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| CEBAR: The Birth of a Centre of Excellence for AgBiotech |
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| The University of Malaya has always maintained its own identity within the field of agriculture, ever since the establishment of the faculty of agriculture in 1957. However, despite its subsequent development in 1975, as the research was being absorbed into other departments, UM’s commitment in the field has never been compromised. Instead, fundamental and applied aspects of research in agricultural biotechnology are very much thriving within the university. |
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| With the recent establishment of The Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR), University Malaya has come full circle in restructuring a central institution which is tasked to coordinate collaboration between current core research groups and increase research efficiency and interdisciplinary cooperation. The officiating of CEBAR is timely, aligning itself with the strong government push for biotechnology. The increase in accessibility of knowledge in Agricultural Biotechnology will support the industry further. |
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CEBAR’s aim is to strengthen R&D within the field of Agbiotech by disseminating knowledge to the masses and provide expert training. “CEBAR’s goal is not only to be a center of intellectual exchange, but we also hope that it may be a platform for application and training, as well as an information hub to end-users,” said Dr. Yasmin Othman, Director of CEBAR. |
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| Dr. Yasmin Othman | ||||||||
Such
commitment is evident from its slew of workshops, conferences and seminars
organized since its official launch on the 29th of December 2005. Among
them, a plant tissue culture workshop for secondary school teachers,
seminars on AgBiotech patents, a colloquium on biocontrol and a media
information workshop. CEBAR aims at providing the latest information
and news in AgBiotech thorugh its various activities and publications
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| However, that is not all, Dr. Yasmin maintained that, “In line with the Government’s push for biotechnology, CEBAR aims to streamline and build upon existing resources (within the UM) to focus upon niche areas.” One such example would be
phytopharming. In lay terms, it refers to the production of proteins
in plants which are chemically and/or pharmaceutically important on
an industrial level. It is advantageous for industrial production as
they are more economical compared to other cell cultures, is a renewable
and sustainable resource and is able to manufacture complex and specific
products difficult to produce through other methods. |
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| CEBAR applies a multidisciplinary approach in this area of research with several projects focusing on different aspects of phytopharming. This includes the use of plant viral vectors in peptide expression, development of platform technologies and also development of transgenic plants. Several of the products from the research have been awarded medals and prizes at various innovation exhibitions locally and internationally. In the middle of this year CEBAR will be hosting an International symposium on the potentials of this technology for Asia. The launch on the 29th of December was officiated by the Minister of Higher Education, Yang Berhormat Tan Sri Dr. Haji Shafie Bin Haji Mohd. Salleh and saw the signing of MOUs, LOA’s and document exchanges between University Malaya and five Malaysian Agbiotech companies. The Plant Biotechnology Incubator Unit a core CEBAR unit also launched a booklet entitled “Technology transfer opportunites for plant biotechnology” during the ceremony. |
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For more information |
By K. C. Liew for MABIC | |||||||
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