Xi'an Special: Cutting-edge biotech in a Tang Dynasty atmosphere

Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone has attracted a range of competitive enterprises.[Photo/China Daily]

World DNA and Genome Day was celebrated in Xi'an, capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, on April 25, attracting more than 1,500 scientists and 10 Nobel Prize winners.

Highlights on opening day included a Nobel laureates' forum, a symposium with foreign experts and the third international expo for biotech products and equipment.

The four-day event held in the Qujiang International Conference and Exhibition Center also included six professional conferences on genetic engineering and industrial biotechnology.

More than 100 seminars were held and over 1,000 professional papers presented.

Touted as the Olympics of international genetics and biotechnology, the event attracted more than 2,500 participants from 59 countries ranging from biologists, pharmacists and educators to entrepreneurs, government officials and NGO representatives.

Senior executives from 10 biopharmaceutical companies that rank among the top 500 global enterprises were invited to discuss the future of genetics and biotechnology.

The Nobel Prize winners in chemistry, physics and medicine gave science lectures to students at Xi'an Jiaotong University and Xi'an Shiyou University.

They also paid a visit to major pharmaceutical companies in the Xi'an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone in a bid to strengthen academic exchanges and cooperation.