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EDITORIAL 657

explosion of the biological sciences. For generations, is important to focus on educating future innova-
the attitude in science was generally that everything tors about the patent process. To that end, there is
must be shared through publications, and the first a nascent InvenTeams initiative for high school stu-
to publish was and often still is the hero. The rise dents, which needs further development, and we
in technical application of the biological discover- should also encourage broader adoption of national
ies fueled the need to patent. During the late 1980s Innovation Fairs, which are like the science fairs that
and 1990s, many universities struggled to develop have such a long history in our schools. Despite the
technology transfer offices, and the papers in this diversity of opinions and ideas expressed in this issue,
issue describe the ways in which they have sought to we all agree that we need to start with the youth and
be inclusive. This is hard when, in addition to their then support inventors throughout their careers.
normal workload, they need to foster a diverse group
of people. REFERENCES
I am also privileged to live a block from the patent 1. Haseltine FP, Chodos, M. “Why” vs. “what,” or
office, and I know that the patent examiners strug- “the bad penny opera”: gender and bias in science.
gle daily with these issues. To aid in their efforts Technol Innov. 2017;18(4):275-279.
and the efforts of others in supporting diversity, it