Biotechnology is the application of biological knowledge to the
development of products that can improve various aspects of life such as
health, food supply, environment and general well-being.
Examples of biotechnology application in the field of medicine
include diagnosis of genetic diseases, and production of medicinal
pharmaceutical preparations such as vaccines. Additionally,
biotechnology can also be broadly applied in non-medical areas such as
production of transgenic crops in the agriculture sector, and DNA
fingerprinting for criminal investigation.
The Ninth Malaysian Plan states the Government's intention to make
Malaysia a biotechnology hub. In its quest to be a major biotech player
in the region, the government launched the National Biotechnology Policy
(NBP) in April 2005. This saw the creation of the Malaysia Biotech
Corporation (MBC), a dedicated government agency to develop the
industry.
The transformation of the biotechnology sector will be led by the
Ministry of
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, the
Ministry of
International Trade and Industry , the
Ministry
of Health and the
Ministry of Plantation, Industries and Commodities .
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