Assessment and empirical analysis of the competitiveness of bioindustry in various regions of China / 生物工程学报

The era of bioeconomy has ushered in a new wave of technological and industrial revolution for mankind. The strategic deployment for the bioindustry in China has achieved remarkable results. However, there are still problems such as unbalanced regional development in the process of bioindustry development. In order to comprehensively assess the current situation of the competitiveness of the bioindustry in various regions of China, the assessment indicator system of the overall competitiveness of the bioindustry is constructed from the perspective of the four sub-industries of biomedicine, bioenergy, bioagriculture and bio-based industry. The weight of each assessment indicator is determined by the analytic hierarchy process. According to geographical administrative division and regional economic relations, an empirical analysis of the comprehensive competitiveness score of the bioindustry in seven regions of China is carried out. The assessment results show that the competition of bioindustry in various regions of China presents a gradient distribution in space. In view of this, relevant policy recommendations are put forward from four aspects: (1) implementing the strategy of rural revitalization, (2) implementing the strategy of regional coordinated development, (3) deepening the supply-side structural reform for the bioindustry, and (4) establishing regional unified information collaboration network system.

Promotion of technological development and determination of biotechnology trends in five selected Latin American countries: an analysis based on PCT patent applications

Background: Science and technology are two desirable elements for the economic and social development of a country. Biotechnology has a particularly important potential for economic development. Nevertheless, patent production in Latin America remains underdeveloped, which creates the need to analyze its trend and the efforts made to promote patent production. Therefore, the purpose of this study was, on the one hand, to determine trends in biotechnology-related PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications in Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba from 1999 to 2015, and, on the other hand, to determine whether there is a relationship between the gross domestic expenditure on research and experimental development as a percentage of gross domestic product (GERD/GDP) and PCT applications for biotechnological inventions from 2007 to 2015 (in this case, the period under study was limited from 2007 to 2015, due to data availability for GERD/GDP in the five selected countries). Results: The first part of this study shows that the growth in biotechnology PCT applications has been moderate and gradual and the trend was fitted to a linear model. The second set of results shows that GERD/GDP is associated with biotechnology-related PCT applications issued during the study period with a significance level of α = 0.01. Conclusions: Even though results indicate a gradual and modest progress, it is necessary that these five representative Latin American nations continue acting toward the protection of intellectual property in the area of biotechnology, especially by configuring strategies for further progress based on investments on research and development.

Estado actual de la biotecnología en Costa Rica / Current estate of biotechnology in Costa Rica

A study was carried out on the construction of indicators in biotechnology in Costa Rica as part of the project "SYMBIOSIS, Cooperative Program for the Construction of Indicators in Biotechnology adapted to Latin American and Caribbean countries, to motivate the application and transference of industrial technologies". The study focused on two units: researchers and research projects developed in Costa Rica, between 1998 and 2002. For researchers, information was collected about indicators related to sex, age, teaching activities, number of projects, academic degree, area of speciality and number of publications. For research projects we obtained information about: speciality, sector of application, duration of projects and number of researchers per project. Very interesting results include the high participation of the women in this area of investigation (54%); the low participation of young researchers (13% younger than 30), and a high proportion of the investigators that are responsible for 4 or more projects (42%). With relation to the specialities of the projects, the majority are in the category Bio-Agro (39%) whereas in Acuaculture only 1% was found. The sectors of application with the most number of projects are: Agriculture and Livestock (37%) and Human Health (35%). The main strengthts and limitatations for the development of biotechnology in Costa Rica are discussed.

Current status of biotechnology in China

There has been increasing interest over past decade in exploring the possibility of using new biotechinology to produce new products and to improve the old productive process. The researches and applications of genetic engineering, cell fusion, mutagenesis, cell and enzyme immobilization in enzyme, antibiotic, vitamine, steroid, amino acid, organic acid, solvent, food and brewage industries is reviewed.

Biotecnologia: uso social e impacto na política de saúde / Biothecnology: social use and impact in the health policy

Discute a política de ciência e tecnologia concluindo que faltam no Brasil, principalmente, pesquisas fundamentais e recursos humanos. A concentraçäo de recursos e de esforços neste setor, näo trouxe progresso como deveria ocorrer, por que näo atendem as necessidades fundamentais do povo. Sugere uma política que respeite as origens e tendências da populaçäo, dando um sentido social à política de biotecnologia em saúde. (AMSB)