OECD: Biotechnology assuming major role

Provided certain development obstacles are overcome, biotechology will loom large in industry, agriculture and health by 2030, the OECD predicts. The organisation says biotechnology will contribute up to 2.7% of gross domestic product in industrialised countries and even more in developing countries.

But government and industry will have to remove barriers to commercialisation such as technological challenges, regulatory issues, lack of investment, social acceptance issues and market structures. Biotechnology is already well established in the agriculture and health sectors but other applications, such as regenerative medicine, are still in the early stages of development, the report says.

It predicts that by 2015 around half of major food and feed crops across the globe will probably come from plant varieties developed with the help of biotechnology. In the chemical industry, the value of biochemicals could reach12%-20% of all chemical production compared with 1.8% in 2005.

The bioeconomy of 2030 is likely to involve three elements: advanced knowledge of genes and complex cell processes, renewable biomass, and the integration of biotechnology applications across sectors, the report states. But success will require "purposive, goal-oriented policy" as well as leadership by governments and companies.

The EU is investing EUR1.9 billion (US$2.6 billion) in the creation of a European bioeconomy under the heading of food, agriculture and fisheries and biotechnology within the Seventh Framework Programme for Research.

More at: www.oecd.org

alan.osborn@uw-news.com