In June the annual BIO meeting returned to San Francisco, the city many would call the birthplace of biotechnology, and the pageantry was palpable. The world’s largest representative of the biotech industry was excited about showcasing the field’s accomplishments since 1995, when BIO last held its annual meeting in the city, and the 16,000-odd attendees swarmed the sessions and exhibit hall, drawn from one colorfully extravagant regional pavilion to another.