StemCell Therapy

When you talk about biotechnology, some of the things that come to mind might be the Resident Evil series, Westworld, or even the Spider-man series. However, its something pretty real, and its a pretty big thing across the world.

To put it simply, biotechnology istechnology based on biology, where cellular and bio-molecular elements are used to develop technologies and products that can potentially improve our daily lives. For example, biotechnology is used to come up with medical vaccines and cures, like what theyre doing with finding a cure for the Covid-19 pandemic now.

And Malaysias apparently been paying quite a lot of attention to expand the field in the country for the last several years; were sometimes even called the biotechnology hub in Asia. And at one point in time in Malaysia

In 2003, when the 8th Malaysia Plan was announced by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, he announced a plan to develop a BioValley as well. It was a proposal to build a localbiotechnology center in Cyberjaya, or more specifically, in Dengkil. The project served as one of the final initiatives in Mahathirs last days as our fourth Prime Minister.

While it may seem that the biotechnology buzz had just hit Malaysia around that time, it was said that our government had already identified it as one of the five key technologies to help transform Malaysia into a highly developed nation in the 1980s. According to Mahathir, this BioValley would be a 15km by 50km hard-wired zone thats intended to be a location for biotechnology innovation. Apparently, the Malaysian government at the time was hoping that the plan could attract USD$10billion in foreign and local investments within 10 years.

To develop the BioValley, our government decided to not just work with the Japanese for the architecture, but also the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT had apparently recommended the BioValley focus on research into agriculture and natural resources, given that these are what we have a lot of.

Im confident we can build a multibillion dollar biotechnology industry in Malaysia. All the ingredients are here. We are just working on the recipe. MIT professor Anthony Sinskey, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal

Working together with MIT, the initial plan of the BioValley was to situate it in Dengkil with three research institutes, costing around USD$160million. And it was expected to complete in 2005. However

GIF from Gifimage.net

However, after the announcement in 2003, the plan was shrouded in mystery, where hardly anyone, especially the media, could get any details about it. For example, we didnt know anything about the progression of the project or at what stage it was in. Part of the reason behind the secrecy was said to be due to lessons learned from MSC, which didnt garner as much investment as the government had initially hoped, and the government wascautioned against overselling the BioValley project.

We want to get the project off the ground rather than talk about it. An official at the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, as quoted by Nature

What we do know is that apparently, there were already three companies that had agreed to park themselves in the BioValleyin 2003, and the government was in the process of negotiating with another 20. Not just that, while it was still in planning stages, researchers were already tapping into our countrys resources, such as looking into tongkat ali to treat, um, certain disabilities in men.

Following the announcement of the BioValley in 2003, Mahathir resigned and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as our fifth Prime Minister, so essentially, he took over the project as well.

However, the expected completion date of 2005 cameand went. Until today, theres still nothing to show for the BioValley. There currently are no photos or anything of the BioValley that was supposedly to be already under development.

Now, there are different verdicts about the BioValley project. Some have claimed that its still under development, some said that its never existed, while others just dont want to talk about it. We dont even know for sure where the USD$160million that was supposed to go into the project had gone to. All thats left is apparently an 80-hectare construction site with a few empty buildings in Dengkil, but even then, theres no pictures of the site.

One had even called it

It was one of the most grandiose biotechnology projects. We were hoping that BioValley would take off. University of Malaya Research & Innovation Assistant Vice-Chancellor Rofina Yasmin Othman, as quoted by Malaysian Business

But thats not to say that weve completely failed in our biotechnology ventures as

Image from EduSpiral

While the BioValley kinda didnt pan out, we still have a pretty strong presence within the industry. Malaysia was ranked fourth globally for Biotech Enterprise Support in the Scientific American Report and second in ASEAN for intellectual property protection in the IMD World Competitiveness Index Yearbook.

Plus, our government launched aNational Bioeconomy Programmein 2010, making Malaysia the first in Southeast Asia to have such an initiative. The main objectives were to focus on specific bio-based industries in Malaysia in order turn Malaysia into a high-income nation bywell, this year, actually.

In fact, biotechnology has become so important in Malaysia that we came up with our Biosafety Act to regulate the release, importation, exportation and contained use of living modified organisms, and the release of products of such organisms. And that also made us one of the few Asian countries to be activelymanaging and assessing the risks that come with biotechnology.

And when we talk about the BioValley, while the BioValley in Dengkil doesnt seem to be operational any time soon, wedohave a BioValley of a smaller scale in Miri, Sarawak, funded by the Sarawak government.

Its not the same thing as the one in Dengkil, but hey, at least its something! Its a collaboration between the Sarawak government and Curtin University. Just like the plan for the initial BioValley in Dengkil, this ones meant to support the development and research of biotechnology, while also providing jobs.

The Sarawak Biovalley Pilot Plant is unique because it aims to assess and maximise the viability of bio-products for commercial production. Curtin University Malaysia pro vice-chancellor Jim Mienczakowski, as quoted by NST

As of the BioValley project in Dengkil, well, a PPBM supreme council member had suggested that the production of ketum and cannabiscan help in reviving it, but thats simply a suggestion. For now, theres been no further news on the BioValley project in Dengkil. When Mahathir returned for his second run as Prime Minister, he didnt say a word about it either.

But all things considered, weve managed to attract major players in the industry into Malaysia. Not just that, Malaysia itself has also been doing pretty well with our own research institutes to boost biotechnology. So it does seem that theres still a pretty bright future for biotechnology in Malaysia.

View post:
In 2003, Dr M had a plan to boost biotech in Msiabut its now a valley of ghosts - CILISOS.MY

This entry was posted on April 21, 2020 at 6:42 am and is filed under Biotechnology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |