On February 25, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology, with Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering as its chair, announced ten biotechnologies that will improve the quality of human life.

Experts with biotechnology backgrounds gathered at Global Agenda Council’s annual conference held at Dubai and selected ten technologies that are expected to have major impacts on our lives, such as energy sources, food supply, and healthcare. The list includes bioproduction of sustainable chemicals, energy, and other materials; genetically modified crops to increase sustainable food production; seawater bioprocesses to produce fuel and chemicals; zero-waste bio-processing; carbon dioxide as a raw material; regenerative medicine to create new organs; rapid and precise development and manufacturing of medicine and vaccines; accurate, fast, cheap, and personalized diagnostics and prognostics; biotech improvements to soil and water; and advanced healthcare through genome sequencing.

Notable among these are regenerative medicine, rapid and precise development and manufacturing of medicine and vaccines, and advanced healthcare through genome sequencing, since they closely relate to the improvement of life expectancy.

Regenerative medicine addresses the need for rapidly aging populations by growing tissues and organs in the laboratory and allowing surgeons to implant them when the body is incapable of healing itself. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), which are adult cells that have been programmed to return to an embryonic stem cell-like state, are also another very interesting topic in this field.

There is a possibility that state-of-the-art biotechnology can rapidly produce therapeutics and vaccines against any target. These technologies, like messenger therapeutics, which stimulate the body’s natural ability to produce therapeutic agents, and targeted immunotherapies, which boost or restore the immune system by targeting specific cells, are likely to improve human health all over the globe.

Genome sequencing, which used to take more than 13 years and 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, can now be done in a single day for less than 1,000 dollars. New research and medicine will be powered by the understanding of genetic variations found in the sequence.

Professor Lee said, “The technologies selected by the Council this year cover almost every fields of biotechnology. They provide concrete solutions to problems that we face today.” He also requested constant interest and support as “increase in public awareness and investment are the driving forces behind biotechnology development.”

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