Trata-se de um estudo interdisciplinar que aborda os aspectos socioambientais dos problemas associados ao uso da terra e à conservação da natureza, frente à legislação brasileira vigente e dentro da perspectiva da Ecologia Política. Em especial, dedica-se à Biotecnologia Moderna e ao Direito. Mais especificamente, procurou-se analisar a proteção da plantas geneticamente modificadas através de direitos de patente [direitos relativos à propriedade industrial] em contraposição à obrigação de se cumprir uma função socioambiental. A partir da teoria das linhas abissais proposta por Boaventura de Sousa Santos, buscou-se um aprofundamento da perspectiva socioambiental dos problemas relacionados à Biotecnologia Moderna. Verificou-se se os aspectos socioambientais são considerados em conjunto pela legislação e quais as implicações desta relação. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, tanto em relação à Biotecnologia Moderna, quanto ao Direito. Há expectativa de que este estudo contribua com subsídios necessários para a defesa dos interesses humanos mais básicos atingidos pelos resultados das ciências genéticas e suas aplicações na agricultura moderna no Brasil.; This inter-disciplinary study focus the social-environmental issues associated to land use and to the conservation of nature in view of the current Brazilian legislation and within a Political Ecology perspective. In particular...

Esta tese tem por objetivo o estudo do sistema nacional de inovação em biotecnologia (SNIB) no Brasil, identificando gargalos, entraves e desafios, culminando na sugestão de ações e políticas para seu adensamento e consolidação. Para a consecução deste objetivo, incorporaram-se ferramentas de prospecção tecnológica e cenários, os quais constituem um aparato pervasivo para o diagnóstico situacional, monitoramento e tomada de decisão, reduzindo conflitos quanto a percepções relativas ao futuro e aprimorando a qualidade de ações e decisões estratégicas, contribuindo na formulação das referidas prescrições. Para fins didáticos, o trabalho foi dividido em quatro capítulos. O primeiro analisa a abordagem metodológica de sistemas de inovação, bem como a evolução histórica do sistema nacional de C&T e a formação do sistema de inovação brasileiro. Adicionalmente, apontam-se os principais gargalos e entraves à sua evolução. O segundo capítulo focaliza a dinâmica da biotecnologia e transformações decorrentes da aplicação de técnicas de engenharia genética, biologia molecular e celular, suscitando a necessidade de conformação de novos marcos regulatórios e institucionais, trazendo consigo o recrudescimento de debates no âmbito da regulação da biossegurança e direitos de propriedade intelectual. O terceiro capítulo analisa determinados padrões de organização da biotecnologia em países e regiões como Estados Unidos...

Desde 1982 que as colecções de culturas trabalham em conjunto para implementarem uma política comum, partilharem tecnologias e procurarem projectos colaborativos. Adicionalmente, o Grupo de Trabalho em Biotecnologia da Organização para a Cooperação e o Desenvolvimento Económico (OCDE) tem defendido os centros de recursos biológicos (BRCs) como elementos chave na infra-estrutura científica e tecnológica das ciências da vida e biotecnologia. A OCDE, em 2001, publicou um relatório que enfatiza o potencial dos BRCs para consolidarem o futuro das ciências da vida e biotecnologia, enquanto recomendava a criação de uma rede de centros de recursos biológicos global. Na segunda fase desta iniciativa, a OCDE encarregou um grupo de missão, formado por delegações de países da OCDE e fora desta, com a tarefa de desenvolver, até ao final de 2006, um plano de implementação das recomendações enunciadas no relatório. Isto incluiu, (i) normas de funcionamento comum, (ii) normas para ligação e trocas de informação, (iii) acções apropriadas para a segurança, (iv) regulação sobre a gestão da arquitectura institucional e (v) financiamento.; Since 1982 that culture collections worked together to implement a common policy...

Mestrado em Gestão e Estratégia Industrial; A agricultura tem um papel fundamental na produção de alimentos indispensáveis à vida e ao bem-estar da população mundial. Se o crescimento da população continuar como previsto, será necessário produzir mais alimentos nos próximos 50 anos do que em toda a história da humanidade. Para além deste factor quantitativo, os agricultores têm também de assegurar a qualidade dos alimentos e a preservação ambiental. A utilização de produtos fitofarmacêuticos é uma das formas utilizadas pelos agricultores para conseguirem dar resposta à crescente necessidade de alimentos. Mas perante uma sociedade cada vez mais exigente, tanto em termos quantitativos e qualitativos como em termos ambientais, o sector fitofarmacêutico vê-se confrontado com a necessidade de encontrar soluções tecnológicas inovadoras e mais eficientes. As sementes geneticamente modificadas poderão ser uma nova solução tecnológica para o sector fitofarmacêutico. No entanto, a adopção desta nova solução exigirá que as empresas fitofarmacêuticas transitem da tecnologia química, que é actualmente utilizada na produção de produtos fitofarmacêuticos, para a biotecnologia, que é utilizada na produção de sementes geneticamente modificadas. Neste estudo...

This paper investigates the networking behaviour of biotechnology start-ups in peripheral locations. The aim is to understand whether the conditions found in this type of environment introduce some specificities in the networking process, namely in network building and early mobilization to access key resources. The paper compares biotechnology start-ups in Portugal and in Southern Italy, focusing on relationships with research organizations and on the relevance assumed by international connections, and investigating the role played by entrepreneurs’ personal networks. The research identified some common features that diverge from the typical biotechnology start-up behaviour and can be regarded as firms’ adaptive responses to the conditions faced. Notwithstanding the frequent presence of close connections with local research organizations—that often play functions that go much beyond that of a knowledge source—the local environment is a lesser determinant for a substantial proportion of firms than would be expected in start-ups. A distinctive feature of these firms is an extensive reliance on foreign sources, for different purposes and from the very early stages. Entrepreneurs’ personal networks are found to be instrumental...

In the present study we present the conditions offered to biotechnology development in Tunisia and we compare three main biotechnology applications which raise ethical and health problems: organ transplant, assisted reproductive techniques, and genetically modified organisms. We try to identify factors that have allowed success of the first two applications and failure of the latter. Conditions offered to biotechnology in other African countries are also discussed.

With rapid advances in biotechnology and molecular biology, instructors are challenged to not only provide undergraduate students with hands-on experiences in these disciplines but also to engage them in the “real-world” scientific process. Two common topics covered in biotechnology or molecular biology courses are gene-cloning and bioinformatics, but to provide students with a continuous laboratory-based research experience in these techniques is difficult. To meet these challenges, we have partnered with Bio-Rad Laboratories in the development of the “Cloning and Sequencing Explorer Series,” which combines wet-lab experiences (e.g., DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, ligation, transformation, and restriction digestion) with bioinformatics analysis (e.g., evaluation of DNA sequence quality, sequence editing, Basic Local Alignment Search Tool searches, contig construction, intron identification, and six-frame translation) to produce a sequence publishable in the National Center for Biotechnology Information GenBank. This 6- to 8-wk project-based exercise focuses on a pivotal gene of glycolysis (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase), in which students isolate, sequence, and characterize the gene from a plant species or cultivar not yet published in GenBank. Student achievement was evaluated using pre-...

The National Agricultural Biotechnology Information Center (NABIC) constructed an agricultural biology-based infrastructure and developed a Web based relational database for agricultural plants with biotechnology information. The NABIC has concentrated on functional genomics of major agricultural plants, building an integrated biotechnology database for agro-biotech information that focuses on genomics of major agricultural resources. This genome database provides annotated genome information from 1,039,823 records mapped to rice, Arabidopsis, and Chinese cabbage.

Recently it has been recognized that bacteriophages, the natural predators of bacteria can be used efficiently in modern biotechnology. They have been proposed as alternatives to antibiotics for many antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. Phages can be used as biocontrol agents in agriculture and petroleum industry. Moreover phages are used as vehicles for vaccines both DNA and protein, for the detection of pathogenic bacterial strain, as display system for many proteins and antibodies. Bacteriophages are diverse group of viruses which are easily manipulated and therefore they have potential uses in biotechnology, research, and therapeutics. The aim of this review article is to enable the wide range of researchers, scientists, and biotechnologist who are putting phages into practice, to accelerate the progress and development in the field of biotechnology.

Among the various applications of nano-biotechnology, healthcare is considered one of the most significant domains. For that possibility to synthesize various kind of nanoparticles (NPs) and the ever-increasing ability to control their size as well as structure, to improve surface characteristics and binding NPs with other desired curing agents has played an important role. In this paper, a brief sketch of various kinds of nanomaterials and their biomedical applications is given. Despite claims of bio-nanotechnology about to touch all areas of medical science, information pertaining to the role of nanotechnology for the betterment of reproductive healthcare is indeed limited. Therefore, the various achievements of nano-biotechnology for healthcare in general have been illustrated while giving special insight into the role of nano-biotechnology for the future of reproductive healthcare betterment as well as current achievements of nanoscience and nanotechnology in this arena.

Yeasts are regarded as the first microorganisms used by humans to process food and alcoholic beverages. The technology developed out of these ancient processes has been the basis for modern industrial biotechnology. Yeast biotechnology has gained great interest again in the last decades. Joining the potentials of genomics, metabolic engineering, systems and synthetic biology enables the production of numerous valuable products of primary and secondary metabolism, technical enzymes and biopharmaceutical proteins. An overview of emerging and established substrates and products of yeast biotechnology is provided and discussed in the light of the recent literature.

Biotechnology offers the promise of valuable chemical production via microbial processing of renewable and inexpensive substrates. Thus far, static metabolic engineering strategies have enabled this field to advance industrial applications. However, the industrial scaling of statically engineered microbes inevitably creates inefficiencies due to variable conditions present in large-scale microbial cultures. Synthetic gene circuits that dynamically sense and regulate different molecules can resolve this issue by enabling cells to continuously adapt to variable conditions. These circuits also have the potential to enable next-generation production programs capable of autonomous transitioning between steps in a bioprocess. Here, we review the design and application of two main classes of dynamic gene circuits, digital and analog, for biotechnology. Within the context of these classes, we also discuss the potential benefits of digital-analog interconversion, memory, and multi-signal integration. Though synthetic gene circuits have largely been applied for cellular computation to date, we envision that utilizing them in biotechnology will enhance the efficiency and scope of biochemical production with living cells.

The developments in biotechnology have brought not only benefits but also harms to society. On the one hand, the biotechnologically modified products has rapidly changed our lifestyle, but on the other hand, they could also endanger the ecosystem due to their reproduction and novel characteristics, and raise sharp debate over social values, including moral and religious values, and ethical standards. These rapid developments and problems of biotechnology posed a significant challenge to policymakers. E.g., are current regulations enough? Or do we need more regulations for biotechnological experiments and the development of genetically modified products because of their potential negative impacts? After comparing the advantages (such as the avoidance of the negative and special influences of biotechnology, and the solution of market failure and social injustice) and disadvantages (such as economic loss, government failure, and violation of social justice and freedom of scientific experiments), this research addressed that more and specified regulations are necessary. However, the scope of regulations ¡V or how much control the government should have in scientific development ¡V should be reasonably limited to give consideration to the independence of scientific fields...

This thesis addresses the development of technoscience in times of transnational globalization and highlights the vulnerability of the discourse of social progress, which may be replaced by evidence of social risk before the artificiality of nature and humanity. That demands an ethical and legal responses to events that impose the necessity of an ethical control in biotechnology research involving human beings contributing to the rise of Bioethics and Biolaw as fields of knowledge. This theme is studied from a multidisciplinary perspective seeking a dynamic dimension in the interpretation of research data reconnecting Social Sciences to Legal Sciences (Biolaw) and to Philosophy (Bioethics), in order to obtain answers to the problems posed. The objective delimited is to examine the interfaces between Biolaw and Bioethics, in order to observe the confluence of these areas of knowledge. Biolaw is considered as a new legal branch derived from the paradigmatic transition of Law and wonders how it will stand before questions resulting of social transformations caused by biotechnological development that endangers humans and society. It is concluded that the relationship between Bioethics and Biolaw is recursive and inseparable and it contributed to the "unthink" of traditional legal model of linear view/reductionist allowing that the "certainties" will be replaced by "possibilities"...

This publication explores the key issues and options in agricultural trade liberalization from a developing country perspective. Chapters cover market access, domestic support, export competition, quota administration methods, food security, biotechnology, intellectual property rights, agricultural trade under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA), and many other subjects, always focusing on the question of how the outcome of the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations can be made pro-development. Material is covered in summary and in comprehensive detail with supporting data tables, text boxes, figures, and a detailed table of contents. Many chapters have a substantial bibliography, listings of online resources, and tables summarizing the major points of WTO member country proposals that deal directly with each chapter topic.

Zeng et al. Biotechnology for Biofuels 2014, 7:161 http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/7/1/161; Pages 1-13; doi:10.1186/s13068-014-0161-3 Cite this article as: Zeng et al.: Effects of lignin modification on wheat straw cell wall deconstruction by Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Biotechnology for Biofuels 2014 7:161.

Ideas about public engagement with controversial technologies are growing in political prominence. This dissertation delivers a theoretically grounded, empirical analysis of why active public involvement is considered to be of growing importance for the legitimate use of new technologies. It examines the different social dynamics influencing actual attempts to engage the public and the difficulties encountered. Janus Hansen argues that while there are strong normative reasons to further public engagement with the regulation of controversial technologies, there are also strong sociological reasons to reflect carefully on what such engagement can realistically achieve. This dissertation delivers conceptual tools and empirical analyses to support such reflections based on in-depth case studies of important attempts to engage public concerns across Europe.; Defence date: 10 June 2005; Examining board: Prof. Andrew Webster (University of York) ; Prof. Donatella Della Porta (EUI) ; Prof. Klaus Eder (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, external co-supervisor) ; Prof. Colin Crouch (University of Warwick, former EUI, supervisor)

This thesis asks how the framing of policy issues in EU legislative politics influences the way issues are processed, how it affects which interests play a role during policy drafting and deliberation, and what type of political conflicts and coalitions emerge as a result. Focusing in particular on the European Commission’s role in EU policy-making, this thesis goes on to investigate how actors in EU politics define and redefine the issues at stake according to their shifting policy agendas and in doing so attempt to shore up support and marginalise political opposition. Drawing on the empirical investigation of two decades of EU biotechnology policy-making, the thesis finds that the framing of policy issues systematically affects how the complex and fragmented EU political decision-making process involves or excludes different sets of actors and interests from the diverse political constituencies of the Union. It argues that the Commission’s role in structuring the EU policy space can at times be substantial. Yet the longitudinal perspective adopted in this study also reveals how the structuring and restructuring of the biotechnology policy space led to the increasing politicisation of the EU decision-making process. Eventually...

A model study, funded by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and conducted by the Southeastern/Atlantic Regional Medical Library (RML) and the University of Maryland Health Sciences Library, attempted to assess the information needs of researchers in the developing field of biotechnology and to determine the resources available to meet those needs in major academic health sciences centers. Nine medical schools in RML Region 2 were selected to participate in a biotechnology awareness study. A survey was conducted of the nine medical school libraries to assess their support of biotechnology research. To identify the information needs of scientists engaged in biotechnology-related research at the schools, a written survey was sent to the deans of the nine institutions and selected scientists they had identified. This was followed by individual, in-depth interviews with both the deans and scientists surveyed. In general, scientists obtained information from three major sources: their own experiments, personal communication with other scientists, and textual material (print or electronic). For textual information, most study participants relied on personal journal subscriptions. Tangential journals were scanned in the department's library. Only a few of these scientists came to the health sciences library on a regular basis. Further...

Modern biotechnology is one of the most important technological tools nowadays, and its developmentinvolves discussions related to food and environmental safety of their products. These discussions occur within various international organizations, originating different Agreements about the theme. One ofthe most important is the Convention on Biological Diversity – CBD – and its associated agreement,the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. This work sought to identify how biotechnology is handled in theCBD, analyzing the implementation of Article 19 and its consequences in terms of discussions about theregulatory framework related to biosafety. It presents the concept of biotechnology and its implications,the approach to the subject under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol,and the Brazilian law on biosafety. This work concluded that, although the purpose of Article 19 of theCBD was much broader, namely, regulating the handling of biotechnology and distribution of benefitsamong member countries of this Agreement, such claims were not obtained, restricting the discussionto the scope of issues related to GMO biosafety. The challenge now is to expand this discussion so thatthe benefits of this new technology can actually be achieved and distributed both between developedcountries and developing countries...