By Sylvester Thompson
The Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN) says that biotechnology is not just about providing food security and revolutionalising healthcare, but also charting the course of international trade and diplomacy.
Prof Sylvia Uzochukwu, President of the BSN, in an interview warned that any country that ignored modern biotechnology does so at its peril.
She disclosed that the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) had the mandate of promoting the technology in Nigeria.
Uzochukwu added that the NBRDA was also required to midwife the deregulation of biotechnology products after twenty years of consistent work with various partners.
According to her, challenges of population growth and climate change will continue to require bioengineering of plants to improve attributes such as drought resistance at a much larger scale.
She said conscious of the fact that genetic engineering could be used both for good and for bad just like electricity and airplanes, the Federal Government set up the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA).
The professor of Food Science and Biotechnology noted that it was required by international treaty that a regulator should be set up, and the NBMA was to ensure safety of biotechnology products.
“I call on the NBMA that regulation of new products of biotechnology should become more and more product-based rather than process-based.
“What this means is that the agency should concentrate on the safety of the product, irrespective of how it was made,’’ Uzochukwu said.
She assured that since the NBMA has been mandated to ensure safety of genetically engineered food products before commercial release, there should, therefore, be no cause for alarm among the populace.
“The worry of some Nigerians is that apart from personnel costs, these agencies are largely left to fend for themselves and rely on donor funds for the actual execution of their mandates.
“Now that donors are withdrawing funds from projects, it is hoped that our governments will channel funds to science and technology,’’ she said.
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