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INSIGHTS ABOUT BIOTECHNOLOGY IN COLOMBIA:


The successful case of CorpoGen in Bogota DC, Colombia


Natural resources, political and economic background for enhancing biotechnology in Colombia.


Colombia is among the nations with greatest natural and biological resources and therefore has immense potentially for biotechnological development and bioprospecting. In 2011, the Colombian Government approved a policy aimed at promoting biotechnology and the sus- tainable use of biological resources (CONPES 3697), as part of the current Colombian National Development Plan 2010-2014. The aim is to es- tablish the conditions necessary to attract private and public investment in biotechnological en- deavours, ultimately leading to a stable and con- tinuous infrastructure for biobusiness. These include legislation that will allow access to


genetic and biological resources, commercial- ization of products and the establishment of ven- ture capital funds for investment, as well as a convenient tax deduction scheme for donations to scientific institutes by foreign or national companies. To know more about investment possibilities in Colombian biotechnology R&D sector, we approached one of the most recog- nized private research institutes in the country, CorpoGen, www.corpogen.org, which is shar- ing some of their experiences and insights on fu- ture trends and opportunities.


Molecular and microbial biotechnology edu- cation and research in Colombia. Graduate level education and specialized re- search skills in biotechnology are both central


to achieve the current government goals. As of 2012 there are 345 universities (public and pri- vate) registered in the Ministry of National Ed- ucation of Colombia. Although many of the laboratories doing research related with biotech- nological development in the country are con- centrating in these universities, there are multiple other institutions involved in scientific research. There are important public research in- stitutes dependent on government institutions, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment or the Ministry of Health and So- cial Protection (Colombian National Institute of Health - INS), there are regulatory agencies such as the National Institute for the Surveillance of Food and Medicines (INVIMA), both private (industrial), mixed (Corpoica, CIAT), and pri- vate non-profit institutions. Research in these centres is diverse, ranging from plant biotech- nology (plant and agriculture improvement, pathogen control), human and animal health (immunology, diagnostics, implants, vaccines, bovine insemination and selection), natural products (from plants and marine organisms), and microbial bioprospecting (enzymes for im- proved industrial catalysis, biological control, environmental bioremediation, development of products for molecular biology research, pathogen disease detection and diagnostics, among other interests).


CorpoGen, a remarkable success case of biotechnology R&D entrepreneurship in Colombia. One of the top microbial biotechnology R&D centres in the country, CorpoGen, was created in July 1995 in Bogotá, Colombia, as a non-profit research institute with the aim of


122 New European Economy


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