Translation
Malaysia´s proud achievements in the biotechnology industry today are a testament to the efforts of local experts and scientists who have been working to develop the field. Biotechnology is a branch of technology that is effective and responsible for the biological revolution we witness today.
Biotechnology is a technique that utilizes living organisms or part of it to produce or modify products, increase the quality of plants and animals, and produce microorganisms for specific purposes. The combination of biotechnology and other kinds of technology can address existing problems in agriculture such as insufficient food production for the world´s population, especially in developing countries.
In this country, the support given by the government through the establishment of a complete information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure has also aided the success of the biotechnology industry. Most of the research and development (R&D) activities in the field of biotechnology is now being conducted in the public sector. In order to introduce and coordinate biotechnology activities in the public sector, the National Biotechnology Directorate (BIOTEK) was established. Aside from the two important tasks mentioned, BIOTEK also promotes public and private sector participation as well as public awareness on the importance of biotechnology in global society.
At present, the total sale of biotechnology in the world´s market is worth between US$250 million to US$1 billion every year. Agricultural production is expected to supply food for the world´s population, which is expected to increase to 8000 million by the year 2020. From that number, 6,700 million come from developing countries. At the national level, seven categories of biotechnology are the country´s focus for development. The seven categories are molecular biology, plant biology, animal biology, medical biology, environmental and industrial biology, biopharmacy, and food biotechnology. BIOTEK has also established National Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Network, which are ICT networks to promote sharing of knowledge and information among the biotechnology community. To date, Malaysia has successfully produced 10 biotechnological products and two of them have been commercialized, which are ´biological reagents´ and the denggi vaccine. The other eight biotechnology products are transgenic rice, anticancer from custard apple, malaria detection kit, denggi detection kit, Japanese Encephalitis detection kit, fragrant orchid, tulips and Bacullis Spheras mosquito controlling agent. Other successes achieved by Malaysia include obtaining a patent for a bioplastic development product and extract of Tongkat Ali and Pegaga (a kind of creeping plant).
Both the patented products are the result of collaborative research between Malaysia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In order to ensure that the copyright of research and development activities are protected, four other R&D biotechnology products were also patented. These products include the Brugia Malayi detection kit, the gene from the denggi virus for vaccine, the gene from the denggi virus for treatment and determining the gene from the adenovirus. Aside from that, Malaysia´s other achievement in the field is coming up with five processes for biotechnology.
The processes are clarified juice, cultivation of tulip under condition, prototype kits for diagnosis of Typhoid carrier, development of spray vaccine for Pasteurella and bacterial inoculants as biofertiliser.
Realizing the importance of the field of biotechnology in this era, several steps are taken from time to time to strengthen biotechnology activities in this country. As such, R&D activities in this field have been encouraged and to date, six discoveries have been successfully made. The six discoveries are four genes related to rice and orchid and two genes related to the Japanese Encephalitis virus.
Biotechnology has been acknowledged as a beneficial technology, especially for agricultural related activities. Nevertheless, the use of biotechnology should be in concert with biosafety (safety steps); this should be taken into account to ensure that biotechnology products like organisms that have been modified with genes (GMOs) will not endanger humans. However, it is hoped that biosafety rules won´t be an obstacle to the growth and development of biotechnology.
Biosafety rules are necessary in every country, but these rules should not be a hindrance to the growth and development of the biotechnology industry as its investment costs are high. |
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