard work and
no time for ourselves. However, one mochaccino
and a pastry has more than 1,000 calories
– nearly a full day’s caloric
requirement. |
| |
Sixty-five percent
of people today are overweight. This has happened
over the last 15-20 years. Portion sizes have
increased. Our lives have become much more
sedentary. We don’t eat enough vegetables
or fruit, but we’re always sticking
things in our mouth. This is an epidemic which
will explode within the next 5-10 years. |
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The secrets to
a healthy life are: eat vegetables, sleep
longer, work less, quit smoking, enjoy downtime
– time to think about yourself and the
issues you face in life, form very solid relationships,
exercise, reduce stress, and live longer. |
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ROUNDTABLE
THE PROFITABILITY
MAZE |
| |
“Profitability
over the last few decades was the result of
supply chain innovations and efficiencies.
That has changed. The next decade is going
to be consumer-centric, and the companies
that succeed will need to be very knowledgeable
about their customers.” Vicky Eng, Partner,
Deloitte & Touche |
| |
“Marketing
is cutting-edge when it leads consumers into
changing their behavior. It’s important
to listen and understand and fill customer
needs. The real opportunities arise when we
look at trends, shifts, and patterns, and
lead with products and services that anticipate
or create new needs.” Vance Williams
LaVelle, Chief Marketing Officer, the PNC
Financial Services Group |
| |
“I look at
customers in terms of how they learn, how
they buy, and how I serve them. Then, I look
at all these factors from a revenue perspective
– how can I leverage customer relationships
to drive top revenue growth. Then I look at
them from a cost perspective – how can
I make each transaction more efficient. In
a large organization, this can save and generate
millions.” Maura C. Breen, Senior Vice
President & Chief Marketing Officer, Verizon
Retail Markets |
| |
Consumers are
more discerning about how, why, on what, and
with whom they spend their money. It’s
tougher to make a good product, get a good
marketer, and sell it. In the information
era, attention is the monetary unit, and it’s
getting harder to get the consumer’s
attention. |
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In some industries,
the model for attracting and retaining customers
and turning a profit has changed dramatically. |
| |
Telecommunications
used to be a product-focused business. Now
it’s all about understanding the customer
in order to grow revenues. That has changed
the way companies advertise, the press they
generate, the products they develop, the promotions
they offer. |
| |
Travel has become
a transaction-oriented business. People want
the best customized service and the great
experiences, and they want it at the lowest
possible price. For this reason, the Internet
has been good and bad for the business. Successful
travel companies extract the maximum value
from every transaction, trying to generate
secondary sales. |
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Banking is now
a product- and experience-based business,
and selling is an exercise in branding. Banks
are responding to customer trends and becoming
consumer destinations. |
| |
Insurance was always
a sales and service business. Now, companies
have to market, to gather customer information,
to be trusted financial advisors, and to provide,
or at least quarterback in order to provide,
a full-range of financial products and services.
When you’re handling people’s
money, they expect a relationship. |
| |
Discount stores
achieved profitability through supply chain
efficiencies. When there’s unlimited
market share, this can be a successful strategy.
But when every retailer is competing on price,
it can lead to bankruptcy. Customer knowledge,
smart merchandising, and targeted marketing
is essential. |
| |
In every industry,
the basics of getting to profitability still
apply: building a brand correctly, designing
it correctly, identifying the appropriate
distribution channel, ensuring that it sells
at retail, and leveraging brand equity. |
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A brand cannot
be all things to all people. Understanding
and segmenting your customers by demographics,
by the type of products they buy, by the amount
of money they spend , and by their aspirations
or unmet needs is key. Knowledge of the customer
will translate into customer-driven strategies,
products, services, pricing strategies, into
branding experiences, repeat sales, and, ultimately,
profitability. |
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Data warehousing
and mining– gathering, saving, and learning
from consumer data – makes it easier
to understand how and why customers buy and
to target to very specific customer needs.
Permission-based marketing involves the consumer
in partnership with the vendor. It’s
based on respect, engaging them in a relationship,
and gathering and providing them with information
for which they perceive they have a real need.
Wal-Mart mined consumer data to learn that
men were buying diapers. Tired wives were
sending husbands to buy the diapers. Wal-Mart
stocked the beer and chips near the diapers,
and the sales of beer and chips increased
dramatically. |
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It is increasingly
difficult for companies to reach the customers
they want the most. Consumers can block advertising,
telemarketing calls, and eliminate Internet
tracking technologies. Marketing and relationship-building
must, therefore, be very cutting-edge. |
| |
Banks are capitalizing
on the post-September 11th renewed focus on
“traditions” and community. PNC
turned bank branches into Holiday Open Houses,
had cookies, carols, and events. As a result,
December, usually an extremely slow month,
was their top month that year. |
| |
Know your company’s
core competencies and best-in-class capabilities.
If certain capabilities do not exist in your
organization and it would be too costly to
bring them in-house, partner with other organizations
that are expert in these areas. Go with your
specialties and build alliances for other
expertise. |
| |
When a company
or industry is locked in one model, profitability
stops. Look beyond your industry and enterprise
to different models. Transform yourself into
another profitability cycle. This can involve
co-branding, building alliances, expanding
globally, adding new channels of distribution,
etc. |
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ROUNDTABLE
CONVERGENCE IN BIOTECH |
| |
“The journal
Biotechnology recently posed the question:
is biotechnology going to be the next dot-com?
I think the answer is yes. Yes, there are
trials underway. Yes, the textile industry
is manufacturing fabrics with medicinal purposes,
and the cosmetics industry is introducing
estrogen patches that look like jewelry. But
we don’t yet know what many of the proteins
recently discovered actually do.” Adele
L. Boskey, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry,
Weill Medical College of Cornell University |
| |
“The privacy
and security issues surrounding biotechnology
are huge. In 1972, an article in Scientific
American suggested that we begin a discussion
about the ethics surrounding gene splicing
and stem cell research. Well, 30 years later,
that discussion hasn’t even begun. So,
here we are at a critical juncture without
a global, ethical compact or societal consensus
to guide us.” Deborah Hurley, Senior
Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer, Public
Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University |
| |
Biotech is here.
It’s now. It’s the convergence
of advanced information/ communication technologies
and traditional sciences, including: chemistry,
biology, genetics, bio-information, business
technology, bio-engineering, nanotechnology,
agriculture, food, house wares, household
cleansers, architecture, and construction,
etc., etc. Studies like the human genome project
would be possible without highly sophisticated
communications technologies. |
| |
Virtually every
company will be involved in some aspect of
biotechnology. Purina, for example, studies
canine and feline genomes to develop pet food.
They also share research with scientists doing
human studies because 98 percent of animal,
human, and vegetable genomes are the same. |
| |
Next generation
household cleaning products now combine plant-derived
ingredients and essential oils to produce
a beautiful and effective product, that’s
also petroleum and anti-bacterial-free. Cosmetic
companies partner with, for example, pharmaceutical
and concrete companies to find the best science
and materials to create lightweight, effective
products and improved delivery methods. |
| |
Regulations are
crafted around a societal consensus or discussion.
Right now, we could learn a lot from the research
that has already been done – our genetic
structure, risk factors for diseases, the
way we metabolize drugs – but, there’s
so much concern and angst about how this information
is going to be used that we can’t move
forward. |
| |
Cloning full-grown
sheep is just playing around. It’s manipulation,
not controlled scientific experimentation,
and the outcomes of full cloning have not
been successful. However, clones could teach
us something about biology and treatment of
disease. Most of the discussions about this,
as part of Genetically Modified Food or Organism
debate and in the U.S., are, unfortunately,
not rational discussions. |
| |
A lot of oversight
agencies and fundamentalists are ranting and
raving about cloning and stem-cell issues
that are pure fantasy. There is need for ethical
guidelines, but if we limit science and do
not allow the research in the United States,
it will move overseas. Once it is out of our
borders, we will have less ethical control
and lose our scientific edge. |
| |
Many people are
opposed – militantly opposed –
to bio-engineered foods. Customers are also
very savvy about the ingredients that go into
food, drug, cleaning, and cosmetic products.
People want to know the origins of the ingredients
being used to bio-engineer foods, cosmetics,
and drugs, and the demand for this information,
which is already strong throughout Europe
and Africa, is going to increase. |
| |
The human/non-human
divide is blurring. People and government
agencies aren’t only concerned about
how bio-engineered foods will impact humans,
but how they will impact the food chain and
the environment. Some companies, like Purina,
are tracking customer communications to understand
the ingredients that are an issue and addressing
this in their manufacturing process. |
| |
The scientific
and medical communities have a responsibility
to keep people appropriately informed, to
communicate if a drug test was conducted by
the company marketing the drug, for example.
People also have a responsibility to step
up and go public about drugs or products that
do not deliver the results promised in the
marketing or product literature or media coverage.
|
| |
Biotechnology will
help us to address some of the human health
problems and will impact our day-to-day lives.
Right now, because of privacy and ethics issues,
most of these technologies are way ahead of
what people are ready to accept. In the future,
however, biotechnology will result in advances
like |
| |
o Embedded circuitry in textiles. our
t-shirts will become wearable advertising
and messenger bags will have GPS systems.
o Cosmetics will have biosensors that
read changes in the skin to keep us more
comfortable and beautiful.
o We’ll have ingestible and self-adjusting
insulin pumps and devices that will communicate
wirelessly with our doctors or the police,
and drugs will be customized to each patient.
o Tracking chips will help us to locate
and keep in touch with for pets, children,
and cars.
o Gene studies will allow us to identify
disease risk factors and prevent illness
before it occurs.
o Smart technologies and service will
free people from repetitive and boring
work and tedious household chores.
o New prosthetic devices – including
artificial retinas – will free people
from disabilities.
o Communication devices will shrink in
size, and we’ll be in constant touch
with each other in ways we can only imagine.
o Manufacturing will be cleaner and more
environmentally friendly.
o As the number of mechanical interactions
in our life increase, handmade objects
or crafts like pottery and macramé
will become more valued.
|
| |
| |
CLOSING REMARKS
Maura
C. Breen, Senior Vice President &
Chief MArketing Officer, Verizon Retail Markets |
| |
“The trends
we discussed today pose really interesting
issues for all of us in terms of how they
will impact our personal lives. As women business
leaders, we have to think about how we will
approach these issues and possibly implement
some of the ideas we discussed today. They
will have far-reaching effects on our employees
and the future of our companies.” |
| |
“Thank
you for inviting me and for the luxury of
time with so many remarkable women. Thank
you, Amy for including me on the panels;
Deloitte & Touche, for sponsoring this
program; and the Committee of 200 for your
support.” |
