Marshaling Technology for Development: Proceedings of a Symposium by Technology & Development Steering Committee

Author:Technology & Development Steering Committee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Engineering and Technology : Applications of Technology
Publisher: NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Published: 1995-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

Other Obstacles

Other obstacles to the universal adoption of biotechnology projects and products are cultural, educational, economic, governmental, and infrastructural in nature. If, for example, difficulties are encountered in delivering agricultural products to market, no change in the qualities of those products will overcome the infrastructural problems. In other words, there is no reason to introduce genetically engineered apples that ship better in a region where the apples rot on the trees because they cannot be shipped to market. Introducing a complicated test kit for clinical use by marginally trained employees will not yield the expected public health benefits, especially if requirements such as a "cold chain" are involved. A recent attempt to introduce clinical test kit panels into China failed because the enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) tests, although relatively simple to use by U.S. standards, were deemed too complex and time-consuming by the Chinese distributor.

When introducing new crops, one must be able to distribute the starter material and explain to the farmers how best to plant and grow the crops.150 In order to vaccinate people against disease, an infrastructure must be in place to ensure that the vaccine reaches the people who need it. The introduction of sophisticated technology into an area where the supply of electricity is erratic will not lead to progress unless changes are made in the way electricity is supplied. Moreover, complicated regulations or corrupt governments can inhibit the flow of new technologies. For example, recently an act of the Romanian parliament was required to import a biotechnology product needed by a local area.151 And the INBio-Merck agreement is successful in part because the Costa Rican government is not corrupt, but many governments foster corruption or look the other way.152

Finally, as noted earlier, unless the public understands both the value of and need for advances in biotechnology, problems of acceptance of biotechnology products will persist.153 Thus biotechnology products and processes, even those discovered and proposed for use in developing nations, should include not only the introduction of the technology but also public education.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.