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Challenges and Responsibilities for Public Sector Scientists

Challenges and Responsibilities for Public Sector Scientists. Prof. Em. Marc Van Montagu Chairman, IPBO. PAS Study Week – Vatican - May 2009. Institute of Plant Biotechnology For Developing Countries. Websites: http://www.ipbo.ugent.be http://www.psb.ugent.be http://www.efb-central.org

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Challenges and Responsibilities for Public Sector Scientists

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  1. Challenges and Responsibilities for Public Sector Scientists Prof. Em. Marc Van Montagu Chairman, IPBO PAS Study Week – Vatican - May 2009 Institute of Plant Biotechnology For Developing Countries Websites: http://www.ipbo.ugent.be http://www.psb.ugent.be http://www.efb-central.org http://www.pubresreg.org E-mail : marc.vanmontagu@ugent.be

  2. The unfair world cornucopia

  3. Applications of Plant Molecular Genetics • Products (GM-crops) cannot be developed by a Public Sector network • Start-up companies in developing countries should be envisaged • DCs have an urgent need for full fletched agrobiotechnology companies and Plant Breeding companies to bring products to the market.

  4. Agriculture in the 21st century • Global food security • Sustainable Agriculture • Plants as biomass for a less polluting • industry • Biological solutions for environmental • pollution • INVESTMENT IN NEW TECHNOLOGY • CAPACITY BUILDING • TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

  5. Systems Biology: compressing history • Metagenomics • Functional genomics • Transcriptomics • Proteomics • Metabolomics Explosion of new information PUBLIC SECTOR VISION POLITICAL, FINANCIAL, PRIVATE SECTOR SUPPORT Creation of new knowledge Generation of new products

  6. ‘Appropriate GM’ is entirely within our grasp Why then, are such life-saving technologies not reaching the farmers who desperately need them? Perhaps more importantly we should ask how many lives have been lost because of the delays? www.spec.bc.ca/project/ project.php?projectID=23

  7. The Application Gap Molecular Biologists should interact with: Departments of agronomy & forestry; Departments of tropical agriculture; Seed companies; Curators of seed banks; Agricultural economists Nutritionists and food scientists; Ecologists. Explosion of new information Creation of new knowledge Generation of new products

  8. SMEs traditionally fill the application gap

  9. The North-South Knowledge Divide 0.76% world scientific publications in 2001

  10. The extent of the crisis in Africa Calestous Juma & Ismail Serageldin (2007) “One of the major changes in recent Development thinking is the realisation that what separates developed and less developed countries is not just a gap in resources, but a gap in knowledge” “Scientific capacity in Africa is insufficient even to stay meaningfully connected to global advances in science and technology”

  11. The public sector has a tremendous role to play • All of the present generation of GM crop traits under cultivation can be traced back to discoveries in the public sector; • In the developing countries, it is R&D programs in the public sector that support the bulk of new GM crop development despite critical constraints on funding, human resources and access to relevant knowledge; • If plant based products are to sustain the projected economic and developmental agendas, a constant infusion of new knowledge is required, and the principle source of such knowledge will be fundamental research carried out in the public sector

  12. To sustain the future introduction of new varieties of better yield and of more balanced nutritional composition, the public sector research institutes that generate the bulk of the innovation behind these advances must be empowered to engage in appropriate research using GM tools.

  13. 50% of the growth in the US economy in the last 40 years has been due to investments in R&D; When federal investments in University R&D increase, there is a corresponding increase in private-sector investments. Basic facts about public sector research (Source: Clinton Council of Economic Advisors report 1995)

  14. Investment in basic research creates value (Source: Burrill & Co. 2006)

  15. Existing Public sector GM product pipeline in developing countries 209 genetic transformation events; 16 developing countries; 76 different institutes; 46 different crops ISNAR/IFPRI NEXT HARVEST 2004 DOMINATED BY ASIA (Source: IFPRI, 2004)

  16. Most plant biotechnology in Brazil is conducted in partnership with EMBRAPA, the state owned company for agricultural R&D Several well-succeeded projects, e.g: common beans with transgenic resistance to golden-bean mosaic virus papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus passionfruit resistant to passionfruit woodiness virus But… no commercial release so far The Brazilian case http://www.embrapa.br

  17. But major hurdles to be overcome: PIPELINE IS BLOCKED (Source: IFPRI, 2004)

  18. A much more participatory approach, involving all stakeholders in potential products, is needed to ensure that it is demand driven.

  19. SME Public Research Start-up Fostering crosstalk between public and private sectors Public-private partnerships that allow scale up of technology and that stimulate creative approaches to licensing for humanitarian purposes should be encouraged

  20. The need to revitalise an SME & start-up culture PUBLIC SECTOR SMEs START-UPs The emergence of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are essential for capturing value from public sector knowledge, should be encouraged through policy measures that stimulate investment • But critical issues to be addressed are: • Finance, • Adverse regulatory climate, • Emerging capabilities in the BRICs economies, • Political good will and action.

  21. GM technology has been attacked because it is controlled by the private sector, and GM farmers would be at the mercy of MNCs. euro-med.dk/?p=928

  22. Increased finance for programs in the public sector targeted towards the enhancement of yield, disease resistance, nutritional quality and drought tolerance; International co-operations must be financed in such a way that the knowledge derived from these activities can be transferred to developing country scientists for the accomplishment of locally relevant crop improvement programs; Mechanisms to empower developing country scientists, and enable them to participate in - and contribute to - the global knowledge-based bio-economy that is emerging. Priorities for the Pro-Poor GM Crop

  23. Developing country scientific institutions and international organisations that pioneered the Green Revolution such as the centres of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) must play a critical role in the design and execution of these programmes

  24. Support must be given to breeding programs and quality seed production systems in the developing countries, where a strong seed industry does not exist, and where the public sector is the major player www.bioversityinternational.org/ publications/...

  25. Regulatory compliance and biosafety regulations must be brought into line with appropriate scientific evidence, regarding risk and benefit, and reduce the costs of these procedures

  26. Hope for the future HarvestPlus PRRI: www.pubresreg.org Ag Biotech Support Project: www.absp2.cornell.edu PIPRA: www.pipra.org AATF

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