Biotechnology a business in waiting

By Christopher Bendana

From making crop varieties resistant to pests and diseases to  making medicine, biotechnology has made a mark as the technology of the future.

Whether in a Pfizer lab in Boston to the Agro- Genetic Technologies (AGT) lab in Buloba along Mityana Road, the technology has given researchers an edge.

This is because of its ability to transfer cells with precision and produce in bulk at a short time.

Erostus Nsubuga, a plant breeder, the proprietor of AGT and a business futurist, has jumped on the biotechnology bandwagon.

He uses tissue culture, a process where banana cells are put in an artificial growth media to grow into banana plantlets (suckers).

A member of the Uganda Biotechnology and Biosafety Consortium, Nsubuga now lectures on the benefits of biotechnology, from bringing new crops on board to helping farmers get clean planting materials.

Advances in biotechnology come at a time when the global population is expected to hit the eight billion mark in 2025, according to the World Bank predictions.

This huge population explosion comes at a time of rising income and urbanisation and hence the need for more food. This food will need to be produced in bulk.

There is also need for bio-pharmacy innovation to cope with diseases associated with urbanisation, usually referred to as lifestyle disease.

There is also climate change that has come with the prolonged droughts and erratic rains, creating a need for drought-resistant crops. From drying water sources, to soil exhaustion and emergence of global diseases, man will have to think hard to survive and provide for this rising population.

Nsubuga calls biotechnology the next mine and he is no stranger to taking high venture risks.

Apart from setting up the first private tissue culture lab in Uganda, Nsubuga ably participated in the setting up of the first mobile network Celtel in East and Central Africa.

He has worked with Ericsson, a company that supplied equipment to Celtel. Celtel has since changed hands to Zain, which sold to Airtel.

“I encouraged Celtel to come to Africa when many doubted the telecommunication potential here,” he reveals.
 

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Workers prepare stems for the extraction of fertile banana cells

Nsubuga’s business

Unlike other theoretical lecturers, Nsubuga’s lectures are practical. He refers people to his own business, AGT laboratory.

 It is huge, occupying several hectares. The growth rooms have several plants at different growth rate. Each growth room, operated at defined temperatures, occupies hundreds of square metres.

He says the investment is in billions of shillings. One of his main crops is the banana. His banana plantlet production has increased tenfold since its inspection in 2002.

From 10,000 banana plantlet a season in 2002, Nsubuga now produces 500,000 plantlets per season. There are two banana planting seasons in a year. He uses tissue culture to breed banana plantlets at his laboratory in Buloba.

“Recently, at the beginning of the rainy season, I sold 400,000 plantlets in two weeks,” he reveals. “I need to increase capacity.”

According to the International Services for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Application (ISAAA), agricultural biotechnology crop production rose to from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 175 million hectares in 2013.

The ISAAA 2013 report highlights the benefits of Afri- Biotech Crops. For instanc, it says China generated $15b (about sh37trillion) from BT cotton alone between 1996 and 2012 coupled with low insecticide use because of their resistance ability.

BT cotton is a genetically engineered cotton variety. Countries such as Brazil and Argentine, have benefited from the technology by getting more output per hectare of crops like soybean and maize. 
 

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A biotechnology cotton collection centre in Burkina Faso. The cotton is a genetically engineered

Importance of biotechnology

Biotechnology, through DNA testing, is also a recognised tool in establishing parentage where there is conflict.

Allan Tindakahwa of Little Oak Biotech, a company involved in DNA testing, says her clinic receives about five to seven requests of DNA every week. Tindakahwa says the use of DNA would also be an important tool in solving mysteries such as murder.

Biotechnology business is also in medicine, especially at the molecular level. Genomic information identified using biotechnology is now an important tool in therapy, diagnostic and drug trial.

This is because, with interested genes, bio-pharmacies can make pre-determined outcomes. Dr. Kisamba Mugerwa, the chairman at the National Planning authority, highlights the importance of the sciences in bringing about economic change.

“We have identified science, technology and engineering and innovation as key pillars in undertaking social-economic transformation,” he explains.

Mugerwa adds that, “Since we support science, we support biotechnology in respect of its ability to address challenges to agricultural production like breeding drought-resistant crops and disease-free one.”

He says this is in line with the Government policy of increasing production and productivity, an important tool in mitigating the challenges of a rising population.

Moses Ogwal, the director of Policy Advocacy at the Private Sector Foundation, says farmers should embrace biotechnology if it offers solutions to production challenges like those in agriculture, which include drought, pests and diseases.

“If biotechnology can be a solution in improving productivity, then it comes as a strong option. It must jeopardize marketing, especially in common markets like Europe,” Ogwal explains.

How Arinaitwe does it

trueDr. Geoffrey Arinaitwe, is another plant breeder, who has invested money in biotechnology. He and a partner, David Talengera, started BioCrops, a biotech company at Namalewa on Bombo Road.

They bred potatoes incorporated with Vitamin A, an essential food for pregnant women to limit anemia in newborns. Arinaitwe says business is good.

“We just signed a contract with the National Crops Resources and Research Institute Namulonge, to multiply cassava seedlings, which they want to distribute to farmers through NGOs,” he reveals.