Dr Anwar Nasim
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| Dr Anwar Nasim, chairman,
Pakistan's National Commission on Biotechnology, (extreme left), making
a point at the FABA meeting in Lahore. |
FABA helps India, Pakistan shake hands in biotech
It is not just cricket, Hindi movies and buses that are
bringing India and Pakistan together in these days of increasing collaboration
between the two countries. The biotech industries of both the countries too have
jumped onto the "peace bandwagon" and have started to explore the
potential partnerships among themselves.
Things have moved quite fast in the last 12 months. A
10-member Indian biotech delegation, comprising CEOs, researchers and industry
representatives, engaged their counterparts from Pakistan under the banner of
the newly-floated Federation of Asian Biotech Association (FABA) in Lahore,
Pakistan for three days. The Indian delegation was led by Dr BS Bajaj from the
All India Biotech Association (AIBA), Hyderabad. The historic, 142-year-old
Government College University (GCU), Lahore rolled out the red carpet to
facilitate the biotech engagements between the two countries.
The importance attached to the three-day meeting on
"Business Opportunities in Industrial Biotechnology" was evident with
the high-level of participation from the Pakistani side. The Governor of Punjab,
Lt. Gen (Retd) Khalid Maqbool, the country's most powerful governor, took the
lead to greet the Indian delegation. Dr Anwar Nasim, who is the biotech advisor
to President General Musharraf and convenor ( life sciences) of the Pakistan's
Higher Education Commission, was the prime mover behind the event and left no
stone unturned to ensure that the Indian delegation could travel to Lahore
without any visa hassles.
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The Governor of Punjab, Lt. Gen (Retd)
Khalid Maqbool interacting with the delegates. |
Pakistan is keen to learn from India's biotech story.
"It is going to be the century of biotechnology. All the biotech
advancements, however, have been monopolized by the western nations because all
the key high tech equipment required by biotechnologists have been developed by
them," remarked Governor Maqbool.
Stressing on the need for Pakistan to develop expertise in
biotechnology, he said the country could continue to grow fruits for export. But
that will not take the country very far. "The world fears China and India
not because they produce top quality shirts, shoes and leather goods. They are
feared for their technology developments," the governor, who is also the
chancellor of GCU emphasized.
"We have to produce a large talent pool of technologists
in biotechnology, develop small and inexpensive diagnostic kits for diseases
specific to the region, increase the efficiency of agricultural production
processes. Universities need to open up to the industry," he said.
Responding to the call for co-operation, Dr Bajaj said
"Science has no boundaries. That is why we know that we can work together,
shoulder to shoulder. FABA will work together with scientists to make biotech a
great success story in the region."
| Biotech in Pakistan
The government has declared biotechnology as a
priority area for Pakistan in 2001 and a a National Commission on
Biotechnology (NCB) was set up as an advisory body to the Ministry of
Science and Technology to monitor the new developments in the field
within the country and internationally. Pakistan has invested over Rs
100 crore in this sector so far.
Most of the research work is done in 29 national
research institutions under various ministries such as agriculture,
science and technology, and atomic energy. There are many top class
institutions comparable and even better than their counterparts in
India. The country is producing hundreds of PhDs and MPhils in the
biotech sector from these institutions, which are affiliated to
different universities. A large number of scientists working in the US
and other developed countries have also returned to boost the talent
within Pakistan. The Vice Chancellor of GCU, Dr Khalid Aftab said there
were many attractive schemes to retain the talented scientists who have
returned from abroad. Many of them are paid US $5,000 (Rs 2,30,000) or
more per month to tap their talents. GCU itself has started an
Industrial Institute on Biotechnology to take up pilot scale
manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals and build expertise in this area.
The country's first brush with biotech started
formally when the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission set up the Nuclear
Institute of Agricultural Biology (NIAB) in Faisalabad, organized
training courses in recombinant DNA technologies. The Pakistan Council
for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) and the Pakistan
Agricultural Research Council had also started setting up various
specialized research centers since 1971.
The biotech industry is taking roots slowly. There
are prominent companies like Qarshi Industries, Agri Biotech, MediPak,
and institutions like the Pakistan Industrial Diagnostic Agricultural
Network Agencies National Agencies, which are engaged in high quality
biotech activities. |
FABA was launched formally nearly a year ago, on February 10,
2005 during the BioAsia conference in Hyderabad. The idea was mooted during the
BioAsia 2004 conference. FABA was set up by eight member countries including
India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Israel, Iran and Saudi Arabia have since joined the association. Dr Nasim
indicated that four more countries-Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Bangladesh -
were expected to join the industry group this year.
Indian Immunologicals CEO, KV Balasubramanian, gave an
overview of the Indian industry's capabilities in the veterinary biotech
products sector. The company has signed MoUs with agencies to distribute its
range of animal vaccines in Pakistan. The regulatory approval is awaited.
| Iran grows world's first transgenic rice crop
Scientists in Iran have made a global breakthrough by
developing and commercializing the world's first transgenic rice crop.
" In 2005, nearly 1,000 farmers have started to
grow this rice crop, which has the Bt gene inserted to provide
resistance to the highly damaging stem borer insect," FABA's
Iranian chapter convenor Mohammed H Sanati told the gathering. Dr Sanati
is also a molecular geneticist at Iran's National Research Center for
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Teheran.
When the crop is fully commercialized in 2006, it is
expected to be grown in about 50,000 acres. The crop was developed by
Iranian scientists with the assistance of the International Rice
Research Institute (IRRI), Manila, Philippines. IRRI is part of a global
network of publicly funded agriculture research institution, called
CGIAR. Chinese scientists are also close to developing a transgenic rice
variety.
Dr Sanati said extensive trials to ensure safety of
the transgenic rice variety was done in the country before it was
approved for large scale commercial cultivation. Studies have indicated
that the Bt rice showed 10 percent increase in yields to reap 2.2 tons
per acre. He revealed that Iran was close to developing a transgenic
sugar beet crop.
Iranian scientists have also developed Bioflash, a
slow releasing floating form of Bt granules, which can be used
extensively in the control of malaria. |
The first formal contacts between the countries started in
2004 and in May 2005, a high level delegation of agricultural scientists had
visited Lahore from India to break the ice. The January meeting has taken it to
the next level with the involvement of industry leaders from both the sides. A
lot more activities involving industry leaders from both countries are expected
to take place in Hyderabad during BioAsia 2006 and the BioPartnering conference
being organized by FABA in March in Pakistan. Biotech indeed is moving forward
in the right direction in sharing and building expertise in the region.
Naryanan Suresh in Lahore, Pakistan
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