Qatar National Research Fund

In 1997, a movie called Gattaca hit the screens and got everyone talking about what life would be like if you could predict a person’s future based on their genes. The ethical implications of precise genetic prediction would be massive, as babies would be judged harshly before birth. Research has come a long way since the 90s, however, and Gattaca is now more comic than compelling.

Qatar is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. At the heart of the vision for the country's development is a decreased dependence on natural resources and an increased reliance on a knowledge economy. This vision demands much in terms of aligning infrastructure to support education and research. But more than that, it demands the right people to bring, discover and transfer knowledge. Attracting them is one thing, retaining them is another. For the first time, a researcher in Qatar is putting Doha under the microscope to make suggestions about its development.