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Biotechnology opens up new opportunities

Automotive suppliers‘ fast-track to sustainability


11/2005		  

[ Knowledge transfer ]

Biotechnology opens
up new opportunities

Many developing countries are not making enough use of the opportunities presented by new technologies. InWEnt training programmes for the food sector have been promoting biotechnology since 1982. D+C spoke to Günter Tharun, who is responsible for industrial biotechnology at InWEnt.


[ Interview with Günter Tharun ]

Simple fermentation processes have been used for centuries to make or preserve foods like bread, cheese, tofu, wine and beer. So what is new about biotechnology?
Biotechnology is indeed a very old field of activity. Microbes have been made to work for man since time immemorial. On the other hand, thanks to the possibilities of modifying DNA structures and manipulating genes, biotechnology is also a field of cutting-edge science. Harnessing the latest findings enables us to upgrade traditional food processing methods significantly – and boosts productivity and quality. Between 1991 and 1995 in Thailand, for example, improved microbial vaccines not only raised but permanently guaranteed the quality of soya bean fermentation. In the drinks industry, biotech and business management improvements increased productivity at the companies we assisted by 20 to 80 percent.

What is special about applying biotechnology in developing countries? Why is that any different from doing so in the industrialised world?
Depending on a country’s development status, you find agrobiotech flanked more or less by industrial biotech processing. This is mainly true of the pharmaceutical sector – the manufacture of inexpensive drugs and vaccines for domestic use, for example – and the food industry. Natural biodiversity in a country plays an important role, as do the quality of education and research. Similarly, the sociocultural environment, local preferences, local purchasing power, entrepreneurial ambition and activities to improve existing and create new products all matter. Exploiting export opportunities also shapes the use of technology. Finally, government or donor support for small business development can also play a positive role. All these factors have an impact.

Which biotech fields are interesting for developing countries in particular?
The most promising applications are in areas where biotech methods have been used from time immemorial – in the food sector, say. Methods must always be simple, economical, adapted to local conditions and accessible to target groups. That is our main starting point. In Southeast Asia, industrial biotechnology today is used mainly in the food sector, for fermenting milk and soya products as well as alcoholic and other drinks. Pharmaceuticals, mushroom farming and biofertiliser production are other major fields of application.

Why does InWEnt focus so much on the drinks sector?
That is not really the case even though it may seem so because of the large number of people we trained in Thailand. In the past, many Thais invested their savings in what they considered the lucrative production of traditional alcoholic drinks such as satho, rice wine. Few, however, possessed the technological and commercial skills required. That is where we came in, providing effective assistance in the form of technological advice, business training and one-to-one counselling at five local centres. In two years, we trained some 1,800 people.

How important are biotech innovations for developing countries?
Very important, and increasingly so. One reason is the drive to improve basic local medical care and respond faster and more effectively to epidemics. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation and Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute of the Thai Red Cross, for example, make pharmaceuticals for the local market as well as traditional vaccines against tetanus, diphtheria, measles and TB. The Red Cross Institute has also, for some time, been producing a rabies vaccine and various antisera against snake venom. Both institutions already produce their vaccines in line with the Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines of the US Food and Drug Administration. Much of the knowledge required for doing so was transferred in our courses. To export to neighbouring countries as well, it will be necessary to introduce GMP for all internationally marketed products and develop new processes on the basis of modern biotechnology.

What are the advantages of biotechnology for a developing country?
Modern biotechnology exploits biodiversity, makes agricultural and industrial production more environment-friendly, improves resource protection and reduces the use of chemicals. Consider, for example, the industrial production of biofertiliser from agricultural and agroindustrial waste in rural areas. In the Philippines and Thailand, our “Training and Technology” programme in this field was so successful that the biofertiliser components have been introduced in six other countries. In the past, valuable bio-residues would pollute the environment as troublesome waste. Instead, they are now used to make high-quality fertiliser. Suitably vaccinated, this fertilser even resists pests, not only creating added value but also rehabilitating impoverished soils and reducing the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

Is there scepticism about biotechnology in Asia?
Even in developing countries, there is isolated resistance to the use of modern biotechnologies. In most cases, this focuses on genetically modified foods and animal feeds. Otherwise, biotech is pretty much accepted. People in Asia are much more open to the use of modern technologies than in Germany.

Experts started calling for greater use of biotechnology back in the mid-1990s. Have developing country elites responded to that call?
The challenge has been taken up, although not as quickly as was hoped. The national Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Thailand offers space on its new campus for start-up companies, spin-off companies and so forth. What is slowly emerging there is a small industrial biotech park. In Hanoi, as well, a medical research institute has evolved into a pharmaceutical company and is now in the process of being up-scaled. And in Brazil, biotech parks are springing up like mushrooms near universities in Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.

At the beginning of 2004, InWEnt and its partners set up a biotech platform for Southeast Asia. Has it met your expectations?
We have forged twelve partnerships between companies and research institutes within the framework of the Public Private Partnership project with BioLaunch Deutschland, a consultancy. And in South Korea and Taiwan, talks with more potential partners are underway. We did anticipate more corporate cooperations with research. Nonetheless, www.BioAsia.de is extremely popular. The news section alone gets 450 hits a month.

Why is InWEnt planning to step up its efforts to promote exchange between Southeast Asia and Argentina and Brazil?
From talks with local experts we know that the biotech problems and issues these regions face are similar. Two of the world’s leading institutes for the production of antisera against snakebite – the Butantan Institute in São Paulo and the Bangkok Red Cross Institute I mentioned earlier – have signalled interest in a South-South exchange of ideas.

What is the main issue at present in debates on biotechnology use in developing countries?
Patent law is becoming increasingly important. Since 2002, we have been running additional workshops for our partners in Indonesia and Thailand on intellectual property contracting.


Questions by Norbert Glaser.


Dr. Günter Tharun
is a senior project manager in the Sustainable Technologies, Industrial and Urban Development division at InWEnt. He spent many years working for InWEnt in Thailand. guenter.tharun@inwent.org


Further information:
http://www.bioasia.de