This year began with commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Orphan Drug Act, the landmark law that has helped encourage the development of drugs and biologics for rare and hard-to-treat diseases. In October, BIO applauded the passage of legislation that improves the investment climate for many biotech companies that have not yet attained profitability by allowing them to more quickly utilize existing tax credits. Also in the second half of 2008, the industry celebrated a USDA report that revealed widespread adoption of biotech corn, cotton and soybean varieties by farmers in the U.S., as well as news that Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers had created several disease-specific stem lines through the iPS technique. Both developments are expected to have major implications in coming years. In November, BIO offered its congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama after his election victory. The association noted that by working with government officials at all levels, "we can implement the public policies necessary to help heal, fuel, feed and clean our nation."

This year's conferences took BIO members to Tokyo for the BIO-Asia Partnering Conference; to Chicago for the 2008 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing; to San Diego for the BIO International Convention; and, most recently, to San Francisco for the BIO Investor Forum 2008. It has been an exciting and eventful year.

And now, here's what was most important to you in 2008.