Challenges in Emerging Biotechnology

Abstract

For research and development work, unlike “pure” scientific research, there is a definite final goal: the solution to a specific problem, or a new product developed to fill a particular market niche. As multiple and interactive forces have increasingly arisen to complicate the R&D process, sustained confidence in ultimate success has become essential. This essay examines the bases for such confidence in the field of biotechnology and suggests practical ways to validate their existence.

Keywords

research and development converging technologies cooperative research market viability knowledge-sharing networks gene therapy GMO foods nanotechnology biotechnology

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Counzin-Frankel

2014. “Chasing the Money: As Constraints Take Hold in Biomedicine, Scientists are Forced to Adapt.” Science 344 (6179): 24–25.

Dede

n.d. “Five Things I’ve Learned.” FiveThings.org. http://www.thefivethings.org/chris.dede/ (accessed February 7, 2014).

Dede

Knox

2009. Using Technology to Scale Up Innovations. http://thejournal.com/articles/2009/05/06/using-technology-to-scale-up-innovations.aspx (accessed March 11, 2014).

Freedman

2013. “Are Engineered Foods Evil?” Scientific American, September, 66-67.

Giges

N. S.

2013. Top 5 Trends in Nanotechnology. ASME. https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/nanotechnology/top-5-trends-in-nanotechnology (accessed September 15, 2013).

Institute for the Future. 2012. The Ten-Year Forecast: Dematerialization. http://www.iftf.org/uploads/media/SR-1473_TYF12_DematerialForecast_sm_01.pdf (accessed March 16, 2014).

Kapposm

2013. “Who Will Bankroll the Next Great Idea?” Scientific American, October, 35-36

Kiserow

Stepp

Lee

Reynolds

2012. Report of an Army Workshop on Convergence Forecasting. Washington, DC: Center for Technology & National Security Policy, National Defense University.

Leading Scientists Discuss Converging Technolo-gies. n.d. http://www.wilsoncenter.org/convergence (accessed February 7, 2014).

10.

North Carolina State University. 2014. “New Techniques Stretch Carbon Nanotubes, Make Stronger Composites.” Nanowerk News. http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/newsid=26979.php (accessed March 11, 2014).

11.

Philippidis

2013. “7 Biotech Trends for the Coming Year: What Does 2013 Hold for the Industry?” Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, January 7. http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligenceand153/7-biotech-trends-for-the-coming-year/77899748/ (accessed March 11, 2014).

12.

Plunkett Research Ltd. 2013. The State of Biotechnology Today. http://www.plunkettresearch.com/biotech-drugs-genetics-market-research/industry-and-business-data (accessed March 15, 2014).

13.

Teitelbaum

2008. “Structural Disequilibria in Biomedical Research.” Science, August 1, 644–45.

14.

U.S. Department of Commerce. 2013. The Biotechnology Industry in the United States 22. http://selectusa.commerce.gov/industry-snapshots/biotechnology-industry-united-states (accessed March 16, 2014).

15.

Waterman

2013. “3D Bioprinting: Moving Beyond 2D Cell Culture.” Desktop Engineering, August 43. http://www.deskeng.com/articles/aabkxf.htm (accessed March 16, 2014).

16.

Wells

Samuel

2012. Public-Private Cooperation in the Department of Defense: A Framework for Analysis and Recommendations for Action. Washington, DC: Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University.