INSITE into biotech's potential
Lazarus Mabasa
1 October 2004
A conference on the commercial potential of biotechnology will be held during South Africa's new International Science, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (INSITE), taking place at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg from 1 to 3 November.
INSITE, backed by the Department of Science and Technology, aims to showcase the ideas, innovations, products, technologies, services and solutions that could help drive South Africa into the future.
During the biotechnology conference, international experts, academics and researchers will share their knowledge on the issues and challenges evolving in biotechnology.
Exhibitors will include both local and international governments and research institutions, science and technology institutions, entrepreneurs, funding agencies, and the United Nations family of science and technology-related organisations.
Henry Daniell, Pegasus Professor at the University of Central Florida, said he hoped the
conference would help educate the public and policymakers on recent developments.
"Biotechnology is revolution to global agriculture and is the best hope to solve food shortage, hunger and malnutrition around the world" Daniell said.
Daniell said the conference would also discuss biotechnology for crop improvement and production of human therapeutic proteins.
Genetically modified (GM) crops, introduced in 1996, are currently being planted on more than 167 million acres worldwide. The US is the leader of all GM crops planted globally, with Argentina, Canada, Brazil, China and South Africa also major producers. South Africa planted over a million acres of GM cotton last year.
Daniell said that more than 85 percent of farmers who planted GM crops were resource-poor, including South African cotton growers.
Source: BuaNews
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