BioBusiness Revolution: Agribiology, Environmental Life Sciences and Industrial Biotechnology (Past, Present and Future)

Prof Shahi kickstarted the lesson by asking: What is so interesting about biotechnology such that many countries are investing in it yet it is of such a small economy now? The reason is because all forms of life shares similar building blocks. For example, the human genome is 98% similar to that of monkeys. What is more shocking to me is that the human genome is 48% similar to that of papaya! 

According to the definition on Wikipedia:

Biotechnology is the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use". Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the (related) fields of bioengineering and biomedical engineering. 

The food sector has the largest composition in the global biobusiness sector, followed by healthcare and agriculture, and biotechnology which is the smallest component.

The current global trend is that we are becoming increasingly urban, as evident as the following graph below, due to reasons such as better infrastructure and more job opportunities available in urban societies comparatively to rural ones.

When societies advance from rural to increasingly urban, there are both benefits as well as problems. Benefits include higher literacy rates, increased accessibility and availability to basic amenities. Problems, or rather challenges, include increase in energy consumption, and increase in the spread of diseases due to increasing populations and thus overcrowding. Another challenge would be due to the increasing populations, and hence increase in demand for food consumption. How are able to meet increasing demand with the current supply? I find the quote discussed in class pretty relevant here. “There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.” –Mahatma Gandhi. How are we able to adequately feed the increasing global populations in the future? There is apparently an urgent need to increase productivity and efficiency. These challenges will be addressed more in-depth in the later part of my journal J

Food security: A condition where all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preference for an active and healthy life.  This definition adheres to the principle that everyone has a Right to Adequate Food, and to be free from hunger as enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights (UN Economic and Social Council, 1999)

Prof Shahi screened a video titled “Norman Borlaug Discusses Biotech Benefits” and here are the following benefits I have gathered from it:

1. Increasing agricultural yields and saving millions from starvation

2. Green revolution: increase seedling and fertilizers

3. Reduce pesticide use

4. Reduce soil erosion

5. Saving the environment for future generations

The next video he showed us, entitled “Sustainable agriculture and biotechnology” is a very informative one! It basically talks about the challenges such as food and energy shortage and how sustainability is crucial in maintaining our resources and not depleting them for the use by the future generations.

Currently, the global population is rising at an exponential rate, and thus putting a heavier strain on the world’s water, food and land resources each year. Of course, sustainability is the key to meet the demands of the current population and yet not compromise the future generations of theirs, which also means getting more resources from the world and reducing the carbon footprint simultaneously in an economical way.

Solutions by farmers: Agricultural biotechnology to address food, fuel and water shortages. It is observed that with the use of agricultural biotechnology, there is an increase in crop yields and productivity which also means that there is increase in food for people and feed for animals and income for farmers, all these benefits with less land by using biotechnology. Biotech crops are also helping people meet nutritional needs which are helpful especially in developing countries. Biotechnology can also help farmers cope with drought, floods and monsoons since biotech crops have higher resistance to such extreme weather conditions.

Another challenge would be the global increase in energy use given rising populations. In 2006, US use ¼ of global world supply of oil. We can only imagine how much more oil would be needed in the future years. What is therefore the solution to this urgent problem? New sources of sustainable energy. Such as Biofuels. Biofuels are derived from high yield renewable plants that can be converted to ethanol and given such alternative sustainable energy sources, they can meet tomorrow’s energy needs. Overall, the more sustainable our biopractices are, the less damage to the environment. However, Prof Shahi said that we have not reached there yet.

During the presentations that session, a more environmentally-friendly solution to meeting the global food demand was brought up, that is organic agriculture. It uses comparably less energy than traditional agricultural methods, and is far more sustainable with no need of pesticides to be used. However, it produces fewer crops on average by 25% compared to conventional agriculture, which means organic agriculture produces less food with the same amount of land. The presenter then brought up a question, are we really not producing enough food?

2 answers suggested by my peers were 1. Uneven distribution of food between the developing and the developed countries. This is manifested in the global health scene today where there is “disease of excess” such as obesity in places such as the United States where in other countries, malnutrition and starvation prevails. 2. Food dumping, just to create artificial demand so that price would maintain. Could they channel this food to the poor instead? Self-interest of company? Government influences?

Another interesting presentation made that day to combat shortage of food was the innovation of edible steak made from sewage mud, which actually has high protein content. There is a win-win situation as it is of nutritional value as well as sufficient supply of food due to the overabundance of sewage mud. Such innovations would definitely help in combating food shortages such as during famine worldwide.  

Major concerns in Agribiology, Environment and Industrial Science:

Agribiology:

1. Farmer to Farmist?

The concept of ‘farmist’ is growing. Farming was initially thought to be a job for the uneducated and the unskilled but this stereotype is challenged as now, farming is seen as something more than what it was previously before. It is now a lucrative business option. It is a commercialized biobusiness. In countries like India and China, where agriculture and farming constitutes a large percentage of their countries employment, this shift in farming concept, from conventional practices to a more technologically advanced one, will lift these countries higher, in terms of economics and standard of living.

2. To GM or not to GM?

Genetically modified foods (GM foods, or biotech foods) are foods produced from organisms that have had specific changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. 

Technology that has delivered enormous benefits to people in developing countries and promises far more. 

Examples:

- Recently published data from a seven-year study of Indian farmers show that those growing a genetically modified crop increased their yield per acre by 24 percent and boosted profits by 50 percent. These farmers were able to buy more food—and food of greater nutritional value—for their families.

- To curb vitamin A deficiency—which blinds as many as 500,000 children worldwide every year and kills half of them—researchers have engineered Golden Rice, which produces beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.

Prof Shahi then focused on food labelling.

Pro-mandatory labelling Arguments:

1. “You are what you eat”. Consumers have a right to know what’s in their food, especially concerning products for which health and environmental concerns have been raised.                 

Anti-mandatory labelling Arguments:
1. Labels on food made with genetically modified ingredients imply a warning about health effects, whereas no significant differences between conventional foods and GM foods have been detected. If a nutritional or allergenic difference were found in a GM food, current FDA regulations require a label to that effect.
2. Many people argue for GM labels in the name of increased consumer choice. On the contrary, such labels have limited people's options. Retailers have eliminated GM products from their shelves due to perceived consumer aversion to GM products. This drives customers away from GM food and less profits for businesses in this relation.
3. Consumers who want to buy non-GM food already have an option: to purchase certified organic foods that are labelled "100% Organic".
4. Labelling will increase food costs and hurt the livelihood of farmers. 

Environmental Life Sciences:

Waste management: Could someone’s waste be someone else’s resource? Waste products can be burnt and recycled to be regenerated into a variety of good output.

Overall, I would rate this session a 9/10. Really enjoyed the variety of issues covered! Looking forward to the next session after recess week :)