BICalert

Current edition

A monthly newsletter by the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre

Released on 15th September 2006

In this issue:

- Message from the Director
- News at home
- News around the world
- A Cuban Affair
- The verdict on Public Perceptions of Biotechnology
- BICviews
- Events calendar

Message from the Director

Dear Valued Subscribers,

The much anticipated BioNexus has been launched and this is expected to set the momentum for the local biotech industry. Coupled with the announcement on the Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund (MLSCF), investors in this sector can expect the full commitment from the government to start their biotech ventures.

The ground-breaking ceremony of the National Institute for Natural Products, Vaccines and Biologics (9Bio) has also sent positive vibes on the development of biotechnology. On top of this, the biotech sector received another boost with the recently forged agricultural ties with Holland.

This recent developments not only augurs well for the industry but also for the biotech students and graduates who can now aspire to secure promising career in this field.

With all these positive developments, outreach programme to raise public awareness is essential and as part of our continuous programme, MABIC is supporting a National Seminar on Biotechnology organized by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. click here for more information on this event.

This month we had an opportunity to visit a Biotech-corn farm in the Philippines and the Institute of Plant Breeding at University of the Philippines Los Banos. For reports on this visit, click here.

We hope this issue of BiCalert is informative and see you again in the next issue with more news.

Sincerely,

Mahaletchumy Arujanan
Program Director

Contact Information

The Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC)
c/o Monash University Malaysia, No 2, Jalan Kolej,
Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia

Tel / Fax: +603-5880-4384
Email: BICalerts@bic.org.my or info@bic.org.my

Announcement

National Seminar on Biotechnology: Planning for Prosperity in Malaysia

21 September 2006, PWTC KL

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is organizing a national seminar on biotechnology that will explore the links between business development and technology, covering intellectual property, technology commercialization and funding plus capital formation.

The seminar is supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysian technology Development Corporation, and Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre.

Click here for more information.

8th National Symposium on Biology

5 – 6 December 2006

Palm Garden Hotel, IOI Resort, Putrajaya, Malaysia

The 8th National Symposium on Biology is organized by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in collaboration with MABIC. The symposium will focus on recent developments in biological research related to conservation, utilization and management of our rich biological resources and habitats.

The scope of this symposium will cover agrobiology, forest biology, marine biology, biomedicine, biotechniques and bioinformatics.

For more information on this symposium, visit the symposium website.

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