There is change going on inside the walls of Islamic International University Malaysia (IIUM). Walking along the hushed corridors of the grand Engineering Faculty buildings during its semester break, one would find it hard to relate it with cutting-edge science in the field of biotechnology. Biotechnology in the Engineering Faculty? Especially with research giants like FRIM, MARDI, UM, USM, UPM, UKM etc. spearheading the research climate here in Malaysia. The recently set-up Department of Biotechnology Engineering of IIUM would have much ground to cover. However, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abd-El Aziem Farouk Gad is a man on a mission to prove that the status of his brainchild is otherwise.

Founder and coordinator of the Biomolecular Engineering Research Unit at the Department of Biotechnology Engineering of IIUM, Prof. Farouk aims at not only establishing a strong research culture in the school, but also allowing a better avenue facilitating the commercialization of biotech products. The Unit was set up as a center of excellence of biomolecular research not only in the country, but also the region.

“The rationale behind establishing the (Biomolecular Engineering Research) unit was not only to provide a center of excellence in the region, but also to push to establish a niche field of research for IIUM which Malaysia is in great need of,” said Prof. Farouk. “

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Farouk Gad

Biomolecular Engineering is a rapidly evolving research field which has developed from a fusion of cellular and molecular sciences with engineering principles. It currently has great application in the treatment of food supplements, diagnostics and research. One of the more recent examples of such applications would be Prof. Farouk’s multiple award-winning detection kit to establish the halal status of food.

The kit, which is based on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) allow for a much more specific and efficient detection for pork and its byproducts in food. Such capabilities in differentiating meat species not only would allow much higher specificity in detection, but may even save companies substantial sums of money as the detection kit is 10 times cheaper to conventional methods. Current DNA techniques cost RM25 per sample, while the kit is being developed to cost RM2.50 for sample. Not only will the cost effectiveness of the invention enable large industries to conduct frequent sampling of their products, which will ensure better product quality, but also may have the potential of allowing Malaysia to become the hub for halal food industries across the globe.

"We cannot compete with Japan, Korea or Germany by making good cars, but we can compete with other countries by utilising minor resources with a bigger solution, and this is what we have done. We believe this research can be beneficial by developing the technology itself and providing Malaysia with intellectual property," commented Prof. Farouk.

However, not one to rest upon his laurels, Prof. Farouk already has many projects in the pipelines. “I am only 40 (years old),” he enthuses. “It is a dream of mine, to create what I call a “big explosion” (in the industry) within the next 10 years. I am striving to see the development of five of my projects which will have high added value and generate great income and jobs within the biotechnology industry.”

Such plans are already well underway, and Gadbionovelty, a biotechnology-based company he established with Malaysian resource-based company, FybOrganic Sdn Bhd is a testament to his resolve. The venture, using technology that may produce biofertilisers and animal feed from discarded oil palm trunks was actually the culmination of his research on thermophilic recombinant bacterial enzymes. The products have received good feedback from several local companies who tried the products and would be ready to hit the market this year.

Prof. Farouk also currently holds 20 patents, many of which has been granted and translated into trademarks. He is currently hoping to develop such patents into niche companies and more jobs in the biotechnology industry.

It is such aptitude in merging both research and commercialization that makes Prof. Farouk a frontrunner in his field. Born in Egypt, and currently a German citizen, Prof. Farouk obtained his PhD from Martin-Luther University on his work on the expression of thermophilic bacterial enzymes in Bacillus and plants. He was then C1-Professor and responsible for biological biosafety at Humbolt University in Berlin until 2002. At the BioMalaysia 2002 conference, a private word with then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad convinced him of the serious commitment of Malaysia in the field of biotechnology, and was enough to convince him to take up a position at IIUM.

Since then, he has been churning out quality students, conducting cutting edge research and winning many major scientific and innovation awards within the country and internationally. Other projects he is currently involved include the search for a food supplement with anticancer properties in rice plants, and novel bacteria with antibacterial properties from soil.

Despite the immense workload he bears, Dr. Farouk is indefatigable. The main reason he is so passionate with his work is because, “I feel that there is a responsibility to educate society and to find ways to help improve society. We as scientists not only hold the responsibility to improve human life, but we (scientists) are the only one group capable of judging what is important to human beings, and that is what motivates me to keep going.”