[January 19, 2011] Speaker: Technology key for area Tweet MENOMONIE, Jan 19, 2011 (The Leader-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- By the year 2025 a medical diagnosis may require little more than some saliva on a microfluid chip in your smart phone. G. Steven Burrill, CEO and founder of Burrill & Co., has been involved in the development of biotechnology for more than 40 years. Using a cell phone for analysis makes sense, he said. "More people have access to cell phones than clean water," he said. Currently, when a patient has an episode or illness, tests are done to determine the cause and a treatment is determined. A decade from now, Burrill said medicine will not be illness-oriented but based on a wellness approach. "We can begin treating disease preemptively," he said. "We are moving from one-size-fits-all medicine to personal medicine." People are going to get care and medicines at local shopping centers rather than clinics, he said. "We're going to live in a world where health care is delivered at Walmart," Burrill said. Looking into the future is how Dunn County needs to approach economic development, Burrill said, speaking Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation. Entrepreneurs need to think about business 10 to 20 years in the future, he said. Technology must be embraced and global markets tapped, not feared, said Burill, who noted China is creating a city of 1 million people every two weeks. "China is leading the world in research growth," Burrill said. "The consequence of getting behind the innovation curve is massive. We're already doing that. Don't fear China, India or Russia; partner with them." Companies need to hire visionaries who think about tomorrow and plan for surprises or problems, he said. The biggest challenges facing the world, not including terrorism, are global climate change, the lack of clean water, energy and food scarcity, and health care reform, Burrill said. "Underneath all that biology is going to provide all the answers," he said. "New technology will allow us to solve all the global problems. We have to do that in the next 20 years." Dunn County EDC director Christopher Smith said during the meeting that inquiries from businesses about the county more than doubled in 2010, to 84 from 33 in 2009. The first week in January had seven such inquiries. Smith also said he is retooling the EDC's website to provide information that isn't readily accessible by a Google search. Powers can be reached at 715-556-9018 or [email protected]. To see more of The Leader-Telegram or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.leadertelegram.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]