LETTERS: Businesses are shifting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) technology domain to remain credible and competitive. IR4.0 is not just about automation and robotics. Biotechnology is, in fact, very much part of the industrial revolution equation.
The public is now better acquainted with biotechnology jargon, including polymerase chain reaction and antigen. The development of therapeutic drugs through biotechnology is in the pipeline. The power of biotechnology is real.
Apart from healthcare and medicine, agriculture is gaining from biotechnology not just in addressing crop diseases but also in developing new clones that perform better.
Another branch of biotechnology that has made significant progress in addressing the needs of society and economy is synthetic biology or fermentation engineering.
This is where microbes are harnessed to produce many of the products we now produce on land.
As land grows more scarce, and land use becomes complicated with the pressures of environmental wellbeing, scientists are turning to different approaches to make agricultural products that alleviate the pressures on the environment, including climate change.
It has been reported widely that the idea to produce meat in the laboratory is a commercial reality.
In the United States, a company called Beyond Meat has announced that it has penetrated the beef market there.
Going by consumer trials, all vouch for the same taste and texture as the land-grown beef. A company in Singapore has also made headway in using microbes in the laboratory to grow poultry meat. The product is already selling and gaining support from consumers.
There is no doubt that this branch of fermentation biotechnology will expand worldwide as its economic and business worth is proven. We will not be surprised if China, known to pursue biotechnology aggressively, will soon enter the game.
We should not wait much longer to get serious with biotechnology. The new biotechnology policy that is being drawn up should emphasise synthetic biology to support the agricultural sector.
Take the palm oil industry, for example. It is under threat from many fronts. Labour is a serious threat that has a crippling effect on the industry.
Land availability, which is capped at 6.5 million hectares, is another threat. The crop's environmental reputation is also not very positive. Now that palm oil is fetching very lucrative pricing at more than RM4,000 per tonne, much of that windfall should be channelled to research and development, particularly biotechnology.
Biotechnologists at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board have proven their worth in recent years. They have been using the genomics approach to not only select the best planting material, but are also making progress in designing a variety that would yield the right fatty acid mix in the oil, which can cater to different market demands.
Admittedly, palm oil, in its present form, is attractive in many consumer products. It is recognised as a versatile oil.
However, there are markets in the temperate and colder regions where palm oil's relatively higher melting point puts it at an disadvantage.
Fortunately, biotechnology can be used to reduce the melting point so that it remains liquid when used in the colder climate.
The labour issue is a more serious threat, though. During the pandemic, as a result of the restricted movement of immigrant labour to work in the oil palm plantations, the industry has lost millions in unharvested fruits.
This is where land-based and labour-intensive agriculture becomes problematic. It is time for the industry to invest more in biotechnology, especially those related to synthetic biology.
Though long term, the success shown in the meat production industry should be encouraging enough to spur the palm oil industry to make the commitment.
Professor Datuk Dr Ahmad Ibrahim
Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy, UCSI University
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times