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Where logic ends, regulation (of agricultural biotechnology) begins
Special Abstracts / Journal of Biotechnology 150S (2010) S1–S576
also strengthening the capacity of the academia (universities) in order to participate to the global effort in data generation and drug development. This approach by letting Africans designing their own drugs against diseases affecting their communities may contribute to ease the burden of those diseases. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.09.916 [RT.4] European policies and public private partnerships Maria Cristina Pedicchio University of Trieste, Cluster in Biomedicine(CBM), European Research Area Board (ERAB) Future prospects for research in Europe have been discussed in many strategic documents of the European Union, in order to stimulate member countries to invest in Research and Knowledge, by enhancing particular public-private collaborations. The document “Preparing Europe for a New Renaissance” recently published by the European Research Area Board marks 6 strategic approaches for the future of Europe. A united ERA across Europe An ERA driven by societal needs to address the ‘Grand Challenges’ An ERA based on a shared responsibility between science, policy and society An ERA of open innovation between all public and private stakeholders An ERA to deliver excellence An ERA of cohesion across the continent The presentation will focus on the aspects of “open innovation”, meaning that the entire European system for getting ideas from lab to market in Europe must be open to all players. At present numerous barriers prevent a free exchange of ideas (fiscal policies, funding, risk-capital markets, etc). A genuine “single market” for innovation in Europe is needed, together with both regulatory incentives and a supporting taxation system. This is true for all sectors, but in particular for Biotechnologies. The presentation will also cover aspects related to Human Resources in research and the need for them to be increasingly mobile both internationally but especially between the public and private sector, with specifically-designed training schemes, in order to face challenges posed by countries such as China that are concentrating and increasing investment in knowledge and researchers. Italian Technology Districts are concrete example of public private partnerships and of open innovation centers thus implementing European directions. The network and experiences of the Technology Districts In the fields of Life Sciences and Biotechnology will be described briefly. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.09.917 RT.5 Where logic ends, regulation (of agricultural biotechnology) begins Piero Morandini Dept. of Biology, University of Milan, Italy Plant biotechnology is a cheap technology: the rational modification of plant genes is easily achieved in a small laboratory equipped for minimal DNA manipulation and transformation. Once
S551
a transgene is obtained, the agronomic tests are, in principle, similar to those of conventional plants and since the predictability of the phenotype is far greater with transgenesis compared to classical methods such as mutation breeding, then the number of individuals to be tested is usually far smaller. Moreover some problems such as virus resistance are usually intractable or far more difficult to tackle with conventional breeding methods. Last but not least, using transgenesis, there is usually no need for lengthy backcross programs to preserve varietal identity, a problem for many species. One would then expect that the costs of developing a transgenic variety would be substantially smaller than for a conventional variety. Truth is that the present regulatory regime for transgenic plants makes market approval very costly, not based on science and inconsistent with conventional breeding and its risks. The end result is that it represents an unsurmountable barrier for small and medium enterprises and public research centers. Almost no transgenic variety produced by them has been released for cultivation, despite thousands of publications and agronomic tests. Only a few traits (mainly herbicide tolerance and insect resistance) for a few major crops (soybean, maize, cotton and rapeseed) produced by few multinational companies have reached the market. It is a shame and a damage to deny the benefits of this technology for no good reason not only to our affluent societies but especially for the people in developing countries, who are exactly those who could benefit most from this technology. Several examples of interesting transgenes with substantial benefits will be presented together with the causes of (and possible cures for) this lamentable situation. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.09.918 [BBS1]
Final Plenary Session Integration of genomic science and personalized cancer Qimin Zhan State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology Cancer Institute/Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China Currently, there is an increasing burden of cancer occurrence and mortality globally. It has been predicted that by 2020, there are more than 20 million new cancer patients and 11 million of them will die of cancer each year. However, the current clinical treatment of cancer remains limited satisfaction since clinical decisions on specific treatments is largely dependent on anatomical or pathological-based disease classifications, which might leads to inefficient, expensive and high risk therapeutic approaches. For changing this situation, we must improve our ability to link our research in cancer biology with therapeutic strategy at the level of the individual patient. Most recently, the development of genomic science-based cancer personalized medicine has put substantial impact on our approaches to the diagnosis, characterization, and treatment of these malignancies. 1. The cancer genomic science will help us to well understand the underlying mechanism(s) of cancer initiation and malignant development. The information generated from large scale characterization of DNA, RNA, microRNA, and proteomic profiles in cancer patients will better lead to therapeutic decisions and new drug development..
also strengthening the capacity of the academia (universities) in order to participate to the global effort in data generation and drug development. This approach by letting Africans designing their own drugs against diseases affecting their communities may contribute to ease the burden of those diseases. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.09.916 [RT.4] European policies and public private partnerships Maria Cristina Pedicchio University of Trieste, Cluster in Biomedicine(CBM), European Research Area Board (ERAB) Future prospects for research in Europe have been discussed in many strategic documents of the European Union, in order to stimulate member countries to invest in Research and Knowledge, by enhancing particular public-private collaborations. The document “Preparing Europe for a New Renaissance” recently published by the European Research Area Board marks 6 strategic approaches for the future of Europe. A united ERA across Europe An ERA driven by societal needs to address the ‘Grand Challenges’ An ERA based on a shared responsibility between science, policy and society An ERA of open innovation between all public and private stakeholders An ERA to deliver excellence An ERA of cohesion across the continent The presentation will focus on the aspects of “open innovation”, meaning that the entire European system for getting ideas from lab to market in Europe must be open to all players. At present numerous barriers prevent a free exchange of ideas (fiscal policies, funding, risk-capital markets, etc). A genuine “single market” for innovation in Europe is needed, together with both regulatory incentives and a supporting taxation system. This is true for all sectors, but in particular for Biotechnologies. The presentation will also cover aspects related to Human Resources in research and the need for them to be increasingly mobile both internationally but especially between the public and private sector, with specifically-designed training schemes, in order to face challenges posed by countries such as China that are concentrating and increasing investment in knowledge and researchers. Italian Technology Districts are concrete example of public private partnerships and of open innovation centers thus implementing European directions. The network and experiences of the Technology Districts In the fields of Life Sciences and Biotechnology will be described briefly. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.09.917 RT.5 Where logic ends, regulation (of agricultural biotechnology) begins Piero Morandini Dept. of Biology, University of Milan, Italy Plant biotechnology is a cheap technology: the rational modification of plant genes is easily achieved in a small laboratory equipped for minimal DNA manipulation and transformation. Once
S551
a transgene is obtained, the agronomic tests are, in principle, similar to those of conventional plants and since the predictability of the phenotype is far greater with transgenesis compared to classical methods such as mutation breeding, then the number of individuals to be tested is usually far smaller. Moreover some problems such as virus resistance are usually intractable or far more difficult to tackle with conventional breeding methods. Last but not least, using transgenesis, there is usually no need for lengthy backcross programs to preserve varietal identity, a problem for many species. One would then expect that the costs of developing a transgenic variety would be substantially smaller than for a conventional variety. Truth is that the present regulatory regime for transgenic plants makes market approval very costly, not based on science and inconsistent with conventional breeding and its risks. The end result is that it represents an unsurmountable barrier for small and medium enterprises and public research centers. Almost no transgenic variety produced by them has been released for cultivation, despite thousands of publications and agronomic tests. Only a few traits (mainly herbicide tolerance and insect resistance) for a few major crops (soybean, maize, cotton and rapeseed) produced by few multinational companies have reached the market. It is a shame and a damage to deny the benefits of this technology for no good reason not only to our affluent societies but especially for the people in developing countries, who are exactly those who could benefit most from this technology. Several examples of interesting transgenes with substantial benefits will be presented together with the causes of (and possible cures for) this lamentable situation. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.09.918 [BBS1]
Final Plenary Session Integration of genomic science and personalized cancer Qimin Zhan State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology Cancer Institute/Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China Currently, there is an increasing burden of cancer occurrence and mortality globally. It has been predicted that by 2020, there are more than 20 million new cancer patients and 11 million of them will die of cancer each year. However, the current clinical treatment of cancer remains limited satisfaction since clinical decisions on specific treatments is largely dependent on anatomical or pathological-based disease classifications, which might leads to inefficient, expensive and high risk therapeutic approaches. For changing this situation, we must improve our ability to link our research in cancer biology with therapeutic strategy at the level of the individual patient. Most recently, the development of genomic science-based cancer personalized medicine has put substantial impact on our approaches to the diagnosis, characterization, and treatment of these malignancies. 1. The cancer genomic science will help us to well understand the underlying mechanism(s) of cancer initiation and malignant development. The information generated from large scale characterization of DNA, RNA, microRNA, and proteomic profiles in cancer patients will better lead to therapeutic decisions and new drug development..