Advances in biotechnology innovations have proven to be an impetus in driving national developments and transforming key sectors in most economies globally. Cutting-edge bioscience tools have made the development of life-saving drugs and diagnostic testing for patients a reality. Biotechnology has heralded development of high productive and nutritive food that can sustainably address global food insecurity. Large scale-produced bio-based fuels, biodegradable materials, and safer industrial chemicals are products of biotechnology that are touted to save our fast-degrading environment and protect lives against atrocious effects of climate change.
Breakthroughs in these technologies have raised hopes of salvaging the worsening state of our environment as scientists have developed methods of harnessing micro-organisms, enzymes and proteins to effectively break down pollutants and clean up the environment. At Biochemistry laboratories at the University of Nairobi in Kenya, research students and scientists have recorded a 98 per cent success rate in converting vegetable oil into vehicle fuel using biotechnology. The team is optimistic that it is a matter of time before industrial chemical processes are replaced by environmentally friendly bio-chemical processes.
There is enough evidence to show that biotechnology innovations can protect natural resources from pollutants and climate change. I once led a team of scientists to build an efficiently economical biochemical device that can detect the presence of pyrethroid pesticides in rivers passing through highly populated areas in Kenya’s urban cities. Interestingly, through the use of the device, we found that Nairobi River was highly toxic.
As the world reaps from enormous benefits of these technologies, there exist some critical gaps in actualizing bioscience innovations in Africa which have largely deprived the continent the capacity to invest in biotechnology. Funding is a big impediment to a successful bioscience industry in Africa and this has significantly discouraged investment in biotechnology. Governments in other parts of the world have invested heavily in leveraging bioremediation processes to enhance the capacity of bacteria to rid of pollutants and gently clean up their environment. In Europe, bioremediation industries offer great opportunities in job creation and economic growth. It is however regrettable that Africa governments are putting meagre resources into this vital science. Giving more attention to bioscience as an economic sector can be instrumental in driving market-based innovations that can result in mega biotechnology industries creating jobs to millions of people. African countries need innovation centres that promote not only innovations but also entrepreneurship in biosciences.
Upscaling resource capacity cannot happen in isolation as there is a much bigger problem with biotechnology-related policies. In fact, effective funding mechanisms to science projects are a product of good policies. Sadly, biotechnology landscape in the continent is characterized by inadequate policy frameworks, or lack thereof, rendering any meaningful biotech development from taking off en masse. Effective policy systems are the veins through which any innovation thrives. Policies that address biosciences in most African countries are poorly funded incapacitating them. For instance, inadequacies in biotechnology and biosafety policy systems are partly to blame for resistance or slow commercialization of genetically modified crops in the continent.
Africa’s research institutions are experiencing a ripple effect from poor policy environments that have curtailed progress in bioscience research. Until very recently, African universities did not have policy guidelines on how to protect intellectual property and turn biotechnology into a product. Policies may be in place but lack of guidelines means they cannot be operationalized.
But there is more than meets the eye. The precarious situation in biotech and biosafety policy-making in Africa has largely been precipitated by scientists themselves. You hardly find research scientists immersing themselves into policy making. Moreover, most scientists lack fundamental skills in engaging parliamentarians, politicians and government leaders on policy formulation. To cultivate a good political will for formulation of well-informed bioscience policies, scientists must learn how to repackage and pitch science politically. There is no choice about this!
Investment in resources and good policies is not enough to swiftly commercialize and make meaning to biotechnology innovations. Most of our education systems are too academic and inadequate in equipping learners with skills to translate an innovation into a market-based application. I know of many instances where scientists devise a product but fail to market and profit from it. These are gaps that needs urgent attention by all the involved stakeholders.
(Mulaa is a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Nairobi, Kenya)