Modern biotechnology has been healing the world by harnessing nature’s own toolbox and biological processes. In healing the world, biotechnology has been reducing the rates of infectious disease, combating life-threatening conditions, making personalized treatments possible, and saving the lives of those afflicted with rare diseases.
Specifically, biotechnology offers the potential of addressing unmet medical needs for patients with cancer and HIV/AIDS while at the same time helps in the treatment or prevention of heart attacks, stroke, hepatitis and leukemia, among many other serious diseases.
Recognizing the role of modern biotechnology, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) hosted the celebration of the “7th National Biotechnology Week” from Nov. 21 to 26. This occasion coincided with the Food and Drug Administration-led “National Consciousness Week Against Counterfeit Medicines” with the support from the pharmaceutical industry, and medical and para-medical professional organizations.
The week-long celebration was supported by other government agencies engaged in biotechnology research. Other participating government agencies were the departments of Science and Technology, Health, and Agriculture.
Pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1414 which declares that a week-long celebration be observed annually, several events were lined up to encourage the safe and responsible use of biotechnology. Products of biotechnology that lead to the achievement of food security, improvement in health care services, and providing a safe environment were shown in booth displays while research programs were presented and discussed in various fora.
Activities during the celebration were intended to let the public know that biotechnology “can be as much a part of the average Filipino’s daily life as it is in the field of medical care, crop production, and industry.
One of the activities was a “Science and Technology Forum” which highlighted advances in research and techniques as well as applications of biotechnology in genomics and bio-remediation in polluted rivers. One feature of the discussion was how bio-ozonation can be used in recycling water in large-water-demand industries. Activities on health care biotechnology were jointly led by the Health department and Food and Drugs Administration, starting with a forum on food safety through a presentation of a study to develop detection kits for food pathogens. A second forum focused on dengue control and management with a presentation of a study to produce a biolarvicidal product against the dengue-carrying mosquito.
In the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology has led to the discovery of various forms of treatments for many serious diseases. As a result of these developments, there now exists a group of products called biopharmaceuticals. Sometimes also known as biological medicines, biopharmaceuticals “consist of or has been produced by the use of living organisms.”
Examples of these include blood factors, thrombolytic agents, hormones such as insulin, glucagon, growth hormone and gonadotropins.
Other products that are also classified as biopharmaceuticals are hematopoietic growth factors, interferons, interleukin-based products, vaccines and monoclonal antibodies.
These are used in the treatment of a wide range of diseases such as erythropoietin for anemia, and monoclonal antibodies for rheumatoid arthritis. Also providing hopes are interferon-alpha for leukemia, and interferon-beta for multiple sclerosis.
According to the European Association for Bioindustries (EuropaBio), more than 350 million patients worldwide have benefited from medicines manufactured through biotechnology.
These medicines have been used for the treatment or prevention of many serious diseases including different forms of cancer, heart attacks, stroke, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and auto-immune diseases.
There are also more than 650 new biological medicines and vaccines currently being developed to treat more than 100 diseases (For more information on global biotechnology, visit www.bio.org and www.innovation.org).
Biotechnology has indeed been a blessing to mankind. We commend the DENR for providing a venue to inform and educate the public about developments in this field. We also hope that the government, the academe and all concerned will find ways of providing an environment more conducive to biotechnology researchers.
source: bworldonline
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