Delegates from as far away as Japan and Europe and from all over Latin America met under the aegis of the Mexican branch of Mouvement Universel pour la Responsibilite Scientifique (MURS), the Universal Movement For Scientific Responsibility. This group looks to involve scientists in the public debate on topics ranging from bioethics to nanotechnology, believing that free inquiry should be matched by a responsible deployment of technology.
Continuing the role that he had successfully played at the meetings of the COMEST and the international conference on the Ethics And Social Responsibilities Of Science And Technology held at Alexandria 19-21 October 2002, Ismail Serageldin was very active in this conference. Serageldin, who is also the president of MURS International, delivered "the Magisterial Lecture" for the proceedings, a highlight of the conference. He held the audience spellbound as he flashed hundreds of pictures and spun webs of complicated issues with remarkable clarity. Many of the participants felt a renewed commitment to the task at hand as a result of that lecture. It is hoped that more MURS branches will emerge in Latin America after this conference.