The Association of Biotechnology Communicators (AcB) held the BioComunica conference at the Madrid Science Park (PCM) on Friday, December 11.
The Conference addressed different areas of the biotechnology sector from the perspective of communication, with the participation of around twenty speakers. Throughout the day, new challenges faced by communicators and science popularizers were analyzed. 
The event was inaugurated by the president of AcB, Juan Pablo Ramírez, and the director of PCM, Alejandro Arranz, who emphasized the importance of making science interesting; something for which investing in its communication is very necessary.
Improving biotech messages that reach society
The conference revolved around how to improve communication in biotechnology. In this regard, the existence of a considerable lack of scientific and health education among citizens was lamented, and the need for good scientific specialization within journalism was emphasized. This double pressure presents situations of generating false expectations among the population on critical issues such as new treatments for currently incurable diseases. These assumptions must be avoided with more precise and rigorous headlines and messages.
While journalists must work on improving communication about biotechnology, companies and research centers, for their part, are becoming aware of the need to disseminate their work.
During the conference, examples were shown of companies and institutions where communication played an important role in seeking funding. Research centers that have implemented their own communication models to convey their work to society in the most successful way were also presented.
All of this leads to the belief that, although there is still much work to be done, interest in biotechnology is growing, and more and more media outlets and journalists are seeking specialization in the sector.
