Modern Biotechnology and Its Role in European Unions Economy - Essay Example

Modern Biotechnology and Its Role in European Union’s Economy al Affiliation Modern Biotechnology and Its Role in European Union’s Economy Introduction Biotechnology refers to the use of science and technology on living organisms to alter living or non-living materials for generation of knowledge, goods, and even services. Considering the potential of modern biotechnology applications in many different sectors, it is viewed as one of the major economic enabling technologies of the 21st century. The sector of biotechnology has brought about a lot of economic benefits not only to the European countries but also other places such as China. Some of the biotechnological sectors include biopharmaceuticals, plant breeding and the biotechnological production of chemicals. Modern biotechnology continues to lead to the development of the basic science in nations. Following the ability of modern biotechnology to provide new opportunities that are necessary for the proper tackling of the many needs of people, the European Union (EU) has in the recent past given this sector much attention. The EU regards it as a major contributor towards the efforts of achieving its goals as well as objectives of economic growth, employment creation, improvement of the public health, environmental safeguarding and sustainable development. Despite the fact that biotechnology has its significant challenges that it continues to present to people, it has economically become a relevant sector receiving high interest within the European Union. Development of Biotechnology Biotechnology started with the use of micro-organisms for the making of bread or brewing beer many years ago. The has developed and grown since its beginning in terms knowledge gained from research leading to many more applications that are currently widely used by the developed countries. The chances of biotechnology applications have largely increased with the advancement of the recombinant DNA technology during the 1970s. The recombinant DNA technology allows targeted modification of the genetic material within organisms. It is this breakthrough with the discovery of the recombinant DNA technology that marked the start of the modern biotechnology era (Gianessi, Sankula & Reigner, 2003). The modern biotechnology processes do not focus on only research and development, but also encompass the area of production. It is the major difference between the modern biotechnology and traditional forms. Modern biotechnology involves technologies used for the analysis and modification of DNA as well as proteins, transformation of the organic compounds with the target of enzymes and repairing biological tissue (Levidow, Birch & Papaioannou, 2013). The Economic Impact of Biotechnology in the EU Biotechnology has had great economic benefits to the European Union region. Apart from these economic benefits of biotechnology within the EU region, it has also contributed to the enhancement of the knowledge in biological systems derived from the large-scale examination of DNA using high technology tools. The tools are referred to as the microarrays and were quite essential in the production of the human genome map in the year 2003. Today, they are being used for the analysis of proteins. Modern Biotechnology in Medicine and Healthcare Modern biotechnology is used in medicine and even healthcare in therapeutics. The biotechnology in this sector is used for the discovery, development and production of the novel drugs like pharmaceuticals as well as other small molecule ones. The use of biotechnology is also witnessed in the production preventives used to develop the recombinant vaccines. Biotechnology is also applied in the development of diagnostics used in protein and the nucleic tests such as the immunoassays and the genetic tests. It is worthy to note the fact that the modern biotechnology has had a direct effect on the pharmaceutical sector. It is a fact of empirical statistics that the pharmaceutical sector generates over 58 billion Euros of added value, which accounts for four percent of the total added value in the entire manufacturing sector. The pharmaceutical sector has been steadily growing in the EU region since the year 1993. It creates a lot of revenue for the EU countries concerning trade proceeds. The EU regions countries record revenues increments of over 32 billion Euros from the trade of biotechnologically produced pharmaceuticals (Landeweerd, Surette & van Driel, 2011). The main product classes of the traded biopharmaceuticals are the recombinant hormones like the human insulin and interferons. Within the EU regional countries, there is one new type of biopharmaceuticals that is launched and developed each year. Many biopharmaceutical products are developed within the EU leading to high business in this sector within the countries that fall in the region. The European Union has a market share of about thirty percent in the biopharmaceutical industry across the whole world. The biopharmaceutical market within the EU region appears to be quite dynamic with an annual growth rate of approximately 23 percent, as presented by reliable statistics about Europe (Prado et al., 2014). Shares of revenues got from the trade of biopharmaceuticals are rising in the turnover of pharmaceuticals. It is this growth of the share of turnover generated from the biopharmaceuticals in the pharmaceutical sector that are highlighting the importance of modern biotechnology to the EU region from an economic point of view. The average revenues per traded biopharmaceuticals in the EU have increased three-fold over the past ten years hitting the level of 440 million Euros per annum. Other major biopharmaceutical markets include the United States of America and China. An emergence of the biogenetic drugs known as the biosimilars will bring about significant future economic benefits derived from the modern biotechnology sector, particularly the biopharmaceuticals. The reason the gains from this sector will increase steadily with the emergence of the biosimilars is that most patents on biopharmaceuticals always expire quickly. The introduction of the biosimilars into the market is expected to create the necessary competition that will help even boost the sector to the greater heights (Vàzquez-Salat, Salter, Smets & Houdebine, 2012). The competition that is expected to be created by the introduction of the biosimilars into the EU region market is expected to bring about reduced health care costs as well as lead to improved products, as companies seek to market the best goods to attract clients. The biopharmaceutical sector is also creating highly paying jobs for experts in the EU region. The Modern Biotechnology in the Primary Production and Agro-Food The primary production and agro-food focus on the basic sectors of the economy, which produce the raw materials that are used in the manufacturing sector. Some of the primary sectors that are witnessing high applications of biotechnology include agriculture, forestry, husbandry, fisheries, and horticulture. Moreover, the food processing sector also falls in this category. The modern biotechnology is mainly used in the sectors that provide raw materials to the manufacturing processes. Modern biotechnology is applied in sectors such as breeding and propagation of plants as well as animals, production of the feed additives, veterinary pharmaceuticals, and the diagnostics. The primary sector in the EU region produces a turnover of over 363 billion Euros. It shows that the primary sector is quite important to the economy of the European countries, particularly in the rural areas. The good performance of the primary sector has been enhanced by the application of biotechnology in the production process. It has brought about higher added value to the products produced (Barrows, Sexton & Zilberman, 2014). Agriculture remains the largest activity among the entire primary sector processes that apply biotechnology. Modern biotechnologically produced goods are offered by the sectors, which supply raw materials to the primary production and food as well as feed processing in the form of seeds, diagnostics, veterinary pharmaceuticals and feed ingredients. The primary sectors using biotechnology in their production process account for twelve percent of the agro-food in the EU economy. The emergence of modern biotechnology has led to higher revenues from the agricultural sector. It has also created job opportunities for the rural residents in European countries. Productivity has been on the rise as a result of the technical advances with the use of biotechnology. Crops and livestock that are used currently in agriculture are the outcomes of a long selection process (Barrows, Sexton & Zilberman, 2014). The breeding techniques have become more sophisticated and improved because of the emergence of modern biotechnology. Modern biotechnology has led to more effective innovations in the agricultural sector. The main aim of selective breeding is to maximize plants or the animals for a particular reason or condition. Moreover, the use of biotechnology in the production of plants and animals is meant to stabilize the new features of the subsequent generations from the parent species (Barrows, Sexton & Zilberman, 2014). Application of molecular markers and genetic modification are the most vital modern biotechnology techniques that are used to support breeding efforts. Another application of the modern biotechnology is the use of Genetic Modification to introduce the novel traits into a plant or animal. The technique is currently quite advanced for the production of crops. The GMO animals are yet to be used commercially for the purpose of food production. However, there have been latest applications in the production of fish and pharmaceuticals for the generation of goats milk. There are also the propagation techniques, which are used to increase the number of people with favorable genetic features at a faster pace and in a cost-effective way. The propagation techniques, therefore, support breeding efforts. Propagation is also applied in plants, where cells and tissues are in micro-propagation (Gaskell, 2001). The technique enables quick, space-conserving multiplication of plants that have desirable features. Such plants provide sufficient uniform as well as high-quality material. It also enables the production of disease-free crops. Such effects have high economic results because then the countries can have food in plenty and sell the surplus to other nations hence generate revenue (Barrows, Sexton & Zilberman, 2014). The application of this modern biotechnology in the development of crops has proved to result into cost efficiency when compared with the other conventional plant propagation methods that are based on plant cuttings or seeds. Modern biotechnology is applied in the livestock and fisheries sectors with a lot of economic benefits to the countries, particularly concerning revenue generation. Crop production represents for fifty percent of the value of primary production activities. Crops and plants such as trees represent over sixty percent of the raw materials in the agro-food sector (Barrows, Sexton & Zilberman, 2014). Modern biotechnology methods that are currently applied in the breeding of plants, as well as propagation mainly, relate to the molecular markers, genetic modification, and micropropagation. Such biotechnologies are mostly used by the breeding and seed companies. Specialized laboratories also may use these biotechnology techniques. The use of molecular markers, which was mostly applied in the research and development area, has been commercialized in the crop sector, particularly for the breeding of maize and vegetable. Maize has emerged as one of the most suitable crops for molecular marker application. It must be noted that maize is one of the most vital crops in the European Union. It accounts for about four percent of the total crop production in the EU region. Selective breeding focuses on agronomic traits such as cold and the tolerance to drought as well as resistance to pests. Selective breeding may also target the enhancement of the protein content in a plant. The seed sector within the EU region constitutes of more than 400 companies with only ten percent of them creating over fifty percent of the turnover from the business. According to the European Seed Association (ESA), the revenue from the sale of seeds by the EU companies is over seven billion Euros. Moreover, the seed companies now provide employment opportunities of about 30,000 chances every year (Barrows, Sexton & Zilberman, 2014). Maize production accounts for a significant share of these revenues from the sale of seeds. Adoption of molecular markers has increased the proceeds that companies get from the sale of their maize seeds. It is estimated that almost seven percent of the total seed turnover within EU region is attributed to the use of molecular markers in the agro-food sector. The number of genetically modified crops that are authorized for cultivation in the EU region is quite small when compared to the areas of the world. The most common crop that is allowed to be produced with the use of GM is maize (Cantley, 2008). However, the economic benefits that the EU region continues to realize from the application of modern biotechnology through the use of GM are quite high. The GM maize seed represents about three percent of the EU regions seed turnover. It was reported that farmers who employed the use GM maize seed obtained a significant increase in their gross margin as compared to those who used the conventional maize seed. Studies have predicted positive on-farm as well as the aggregate economic benefits of using the GM maize seeds. The benefits that are realized regard increased yields and reduced production costs through easier and shorter farming processes. Conclusion Studies have shown that modern biotechnology applications are quite important contributors to the economy of the European Union region countries. Implementing modern biotechnology applications in the primary production, agro-food, medicine and healthcare as well as industrial production processes has monumental economic impacts that the European Union region nations have been able to realize. It is estimate3de that the modern biotechnology sector contributes to about five percent of the European Union gross value addition. Additional induced economic effects, such as improved health status of people is also mentioned as one of the important benefits of the modern biotechnology towards economic development of the European Union. Human medicine and healthcare are the most important area where modern technology is highly applied through the biotechnological publications and patent rights with the inventions of new biotechnological products. Modern biotechnology has widespread applications in human medicine and health care, which makes a very important contribution to the economy of the European Union region countries. Modern biotechnology in the medicine and healthcare sector adds to the European Unions gross value addition by about one percent. Furthermore, modern biotechnology provides very effective tools for research and development on biopharmaceuticals, which leads to inventions of new drugs that are sold hence generating revenues to countries within the EU region. The new drugs also attract patent rights that are a source of significant revenue to the inventors. The improved health status of the EU citizens adds to the economic growth of the region. Modern biotechnology enhances the competitiveness of the EU companies by enabling them renew their production strategies in the breeding of quality crops, livestock, and enzyme production. The biotechnology sector also contributes to employment to the EU citizens. Highly trained individuals get better-paying jobs in the biotechnology sector as the researchers and developers of the new biotechnological products. Above all, modern biotechnology is creating sustainable ways of growing and developing the European Union economy. Modern biotechnology has become very important in modern day as explained in the paper. As such, people must embrace its use and aim to improve it so that it can help them improve on their lives and the lives of others. Just like modern technology, modern biotechnology is an integral aspect of today’s world and should be encouraged among people and societies. References Barrows, G., Sexton, S., & Zilberman, D. (2014). 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