Global approaches for a healthy world

Nowadays, every major summit of the world's leading economies inevitably draws thousands of protesters demonstrating against the negative effects of ‘globalization’. For those protesters, the word ‘global’ has become tainted. Indeed, if globalization means a monotony of culture or a monopoly of ownership of key resources or markets, then it is quite appropriate that banners are unfurled to promote diversity and competition in the world. But in the scientific world, increasing globalization can only be viewed as positive. We scientists frequently point to the fact that there are no barriers to knowledge and the exchange of information, and that we are players in a transparent and open enterprise, unimpeded by the time zone in which we work. We are global players and proud to be so.But when we move away from the mere exchange of information, this warm feeling of belonging to a global community soon dissipates. Waiting until information has been checked for possible commercial applications before sharing it is a just limitation. But denying scientists from certain countries, or worse still, certain cultures, access to research laboratories is a much more serious matter. Postdoctoral researchers from …