Biotechnology in Malaysia

Biotechnology, being one of the five core technologies that will accelerate Malaysia's transformation into a highly industrialized nation by 2020 has received strong governmental support and commitment. Accordingly, the government has encouraged the development of biotechnology through financial support for its research and development (R&D), infrastructure and human resource development (HRD). Currently, the majority of biotechnology R&D activities are being carried out in the public sector. The private sector on the other hand, has focused primarily on plant tissue culture. The annual production of orchids by tissue culture alone has been estimated to be worth RM 50 million, with an export earning of RM 33 million. Since biotechnology is carried out mainly in local universities and R&D institutions, a National Biotechnology Directorate (BIOTEK) was established in 1996 to promote and coordinate biotechnology R&D activities in the country and to promote private-public sector participation in the national biotechnology program.

Under the management of BIOTEK, biotechnology R&D activities in the country are categorized into seven sectors. These are namely molecular biology, plant biotechnology, animal biotechnology, medical biotechnology, environmental & industrial biotechnology, biopharmacy and food biotechnology. R&D activities in each sector are carried out via a Biotechnology Cooperative Center (BCC) which is overseen by a coordinator. Since Malaysia is basically an agriculture-based country, it is not surprising that agricultural and food biotechnology have received greater emphasis. Agricultural biotechnology is envisaged as a potentially powerful tool to ensure food security for the country. It is also a vehicle for wealth creation. Tissue culture of several industrial crops (oil palm, rubber, rattan, forest trees) together with food crops (rice, banana, sago, herbs and medicinal plants) and ornamentals (orchids, pitcher plants) have been successfully carried out for sometime.

Several genetically modified crops and plants containing traits of value have been produced at the experimental stage. Prominent among these products are genetically modified rice, manipulated to resist the tungro virus and papaya modified to resist ringspot virus infection and with prolonged shelf life. Other crop plants such as pineapples are manipulated to resist "black heart", bananas and papaya for delayed ripening, chili for virus resistance, and sweet potatoes (albeit, preliminary), for delivery of edible vaccines. Flowers such as orchids are being engineered to express novel colors as well as increased shelf life. Transgenic technologies have now been developed to genetically modify such critical crop species as oil palm and rubber.

DNA marker techniques have been applied to several plants (oil palm, rubber, cocoa, sago, acacia, sentang, bananas, etc.) for identification, inheritance studies, marker assisted selection in breeding and genetic mapping. Preliminary genetic maps for oil palm and rubber have been generated and these can be further exploited for making quantitative trait loci (QTL) maps to locate traits of economic importance. These will be utilized in marker-assisted selection, resulting in reduced costs and increased efficiency of conventional breeding.

In general, food biotechnology is relatively new in Malaysia although food and food ingredients produced by traditional biotechnology like fermentation technology have brought to market products like soy sauce, yogurt, nata, tempeh, tapai and budu. Food biotechnology has also yielded high quality clarified fruit juices. Currently biotechnology processes, which are being employed by the food industry in the private sector, are the production of monosodium glutamate, vinegar, yeast, and syrups (glucose, fructose and maltose).

Several animal recombinant vaccines have been produced to assist the development of animal husbandry. Marker assisted breeding strategies are also being practiced to increase the efficiency of livestock breeding programs. To reduce the costs associated with importing food and feed, research is also underway to generate livestock feed through biotechnology that can substitute for the imported corn currently used for animal feed.

A number of industries producing industrial solvents, sweeteners and food additives based on conventional biotechnology such as fermentation processes have been in existence for decades in this country. The application of bio-remediation techniques in the treatment of industrial and agricultural wastes has found widespread acceptance. New developments in industrial biotechnology in Malaysia encompass activities such as the optimization and enhancement of new treatment systems through bio-augmentation or genetic engineering. Research into the development of new monitoring tools viz. biosensors are in progress. This will facilitate accurate and real time monitoring of the environment.

Research in medical biotechnology has generated several diagnostics kits for dengue and other infectious tropical diseases. Although R&D activities in biopharmacy are relatively new in this country, a bioenhanced formulation of the anti-malarial drug artermisinin, with increased efficacy has been produced. Other projects that have been planned or are currently under development include medium through-put screening for bioactive compounds, the experimental production of biomolecules using biotechnological approaches, and the development of advanced drug delivery systems for biomolecules.
One international partnership is with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and entitled the Malaysian-M.I.T. Biotechnology Partnership Program (MMBPP). Established less than two years ago, the program has focused on natural product discovery and oil palm biotechnology. The program has already generated intellectual property with two natural products by focusing on fundamental questions relevant to the establishment of new products and processes. A proposal for commercializing one of the technologies is being formulated.

Cognizant that biotechnology is a knowledge-driven technology, the government has established a National Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Network (NBBnet). This has helped to promote closer collaboration and networking within and outside the country, initiated the setting up of databases and bioinfomration of our local genetic resources and core R&D activities of the BCCs. Nabbinet has also facilitated the establishment of high computing facilities for protein modelling and DNA analysis.

Despite the many R&D activities that have been undertaken in Malaysia, the country has not experienced a significant growth in its biotechnology industry. Global benchmarks such as the number of biotechnology companies founded or the number of biotechnology-related patents that have been issued to Malaysian inventors all indicate that the considerable investment the country has made in biotechnology has not captured the opportunity to translate the nations biotechnological assets into the growth of the K-economy. The greatest causes underlying this unfortunate state of affairs are the lack of a critical mass of co-located innovators, lack of state-of-the-art facilities and the lack of a strong entrepreneurial environment and mechanism for commercialization. Given the current state of biotechnology in Malaysia, there is now a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on developments in biotechnology by addressing the two major shortcomings in the Malaysian biotechnology industry. The BioValley project has been designed specifically to do this.
(source:http://www.nbbnet.gov.my/biotech.htm)