BIOTECHMED-2018
"Biotechnologies are becoming more complex, and ordinary people will hardly remember a school course in biology and chemistry"
On September 10 and 11, Gelendzhik will host the BIOTECHMED-2018 forum, the main topics of which this year will be digital healthcare, the fight against cancer, and the export of medical goods. The theme of the plenary session is "The National Project "Healthcare": key directions and tasks". The forum is held with the support of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Rostec Group, the administration of the Krasnodar Territory. As last year, more than one and a half thousand experts from different regions of Russia and hundreds of companies working in this direction will participate in the forum events.
– One of the main objectives of the forum is to develop the export potential of Russian pharmaceutical, biotechnological, medical and cosmetic industries, – the organizers of BIOTECHMED–2018 explained to the Review. - A number of events and meetings aimed at reaching agreements on the export of Russian products will take place at the site.
"Obzor" talked with the program director of the BIOTECHMED forum, CEO of Future Biotech, Denis Kurek, about how biotechnologies are already changing medicine today, where to look for practical advice in case of a zombie apocalypse and in which directions startups can make a breakthrough in science:
– In 2016, according to the Industrial Research Institute, the share of Russia accounted for only 1% of innovations in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector. Is this due to the fact that scientific developments are taking longer in the USA and Europe, the amount of funding or other factors? In general, in modern science, has competition between countries or globalization, the openness of data brought it to naught?
– The fact is that the innovation infrastructure has been established in the USA and Europe for a long time, allowing scientific developments to quickly and efficiently find their application in various industries. In Russia, the process of infrastructure formation has not yet been completed, the understanding of the existing ways of implementing or commercializing the fruits of their activities has not yet taken root in the minds of scientists. In addition, in my opinion, there is an acute shortage of specialists who are ready to provide technology transfer from research institutes or universities to industry, there remains a small but mutual distrust of scientists and business. Hence the small percentage of innovations occurring in Russia. Science has become global for a long time – it is possible not to recognize this, remaining within the framework of national science, only to the detriment of oneself.
– Do Western sanctions help or hinder the development of medical biotechnologies in Russia?
The issue is complex. On the one hand, the sanctions have increased the demand for high-tech solutions and products in the domestic market, on the other hand, we must understand that we purchase a large percentage of equipment and reagents, and here sanctions can leave their mark, although they have not affected this area much yet.
– Which direction of biotechnologies in medicine – tissue cultivation, autoimmune vaccines, genetic engineering, brain work – do you consider the most promising and capable of radically changing healthcare tomorrow?
Of course, it is worth highlighting both medical genetics and bioinformatics. Research and development in this area will soon make a qualitative leap in healthcare by switching to the concept of 4P-medicine. This will change the approach to medicine in general, moving from the treatment of diseases and symptoms to their prediction and predictive measures to eliminate them.
Tissue engineering will make a huge breakthrough in the near future, already now different biological materials and structures are used in various fields of medicine – from dentistry to bone and cartilage implants, artificial skin. But a qualitatively new stage will be the possibility of growing artificial organs using 3-D printing and additive technologies.
– How do biotechnologies help diagnose diseases?
Based on biotechnologies, a huge number of markers, methods, and test systems have been developed that allow diagnosing diseases at early stages or even before the first symptoms appear. One of the most promising areas in this area is the analysis of human genetic information, and already now we can see a wide range of medical services in this area.
– In one of the interviews, you noted that the zombie apocalypse is quite possible from a scientific point of view. How would you, as a popularizer of science, describe its probable scenario and what would you do yourself in the event of humanity turning into zombies?
– Nevertheless, I hope that the ethical and moral norms of people working with dangerous biological objects will not allow this scenario to come to life and we will observe this kind of dystopia only on cinema screens. Well, if suddenly, then, in my opinion, all the main rules are well described in the movie "Welcome to Zombieland".
– Science has made such a leap forward in recent years that society cannot keep up with it. Until now, many Russians are suspicious of GMOs, while in the USA and Europe they have been quietly eating them for twenty years. What should happen in order for society to be ready to move to a fundamentally different level – human cloning?
– The issue of society's readiness to accept new technologies is becoming more and more acute. The fact is that the technologies and products offered are becoming more and more complex, while ordinary people can hardly remember anything from the basic school curriculum in biology or chemistry, this gap continues to widen. Despite the increased activity of popularization of science in Russia, but in my opinion, it remains ineffective, the issue should be solved at the level of improving the basic natural science literacy of Russians, and after that it will be possible to explain in an accessible way how new technologies work, including cloning.
– Are biotechnological breakthroughs possible at the startup level, or is it the prerogative of large scientific institutes with huge staff and laboratories?
– It depends very much on the direction. For example, the development of new medicines is a very complex and expensive procedure, no startup can cope with it. On the other hand, we can see how startups are successfully developing in the field of bioinformatics, IT in medicine, wearable devices, where the cost and duration of development is an order of magnitude less.
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