Nov 6, 1985
U.S. GEARS UP FOR JAPANESE COMPETITION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY.
AN INTER PRESS SERVICE FEATURE. BY ALEJANDRO KIRK. NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 4 (IPS) -- Industrial use of biotechnology, the term now used to describe genetic modification, is now in its earliest stages, but the U.S. government is already planning how to combat potential Japanese competition in the field.The U.S. research and development in biotechnology - the transfer of specific genetic information from one organism to another, reorganisation or expansion of genes within a species, or the use of synthetic genes - is currently more advanced than that of any other country. But U.S. Department of Commerce official Claude Prestowitz, speaking at a recent conference of industrialists in Washington called "biotech 85", warned that the United States must strive to stay ahead in the field. "The U.S. now stands as the world leader in biotechnology", Prestowitz, who is Counsellor to the Secretary for Japan Affairs, told some 300 U.S. and foreign industry representatives in late October. But Japan is considered the main competitor, Prestowitz said, because the Japanese researchers are focussing their efforts on the most commercially viable products. Japan obtained 60 percent of the 2,400 patents on biotechnological products granted between 1977 and 198l, the commerce official told "biotech 85" participants. The Japanese Council of Science and Technology, directed by Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, declared genetic engineering a priority field in the late 1970's, and the Trade and Industry Ministry selected 130 large firms to carry out research and marketing. In 1981, the Ministry laid out three basic areas of research - development of bioreactors, mass cell culture techniques and recombinant DNA techniques, with extensive financing from 15 major consortia and the Trade and Industry Ministry. The United States appears to have invested even more effort and funding in biotechnological research, judging from the "biotech '85" exhibition and conference, which displayed products from 100 companies and drew 300 specialists to participate in debates. Similar events have also been held this year in London and Geneva.