Biotechnologists and pharmacists! They are waiting for you in Skolkovo!
Skolkovo invites biologists
Anton Evseev, "The Truth.Ru"When it comes to talking about which scientific disciplines are considered the most promising in the emerging innograd "Skolkovo", then biology is rarely remembered.
It seems that this branch of science is not particularly popular today. However, the forum "Russia, forward!" held on December 13-14 this year showed that this is not the case.
As a person with a basic biological education, I was wondering what the organizers and participants of this event think about the role of my favorite science in the process of modernization of Russia. Therefore, it was with great pleasure that I attended the round table entitled "Interdisciplinarity – the basic concept of the development of biological and medical technologies", held on December 13, 2010 at the Moscow School of Management "Skolkovo". And what I heard there indicates that the Skolkovo members attach great importance to this scientific branch.
At the beginning of the event, Igor Goryanin, Executive Director of the Skolkovo Cluster of Biological and medical Technologies, said that the purpose of the division he heads is to track leading developments in the field of innovative medicine and biotechnology and attract large companies to implement them.
At the same time, he noted that, unfortunately, at the moment there are no large pharmaceutical companies in Russia, and technological ones too. Therefore, he stressed, another task is to support the development of promising companies from among those that exist. And this can be done only by timely "supplying" them with new developments of domestic scientists.
Mr. Goryanin also noted that Skolkovo is very active in supporting scientific research in the field of biology. At the same time, there is constant contact with leading universities. Communication with them is carried out through the creation of special "link laboratories". A good illustration to his words was the signing of an agreement on the establishment of such a laboratory on the basis of the Faculty of Biology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, which took place immediately after Mr. Goryanin's speech.
In addition, Mr. Goryanin spoke about which areas of research in the field of biology will be supported by Skolkovo. These are biomedicine, pharmacology, bioenergetics, industrial biotechnologies and bioinformatics. All these industries, according to the executive director of the cluster, should help the Russian economy move to a new level of development, become high-tech and more modern.
From other speeches, I remember the report of the Dean of the Faculty of Biology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Academician Mikhail Petrovich Kirpichnikov. He immediately noticed that the laboratory being created would be interdisciplinary, that is, the work that would be carried out in it would take place at the junction of several scientific disciplines.
Mikhail Petrovich joked that it could not be any other way, because Mother Nature, when she was developing, did not know at all that chemistry or biology existed, it was all invented by people later. Those who want to penetrate its secrets should understand that it is impossible to make a truly outstanding discovery while remaining within the framework of one discipline. The whole science of the future should become interdisciplinary – only then the next round of scientific and technological progress is possible.
Mr. Kirpichnikov said that all the answers to the modern challenges facing humanity are based on biotechnologies, and explained that he was referring to the problem of depletion of non-renewable energy sources, fresh water reserves and food shortages. Mikhail Petrovich said that the created link laboratory will actively develop projects that allow at least locally to solve these problems.
Later, answering questions, Mr. Kirpichnikov said that the laboratory would not work in "virtual" mode: it will have a very real embodiment, premises at the faculty will be allocated for it, it will have a permanent staff and the necessary equipment. Financing of projects and their implementation will be carried out through Skolkovo. The defense of dissertations and other "scientific evolution" of the staff will take place at the faculty itself.
When analyzing this interaction scheme, it becomes clear how the created innograd will function. It will not be another "science city" at all, as some readers think, wondering why in Russia, with existing research centers in Dubna, Pushchino, Akademgorodok, Protvino, etc., it is necessary to create another "science city".
The purpose of Skolkovo is to establish communication between scientists developing promising projects and businessmen who have the opportunity to implement them. Innograd will work as a kind of giant energy substation, regulating and distributing the flows of finance and information in such a way that a scientist can calmly work on a project and get everything necessary for this, and an entrepreneur has always been aware of what science is doing and what current developments will be able to advance his business and, consequently, the Russian economy.
From the speeches of other representatives of the Faculty of Biology, the head of the Department of Biophysics A. Rubin and the head of the Department of Physiology of Microorganisms E. Lobakova, it became clear which projects the link laboratory will be engaged in first. Ms. Lobakova spoke about the prospects of creating communities of microorganisms with specified technogenic properties that can help people to produce more efficient wastewater treatment.
Dr. A. Rubin reported on the prospects for the development of photobiology, an industry that studies the mechanisms of photosynthesis and other effects of light on living organisms. According to him, this is a very important part of biology – a real example of interdisciplinarity, because for those engaged in such research, knowledge of several disciplines, including mathematics and physics, is necessary. Understanding the processes caused by light in living cells, Mr. Rubin said, will further help people manage various biological objects.
I also remember the speech of Vladislav Deigin, head of the laboratory of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who spoke about the development of drugs based on peptides. According to the scientist, our country, despite all the difficulties associated with the development of science in recent years, is still a world leader in these technologies – of the sixty drugs produced worldwide over the past ten years, thirteen have been created in Russia.
It became clear from the report that today the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences are not at all "reserves for theorists", divorced from reality and living in the interests of high science. Mr. Deigin said that the Peptos company has been established on the basis of the institute, which has existed for more than twenty years. This is a kind of link laboratory, which is engaged in the introduction of the developments of the institute's employees to the Russian market. So, as you can see, our scientists cannot be blamed for the fact that their research is divorced from the real needs of the population.
The report of Andrey Ivashchenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the HimRar Central Research Center, showed that, despite the popular opinion among people close to science, private business in Russia is also able to support big science. It talked about the development of new technologies for the production of cancer vaccines. The studies that were carried out within the framework of this project struck with their high level and professionalism. It turns out that such projects can be carried out not only by employees of academic institutions, but also by specialists of private companies. So business in our country also needs science, it is interested in its preservation and development.
So, biologists at Skolkovo are also very welcome. Employees of the innovation center are well aware that without research in this scientific field, modernization of Russia is impossible. That is why they are trying to create all conditions so that Russian biologists can benefit their country and at the same time live and work in comfortable conditions. I am sure they will succeed!
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20.12.2010