Filipinos lag behind in harvesting a lot more than it does from nature.
“Biological innovation provides opportunities for wealth creation and helps solve social problems,” Dr. Gisela P. Concepcion of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman told the 36th Annual Scientific Meeting of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).
However, “the level of biological innovation remains low,” said Concepcion of the UP Marine Science Institute (MSI). “This is because of the limited number of expert and skilled manpower and the facilities that can drive biotechnology and biological innovation to a high level.”
She was referring to the development and production of new, high-value products using biotechnology, bioengineering, bioinformatics and bioprocessing. The raw materials are biological – microorganisms, plants, animals and humans – and the information science has gathered on these materials.
“The entrepreneurial skills of scientists to bring discovery or invention to commercialization are lacking,” said Concepcion, a member of NAST, the country’s highest policy advisory body on science and technology. “And the value chains or networks linking the market with investors and inventors is absent.”
“The risk-aversion for biotechnology of investors reflects the low science literacy of the general public and a limited understanding of the benefits of high level science and technology to society,” said Concepcion who is also the Vice President for Academic Affairs of UP where she teaches graduate courses and undertakes research on natural marine products and pharmaceuticals.
And yet, she said, the opportunities are abundant. Concepcion herself heads the TerraPharma and PharmaSeas Drug Discovery program funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to develop medicines from mollusks and other marine life.
She pointed to the successful adaptation by Filipino farmers of biotechnology corn that is resistant to a major pest, the corn borer. The Bt corn technology, the first in Asia, has boosted the harvest and income of Filipino corn farmers; they also use less pesticides now because of Bt corn.
She cited successful and ongoing bio-innovation projects such as that of Dr. Gonzalo Serafica of Xylos Corporation who developed microbial cellulose drug delivery systems for antimicrobials and pain killers which reached clinical trials in the United States and where they are currently sold in a multi-million dollar market. The raw material is nata de coco, or fermented coconut water, transformed by biomedical engineering into a new biomaterial.
Dr. Victor Amoroso of the Central Mindanao State University in Bukidnon is propagating and promoting 10 indigenous edible ferns as food. Some of these ferns are promising sources of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory saponins and high protein.
Ascof: Lagundi, a natural remedy for cough and asthma developed by the DOST’s National Integrated Research Program on Medicinal Plants, University of the Philippines Manila and Pascual Laboratories, is now a top-selling brand in a multimillion-peso and fast-growing herbal medicine market.
The National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at UP Los Baños has commercialized Mycogro, a tree vitamin to enhance growth and development of forest trees and commercial plantations; Biogrow, a plant growth promoter of vegetables and ornamentals; Bion, a microbial-based fertilizer that supplies nitrogen and enhances growth of rice, corn and vegetables; Mykovam, a soil-based biofertilizer for fruit trees, agricultural crops, reforestation species and ornamentals; Vam Root Inoculant that promotes the growth of agricultural and horticultural crops, trees and ornamentals; and Cocogrow, a growth hormone from coconut water which enhances the growth of orchids, vegetables and ornamentals.
“The opportunities for the Philippines are enormous,” Concepcion said. [SciPhil]
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