World Stem Cell Summit Fuels Economy

Posted by Juan Carlos Fanjul/CBS 12 News

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla-- It may look like boring exhibits and the usual convention type crowds, but in this hall life-saving science is being talked about and big money will eventually make it into the local economy.

"Probably injecting over a million dollars in the local economy and it's a showcase for Palm Beach County," said event organizer Bernard Siegel.

Siegel says over 1,200 scientists from more than 40 countries are at the Palm Beach County Convention Center this week for the 8th annual World Stem Cell Summit.

With the opening of Max Planck this week and the continued growth of Scripps in northern Palm Beach County and Torrey Pines in Saint Lucie County, Siegel says this convention means a coming of age for the region's biotech sector.

"This is considered the largest meeting in the country and we have the top scientists," he added.

Claudia Zylberberg owns AKRON Biotech, a Boca Raton-based supplier of raw materials for stem cell therapy she started just a few years ago.

"I realized early on there was a lot of potential for growth and this turned out the right place to be," she said.

Doctor Joshua Hare leads the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute for the University of Miami and says he's noticed growth too.

"We don't have the critical mass of Baltimore or Boston and we would like to see that, but you are seeing the seeds of that right now," he said. World Stem Cell Summit Fuels Economy

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World Stem Cell Summit Fuels Economy