Taking a periscope view of Biotechnology

Touted as a savior to mankind, Biotechnology was ushered in as the next big wave. The year was 1988 and with the help of emerging digital technology, biological sciences were about to be redeveloped into something that mankind would never have imagined twenty years ago. Just reading the headlines would have put us in cloud nine. “Bio-technology-the new frontier to save mankind from famine, disease and old age” reads most news headlines. It was a time when computers were making the world smaller and communication technology was the great promise to waiting obsolescence.

Twenty years later and after touching double digit growth on a yearly basis, biotechnology seems to have promised more than it can deliver. Undoubtedly, biotechnology has progressed immensely. With the help of super computers, man has managed to identify all the human genes. The future looks promising. The time has come for man to design drugs that can cure stubborn diseases. We should be near the stage where human parts can be grown in labs and food to be churned out from laboratories. Food supply would no more be concern, whatever the weather takes. And we would have no more fears for those super bacteria and viruses that seem to be able to mutate.

But alas, with the world under the spell of recession, where money is in short supply, concerns are mounting due to the cut back in venture funds affecting biotechnology startups. With funds shrinking, research and development in the bio-sciences has been shoved to the back seat. Adding to the problem is the mounting backlogs of patents waiting for examination. To be sure, millions of dollars are being wasted due to slow down of commercialization of university researches. With it, thousand of jobs cannot be realized. Still, hope is set on biotechnology with its many possibilities. No other sectors can even come near it. Just think about it; health, food and fuel will drive mankind to do anything to secure them. We will even go to war if any one of these criteria affects our future.