Thesis: Modern Biotechnology can be harnessed to improve the global economic welfare in such fields as agricultural production, improvement of production processes and biomedical research.
Introduction
Biotechnology, in its simplest form, can be defined as the type of technologies that are based on biology. In its umbrella meaning, the term refers to the use of cellular and molecular innovations to solve such world problems like food security, development of treatment for illnesses and conducting research with an aim of improving manufacturing processes. Sometimes, biotechnology is used to provide solutions like replacement of energy that is produced using processes that push emissions to the environment with clean energy.
Generally, biotechnology does not provide solutions for these problems by itself, but by using such processes like genetic engineering, researchers can develop genetic combinations that increase resistance to drought or parasites, in the case of food production (Virchow and Qaim, 02-03). Combination of biotechnology and such other fields of studies like chemistry, molecular biology and cell biology give rise to the modern biotechnology, a field that cuts across all facets of life.
Every day researchers achieve milestones in the scientific study of biotechnology. In laboratories, products are been tested and developed in many parts of the world (Xue and Tisdell 05).Some of the milestones include the discovery of the ability to recombine genes, cultivate new tissues and carry out microbial fragmentation. In the whole set of the field and innovations taking place, the basic aim is to provide solutions to challenges that affect the world. In that respect, therefore, it is noteworthy that modern biotechnology affects the way people consume food and what they consume, the medicines prescribed in hospitals and the methods used to tackle environmental problems like climate change and clean energy. For those reasons, then, it is conclusive that modern biotechnology has an economic element and impact to the world.
Literature review
Biotechnology is now a principle contributor of most economies around the globe including the North American region which includes the US and Canada. Biotechnology, being a new entrant sector in the world economies, is currently rivaling traditional sectors that have been linked with the biggest development and contribution to world economies such as utilities, electronics, computing and mining. To this effect most countries have already laid out plans on how to improve the sector going forward in order to reap the biggest benefits from the sector in the future. Biotechnology products are poised to displace petroleum products from the market.
Biotechnology contributes $324 billion to the US economy, a figure that roughly makes it equivalent of 2% of the total gross domestic product (Carlson 247-255). This figure is estimated on the lower side, indicating that the sector might be bigger than that. Moreover, biotechnology sector has grown at an average of 10% since the turn of the century, despite the major economic slowdown of the mid-2000s. Robert Carson, in an in-depth analysis in the Nature Biotechnology journal, analyses the increasing importance of the sector, and the need to create more dependable data for future research.
The estimation of the biotechnology sector is hampered by the lack of clarity of what the term means. Many researchers and scientists use the words bioeconomy and biotechnology interchangeably, creating confusion and blurred lines of what the sector should constitute. However, despite those challenges, Robert Carson came up with a credible and empirical approach to the analysis and estimation of the contribution of the sector. Notably, the nature of biotechnology as a support science, rather than being a science by itself, stretches the imaginations of the field. For example, if a drug is manufactured using a chemical process that hinges on biotechnology, it ends up being classified as a pharmaceutical product; the economic implication of this figure is measured in the GDP under pharmaceutical industry (Carlson 247-255).
In Canada, biotechnology has been growing at an average rate of 12% since 1995. The amount invested in research and development by private companies crossed the one billion mark in 2005, highlighting the relevance of the sector to the country economy (Centre for the Study of Living Standards 7&8). The number of people employed in biotechnology is estimated at 20,000 people, conservatively. Concrete data on the contribution of biotechnology to the economy is not available, but the influx of venture capitalists money in the last twenty years underlines the increasing attention given to the sector.
The same challenges of identity in the US biotech sector are faced in Canada, though the demarcation between different fields is clearer in Canada that in the USA. In Canada, the main sub-sectors of biotech include industrial biotech, medical biotech and agricultural biotech. (Centre for the Study of Living Standards 8). The report, titled ‘Measuring the Contribution of Modern Biotechnology to the Canadian Economy’ aims to determine the size of the subsector and its contribution the national economy.
In California, about 268,000 people are employed in the biotechnology industry with an average salary of $72,000 according to the California Biotechnology Foundation. In 2009 , biotech companies in California generated revenues that exceeded $114 billion dollars, and the figure is estimated to have increased in the following years, at an average of 10% per year. In terms of contribution to the tax basket, biotechnology companies pay taxes of $3 billion shillings every year, in California State only.
California is known as the home of technology, and biotech has been a key area of innovation in the recent past, with a hard leaning on creating solutions that would make most basic amenities affordable and effective. Biotechnology is used to develop medicines and modern agricultural practices that change the amount of yields that farmers produce. Genetically modified products are legal in some parts of the world, and they provide a key avenue for exploitation of biotechnology innovations.
Outside America, very little is known about the contribution of biotechnology to gross domestic products. However, a research carried out in Kenya and Mexico revealed that biotechnology can solve the food problems in third world countries (Virchow and Qaim, 02-03). Food security and safety is a major challenge for developing countries where farmers continue using traditional production methods. Genetically modified products would be a crucial source of food in these countries. Moreover, gene combinations and recombinations help in creating crops and seedlings that are resistant to pests and parasites. In other cases, biotechnology is used to develop drought resistant crops that can survive in areas that do not receive heavy rains.
Findings
As noted above, the value of the biotechnology sector is very high, and the contribution to the global economy would be higher if the figures were made available. A conservative estimate of $364 billion in US alone is a promising figure, especially considering that most of the revenues from biotechnological innovations sneak out of the sector through reclassification and lack of clear ways to categorize biotech. America and Canada lead the way the economies treat biotechnology. Having the infrastructure and the government backing to carry out biotechnology projects can contribute to the growth of the sector in many countries. Developing countries lag far behind in terms of funds allocated for research and development on biotechnology.
Biotech, like any other technological field, requires heavy investment in terms of research and development. This research can be done by government agencies, universities or private funded projects that aim to pay the owner off once the innovation succeeds and revenues start coming into the institution. The advantage of using government agencies to carry out is that the processes are quicker and researchers do not walk around with the tag on their neck that he or she has to deliver to venture capitalist. The nature of research makes it hard to predict when the breakthrough will be achieved, and it would not be a perfect match for money from financiers.
Figure 1: (a) US Contributions by sector. (b) Industrial business-to-business earnings in the US. Source: (Carlson 250).
Figure 2: (a) US Revenues from GM Crops. (b) US Market penetration for 5 crops. Source: (Carlson 253)
Conclusion
Biotechnology has been a major contributor of growth to many countries. Researchers have come up with cures for illnesses and dynamic solutions to issues affecting people in the world. There is a need to keep for further investment in this sector to continue solving problems like food scarcity, need for clean energy and taking care of the environment. The potential of biotechnology to countries has not been realized yet, partly due to lack of concrete data, and partly, because governments and organizations have not exploited the potential of biotechnology.
Works Cited
"California Biotechnology Foundation". Cabiotech.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 May 2016.
Carlson, Robert. "Estimating The Biotech Sector's Contribution To The US Economy". Nat Biotechnol 34.3 (2016): 247-255. Web. 15 May 2016.
Centre for the Study of Living Standards,. Measuring The Contribution Of Modern Biotechnology To The Canadian Economy. Ottawa: N.p., 2011. Web. 15 May 2016.
Virchow, Detlef and Matin Qaim. The Role Of Biotechnology For Global Food Security. 1st ed. Agrarwirtschaft, 2012. Web. 15 May 2016.
Xue, Dayuan and lem Tisdell. Afety And Socio-Economic Issues Raised By Modern Biotechnology. 6th ed. School of Economics, The University of Queensland, 2016. Print.
