Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Javier Verástegui Lazo, Chief of the Office of Science and Technology Policies -- Concytec

The impact of biotechnological development on the increase of human well-being entails a series of improvements in the various productive processes that involve organic inputs. This article comments on these phenomena.

From the very beginning, mankind has used traditional biotechnology to improve his crops and livestock, as well as to make foods and fermented drinks (bread, yogurt, cheese, beer, wine, chicha). Modern biotechnology appeared recently at the end of the past century with human health applications. There are presently hundreds of therapeutic proteins, human vaccines, medications and diagnostic kits, as well as advanced research in the development of genetic therapies that inhibit the predisposition to diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer and others.

In agriculture, varieties of transgenic crops have been developed that are tolerant to herbicides and resistant to plagues, such as insects and viruses, that have significantly increased food production and reduced harvest losses, the application of pesticides and, consequently, environmental contamination. The rapid adoption pace of this biotechnology is unprecedented: in 2005 more than 90 million hectares of transgenic products were cultivated in 21 developed and developing countries, including countries that are highly biologically diverse, such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, India and South Africa (see graph).



Recent Developments

Current advances in agricultural biotechnology include the development of transgenic crops tolerant of frost, drought, salinity, photoperiod, among others - known as abiotic stress - as well as the development of transgenic food with better nutritional properties - bio-fortified grains and healthier vegetable oils - and the development of crops with controlled times of flowering and maturation in order to optimize the export windows for fresh fruits and vegetables.

A parallel development has occurred in transgenic crops for forestry, industrial and pharmaceutical applications. There are also remarkable advances in livestock and aquiculture biotechnology: pigs with less fat, faster growing fish and transgenic animals turned bioreactors for pharmaceutical and industrial purposes.

Another important development is the application of genomic techniques and molecular markers that permit the identification and characterization of the genes - and the derived proteins - contained in the genomes from the live beings. This process is of great importance for the valuation of human, animal, vegetable and microbial (bio-prospection) biodiversity.

Assuring Sustainable Development

It is necessary that each country constructs an efficient national system of bio-security in order to evaluate existing risks case by case and to authorize only those events in which the risks are minimum and controllable. Thus, in Peru it would not be sensible to release transgenic potato or corn crops in regions of high native biodiversity, but it would be in other regions.

Law 27104 creates the legal framework of bio-security in Peru for the evaluation and authorization of the use and manipulation of transgenic organisms in research, field tests and commercial production. Peru has also ratified the International Bio-security Protocol, which regulates the cross-border movement of modified live organisms and offers a mechanism of information exchange on the genetically modified organisms registered in all countries. In this framework, a National Technical Group on Bio-security coordinated by the National Environmental Council and in charge of coordinating the regulation of bio-security in the agricultural, human health and fishing sectors. The regulations are already elaborated and only lack official approval to enter into effect and to begin the processing of the requests of interested investigators and companies.

Fortunately, several research groups exist that are making progress in the development of biotechnological and genomic innovations within the framework of the 2006-2021 National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation. With the next operation of the Science and Technology Program, innovative companies and research groups will have available important funds to promote more projects of innovation in biotechnology, with priority given to the agriculture, livestock, agro-industrial, fishing, aquiculture, textile fibers and clothing sectors.

In this sense, the Modern Biotechnology Development Law, recently approved by the Congress of the Republic, promotes national and foreign research, innovation and investments in biotechnology applied to the various productive sectors. Nevertheless, the Executive Branch observed this law as not being in agreement with an article that stipulates the revision and modification of current intellectual property legislation (Andean Decision 486). It is hoped that the parliament analyzes the observation of the Executive and promulgates the law as soon as possible, which will give a very important impulse to the development of biotechnology applications in order to elevate the competitiveness of our products.

Biotechnology and Business

Peru has numerous business opportunities stemming from biotechnology. In the agricultural and livestock sector are the varieties of transgenic pima cotton - tolerant to colder climates, as well as transgenic vegetables - tolerant to arid climates, transgenic fruits - with maturity slowed down or controlled to extend export windows, high quality alpaca fibers - in transgenic alpacas with vicuna genes that determine the refinement of their fiber.

Whereas in the lumber sector, biotechnology permits the transformation, cloning and cultivation of transgenic varieties of mahogany and cedar resistant to insects in secondary forest areas and transition zones in the jungle; in the health sector, human recombined vaccines are being developed that are based on segments of the genome of the pathogen for endemic tropical diseases - malaria, dengue (leishmaniasis), as well as the molecular characterization and valuation of genes of our cultivated and wild biodiversity - with pharmaceutical, nutritious or cosmetic properties.

Similarly, there is the bio-lixiviation of minerals of copper, gold and other metals with selected, conventional and/or transgenic bacteria, with the secondary recovery of petroleum by means of transgenic bacteria and with the bio-remediation of soils and contaminated bodies of water.

[1] Defined as all use of live organisms by means of the use of technologies of manipulation, cloning and recombining of genetic material and DNA to benefit human activities such as agriculture, forestry and aquiculture; feeding, health and medicine; energy, mining, industry and environment.