Indian farmers will grow genetically modified (GM) cotton on 90 per cent of the area under cotton cultivation in two years, a group that advocates the use of such crops said recently. “Indian farmers have overwhelmingly adopted genetically modified cotton as better yields pushed output substantially and drastically cut pesticide use,” said Mr. Clive James, chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. The organization advocates large-scale use and application of GM crops.

“It is noteworthy that for the seven-year period 2002-2008, there was a 150-fold increase in Bt cotton in India,” Mr. James said. Indian farmers grow cotton on about 9 million hectares. He said India planted genetically altered fibre on 7.6 million hectares in 2008, up from 6.2 million hectares a year earlier.

Cotton output in India, the world’s second-biggest producer, is expected fall to 29 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) in the crop year to September 2009 from 31.5 million bales a year ago as late sowing would cut production, according to official estimates.

India allowed commercial cultivation of Bt cotton in 2002, sparking protests from activists who say genetically altered crops are a health hazard, spoil soil texture and harm the environment. Increasing cotton output, however, has encouraged government officials to back the technology, which is seen as a viable step to support the country’s more than one billion population when farmland is shrinking rapidly due to industrialization and urban spread.

Source: www.checkbiotech.com

Dr. Jay T. Flatley, CEO of the biotech company Illumina, the United States, has predicted that every baby will have its entire genome decoded at birth by the year 2019. Speaking to The Times newspaper recently, Dr. Flatley estimated that his company would be offering the service for as little as US$1,000 within the decade, one hundredth of the current price.

A baby’s genome will be computerized, from start to finish, via an innocuous heel-prick blood test. The idea behind this is to recognize risks of developing well-studied genetic conditions, like breast cancer or cystic fibrosis, as often these are manifest as small changes in our DNA. Beginning life with such information could be of great benefit, claims Dr. Flatley. It would enable tailor-made drug regimens, when drugs are prescribed to suit an individual’s metabolism. Prophylactic treatment might become routine. Dietary advice could also be given, for instance, where a newborn shows the signs of a cardiovascular disease.

Besides social acceptability, disproportionate costs have been cited as the limiting factor for the idea. However, as the costs of sequencing technologies are now plummeting, Dr. Flatley’s forecast of the price makes it once again feasible. Dr. Flatley, however, concedes that acceptability will always be an issue: “The limitations are sociological; when and where people think it can be applied, the concerns people have about misinformation and the background ethics questions,” he said.

Source: www.bionews.com

Birmingham will become the first link in a unique chain of Cancer Research UK Centres to be set up across the United Kingdom. These cancer centres will draw together world class research and areas of medical expertise to achieve the best possible results for cancer patients nationwide.

As the first Cancer Research UK Centre, Birmingham will set the pace for national and international progress for genetics, gene therapy and the link between viruses and some cancers, as well as focusing on cancers of the prostate and bladder, and leukaemia. It will also become a leading centre for clinical trials.

Collaboration is the key to the success of the Centre, which will also concentrate on large-scale population studies, cell biology and tumour immunology. Professor Lawrence Young, head of the University of Birmingham’s College of Medical & Dental Sciences, said: “We are at the forefront of a cancer revolution, translating our research into new treatments.” Partnering the University of Birmingham, the Centre also aims to attract and train the highest quality clinical and non-clinical cancer research students, to develop infrastructure for tissue banking and data collection, to strengthen collaboration between scientists and clinicians, and to improve international communication.

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com

Kenya has become the fourth African country to allow the production and use of genetically modified (GM) crops after President Mr. Mwai Kibaki signed on the Parliament’s approval of new biosafety legislation in February. The Biosafety Bill 2008 sees the East African nation join Burkina Faso, Egypt and South Africa as African nations that permit GM farming, following years of fine-tuning to the proposed regulations and mechanisms to monitor and regulate GM technology, and protect farmers and consumers.

A National Biosafety Authority will now be created, under the National Council for Science and Technology, to implement the legislation and to follow priorities as stated in the National Biotechnology Development Policy passed in 2006, said Ms. Margaret Karembu, Director of the Kenya-based African centre of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). She added that the new legislation would fast-track the Water Efficient Maize for Africa project to develop drought-resistant maize, which had stalled due to the lack of a legislative framework.

Mr. Charles Watoro, Director of Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), says that the new law will allow open field trials in several locations, removing previous restrictions and speeding up agricultural improvements. Mr. Watoro says KARI researchers are working on cotton, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes and sorghum GM to resist common pests.

Meanwhile, an international survey of 13 years of GM agriculture up until 2008, released in Nairobi in February by ISAAA, says there is substantial evidence that crops genetically modified to withstand drought, pests and diseases are safe for human consumption.

Source: www.scidev.net

The United States Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the first trial to see if human embryonic stem cells can treat people safely. The biotechnology company Geron Corporation said it plans a clinical trial to try to use the stem cells to regrow nerve tissue in patients with crushed, but not severed, spinal cords.

Human embryonic stem cell research has been a political issue, with anti-abortion forces arguing that the technique involves the destruction of human embryos, and the advocates of the technique saying it could transform medicine. “This approach is one that reaches beyond pills and scalpels to achieve a new level of healing,” said Geron Chief Executive Dr. Thomas Okarma. Geron will recruit 8-10 recently injured patients and inject them with small numbers of human embryonic stem cells manipulated to become the oligodendrocyte cells that insulate nerves and produce compounds to stimulate the growth of nerve cells.

Dr. Okarma said the treatment should eventually become cheap and easy to mass produce because the cells can be grown in vats. The cells, he believes, may be useful for treating other diseases such as multiple sclerosis, in which nerve cells are stripped of their insulating sheaths, and perhaps stroke.

The Phase I trial will be designed to show that the approach does not develop tumours in patients or damage their nervous systems. It will also indicate whether the stem cells might repair the damaged spinal cords. While the patients will get low doses of immune-suppressing drugs for the first two months, Dr. Okarma is confident the cells will escape immune system recognition, and patients will not have to endure the treatments that organ and tissue transplant recipients usually do. Treatment on the first patient should begin this summer.

Source: www.reuter.com

Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp), the lead development agency for the biotechnology industry in Malaysia, kicked off their first business development engagement for 2009 in Hyderabad and Chennai, India. BiotechCorp was established in 2005 to play the leading role in building the biotechnology business in Malaysia by creating a conducive environment as well as to actively promote foreign direct investments in Malaysian biotechnology.

Biotechnology has been identified as one of the key drivers for growth by the Malaysian government and will continue to be supported as one of the new sources of growth not only for the nation’s economy, but as an enabler to move conventional sectors up the value chain. The government announced a US$3 billion allocation this year to enhance healthcare, which included increasing the supply of medicine, intensifying research and enforcement activities, and further strengthening the growth of healthcare biotechnology.

Malaysia and India continue to collaborate in the field of biotechnology and life sciences with strategic partnerships forged between companies in the two countries. BiotechCorp and the Manipal Education and Medical Group (Manipal Group) of India entered into a partnership in May 2007. Later, Manipal Group set up Stempeutics Research Ltd., which became the first international company in stem cells research and therapeutics to be granted the privileged BioNexus status in Malaysia. Stempeutics Research recently launched a US$5 million first-of-its-kind stem cell research facility in Malaysia to strengthen its leadership position in such research.

Malladi Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Malladi Drugs), an API manufacturer based in Chennai, is committed to invest up to US$300 million in the next 3-5 years with aims to expand into other areas of service offering as a contract research organization in Malaysia. This includes oncology and steroids and beta-lactums. Malladi’s activities will turn Malaysia into an outsourcing centre for pharmaceutical companies from the United States and Europe.

Source: www.indiaprwire.com

Bangladesh has introduced a new combination vaccine that will protect its children against five killer diseases in one injection, including, for the first time, the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) that causes some severe forms of pneumonia and meningitis. The vaccine can prevent about one-third of life-threatening cases of bacterial pneumonia, the leading infectious cause of death in children worldwide.

Each year, Hib is estimated to cause millions of serious illnesses and 400,000 deaths globally, the majority of them among children under five years of age. Even with treatment, thousands of children die of Hib disease every year, while survivors are often permanently disabled – paralysed, brain-damaged or deafened.

The vaccine will be provided under the routine immunization programme to nearly four million children born in Bangladesh every year. It is estimated that Hib vaccine can save about 20,000 children’s lives annually in the country. “Where used routinely, it (Hib vaccine) has virtually eliminated Hib disease,” stated Dr. Rana Hajjeh, Director of the Hib Initiative at Johns Hopkins University.

The new combination vaccine will protect children against Hib, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and hepatitis B. Instead of three different injections, the children will now need only one injection at three different times during their first year of life. This will make it easier for health workers who will need less time and less logistics to immunize all children. It will also increase the uptake of vaccine, as each child will get all five vaccines at once. Introduction of the 5-in-1 vaccine in the country is carried out with financial and technical support from the GAVI Alliance, UNICEF, WHO and the Hib Initiative. The Government of Bangladesh is participating in the project by co-financing the vaciine purchase.

Source: www.physorg.com