HCM CITY — The Biotechnology Centre of HCM City will get subsidies from the city to build 12 advanced laboratories at a cost of US$24 million.
The first six will be built by 2012 and focus on research in agriculture and aquaculture.
The rest will be built by 2015 for research in healthcare and environmental applications.
Duong Hoa Xo, director of the centre, admitted that all 12 cannot be built at the same time because there are not enough professional staff.
He pointed to many other laboratories in the city into which millions of US dollars were sunk but are not fully utilised due to the lack of personnel.
The 12 laboratories will need 200 – 300 researchers and the centre plans to gradually increase the number of experts it can deploy, he said.
Since 2007 it has sent 17 people abroad to pursue master's degrees and doctorates in bio-technology and plans to send six more this year to Canada, South Korea, Japan and other places.
Achievements
Between 2006 and 2009, the centre opened a laboratory each for research in plant-cell technology, nano-bio-technology, and micro-organism technology.
It has also built a plant that makes bio-tech products for test purposes.
All of them are functioning successfully, according to Xo.
The centre has made a kit for PCR (polymerase chain reaction) that aids easy diagnosis of four shrimp diseases at 50 per cent cost of imported kits.
PCR is a technique in which a small fragment of DNA can be rapidly duplicated many times and used to quickly detect pathogens.
PCR applications are commonly used at research centres and hospitals around the country.
The centre has now developed a replacement for PCR kits called the lamp kit. It is a new technology that is simpler and cheaper since it does not need high-cost equipment to operate.
Lamp kits are likely to replace PCR kits in the near future, Xo said.
The centre's agricultural research has led to successful breeding of seven groups of orchids.
Between 2007 and 2009, it produced more than 300,000 seedlings of various groups of orchids, supplying most of them to HCM City and neighbouring provinces.
It is developing a programme to grow clean vegetables using technology to supply the city market and has transferred the technology required to make organic fertilisers.
The 23-ha Biotechnology Centre of HCM City, situated in District 12, was set up at a cost of $100 million in 2004 by the city People's Committee. — VNS
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