If attendance at trade shows is any indication of a discipline's health, then biotech is robust. This year's annual meeting of the US Biotech Industry Organization (BIO), held last month in San Diego, drew about 13,000 attendees, up about 1,000 over last year's total, with a greater representation of delegates from countries outside the United States.

And if attendance of protesters at trade shows is any indication of a discipline's acceptance by society, biotech still has a way to go. Although down from the estimated 1,500 demonstrators at last year's meeting, the California meeting still drew about 1,000 activists, protesting about everything from genetically modified food to embryonic stem-cell research.

Of course, neither measure alone provides a clear picture of the health of the biotech sector. According to BIO, there are now 1,200 biotech companies across the United States. But some perspective is in order. These companies' combined net worth is a fraction of the total pharmaceutical industry. Many have yet to bring a product to market, much less turn a profit.

The success of biotechnology — which means more jobs in research as well as applications for the basic science that the US government has invested in — may rely in part on acceptance by its potential customers. That includes protesters and the religious groups that question the use of the emerging applications, according to Carl Feldbaum, BIO president. “The costs to our industry and global society will only grow unless we work with these people to the fullest extent possible,” he told the meeting.

With cooperation and communication, the ratio between participants and protesters at future meetings will become increasingly skewed.