BIOTECHNOLOGY has emerged as a novel science-based business. It capitalises on the attributes of living things and helps us in improving our ability to streamline industrial sector on profitable and publicly acceptable lines. That is why it is outstripping the advances of the Green Revolution today.
Biotechnology is steadily reshaping the world industrial sector, enabling both the conversion of renewable resources into a wide variety of value-added products which are hard to produce directly by synthetic routes. These products include bio-colorants, solvents, pharmaceuticals, bio-plastics, vitamins, food additives, bio-pesticides and bio-fuels. By using this technology, biodegradable plastics, biopolymers, enzymes, pharmaceuticals, novel fibres and even timbers are also being produced on large scale.
Currently, there are about 4,000 biotechnology firms across the globe. Almost 50 per cent of these are in the Europe, 30 per cent in the US and 20 per cent in Asia. In these countries, these sectors account for nearly 30 to 50 per cent of all manufacturing.
According to an estimate, over $500 billion has been invested in biotech products so far, and global revenues have risen from $25 billion in 2000 to about $50 billion in the last few years. The current growth potential of worldwide biotechnological markets by the year 2010 is expected to increase tremendously in agriculture, environment, energy, foods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and metal recovery sectors. Table:
Market sector $ (millions)
Energy 30,000
Foods 20,000
Chemicals 18,000
Health care (pharmaceuticals) 16,000
Agriculture 16,000
Metal recovery 8,500
Pollution control 300
Biotech knowledge is being applied for production of bio-energy to comply with the mounting demands of the energy in the very sector of life. Bio-energy is produced from the processing of waste materials, i.e. agricultural, domestic and industrial wastes through indigenous or genetically modified micro organisms. There exist a wide variety of bio-energy sources such as agricultural residues, pulp/paper mill residues, urban wood wastes, forest residues, energy crops, landfill methane, and animal waste.
Energy from these resources is obtained in the forms of electricity, heat, steam, and fuels. The most important form of bio-energy is biogas and bio-fuels which is being used in many countries of the world. According to FAO, bio-fuels have the potential to provide a quarter of the world’s energy needs. Bio-fuel is available in the forms of ethanol or alcohol. Its use in Brazil, USA, China, India, Germany and other Western and Asian countries is growing at rate of 30 to 50 per cent per year. Among these countries, ethanol accounts for about 20 per cent of Brazil’s transport fuel market. The bio-fuel is produced at a production cost of about $1 per gallon which is half the price of conventional oil.
Likewise, biogas production in countries like China, India, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Netherlands etc., is on the peak. According to a World Bank report about 10 million households in developing countries are using biogas for lighting but awfully saying that the ratio of Pakistan households using biogas is negligible.
In Pakistan, first time in 1974, about 4,200 biogas units were designed to supply 3,000 and 5,000 cubic feet of biogas per day for domestic purposes but this project failed due to lack of government interest in this field. Afterward efforts have been made but these could not yield bonanza.
In addition to biotech applications in energy production, pharmaceutical biotechnology has produced some 160 drugs and vaccines. Additionally, there are about 500 biotech drugs and vaccines under clinical trials targeting fatal diseases like cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and arthritis. It is also responsible for hundreds of medical diagnostic tests that keep the blood supply safe from the AIDS virus. By using this approach, biosensors are being developed with application in medical diagnostic tests and for environmental pollution monitoring.
Recently novel kinds of enzymes are being synthesised for removal of xeno-biotics from contaminated sites. Their industrial production has received much attention since the last few years. The enzymatic biocatalysts remain effective at a wide range of pH and temperature and have been shown to be effective degraders of many recalcitrant compounds.
Mostly traditional methods of production of these products are expensive, time consuming, and hazardous to human being, biodiversity and environment. But on the other hand, biotech techniques for their production on large scale are inexpensive, time and energy saving while environment friendly and publicly acceptable.
The future of industrial biotechnology in Pakistan is bright and it could play a major part in domestic production of drugs, bio-pesticides, and bio-energy related sectors. To promote the contribution of biotechnology in these sectors, it is highly needed to produce manpower in this sector through their proper training at the local education and research institutes.
For instance in India, there are about 300 college-level educational and training institutes which offer degrees and diplomas in biotechnology, bio-informatics and related fields. These institutes are producing nearly 500,000 students in this field per year from which the number of postgraduates and PhDs account for 300,000 and 1500, respectively. That is why industrial biotechnology has emerged a major sector while generating revenue of about $5 billion and would create one million jobs through industrial products and services by 2010. Ignoring all other sectors, only Indian bio-pharmaceuticals industry alone has the potential of $2 billion in the market.
Locally, the potential of biotechnology could be exploited for development of our ill-effected sectors. In this direction, following areas should be given a due attention (1) human resource development (2) infrastructure development (3) promotion of biotech industry and trade (4) establishment of biotech parks and (5) public communication and participation. These are the principal segments of Indian national agenda for biotech sector and could be helpful here.
Moreover planning regarding any initiative for development of biotech sector should also take into bio-safety research, assessment, and communication as well. Meanwhile there is a dire need of bio-safety integration with the help of proper policy measures, administrative framework, socio-economic feedback, commercialisation and trade etc.
