South Moravia has good preconditions for Biotechnology

The South Moravian Region (JMK) has unique conditions for the development of biotechnological commerce. The biotechnology sector in the Czech Republic as a whole currently lags behind other developed countries in the European Union. Development of this sector using available means should be the aim at all levels. From the analyses carried out by the South Moravian Centre for Innovation (JIC) it appears that JMK has excellent prerequisites for expanding the biotechnology sector, particularly due to its developed and gradually improving universities which educate over sixty thousand students annually, of which approximately ten thousand study biotechnological branches and a further approximately twenty thousand studying in technical branches relevant to applying biotechnology. It has a few hundred employment positions dedicated to basic and applied research, existing biotechnology companies and more than a hundred thousand employees in branches of industry where biotechnology is used. Also of significance is the development of projects with a value of over 5.5 billion Czech crowns (Masaryk University campus, MediPark INBIT et al.) which have combined international collaboration with the geographical advantages of the location. Also here are the services of JIC which can actively support in “incubating” biotechnology companies and helping set up and run biotechnology projects. The statement that JMK has the prerequisites for becoming the strongest region in the republic in the area of biotechnology may appear ambitious but is, nevertheless, realistic. Even now advanced diagnostic sets ( from the companies Bio Vendor and Test Line) are produced, proteins and antibodies are produced to order(Clonestar, Biotech, Moravian Biotechnology) medicines are developed (I.Q.A., Bioveta, PLIVA) and state-of-the-art technology is being implemented in the field of eco-biotechnology (Ecofluid Group). There are also excellent research centres here; for example, Recetox whose workplace is the Department for Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology at the Natural Sciences faculty of Masaryk University, Brno. The aim of the centre’s activities is to contribute to the development of Environmental Chemistry, Ecotoxicology and analyse risks under Czech conditions. Also worthy of mention is the Laboratory of Functional Genomics and Proteomics (the centre deals with research into biologically significant molecules), The Centre for Bio-statistics and Analysis, and the National Centre for Biomolecular Research (specialising in Structural Chemistry). Source: Zpravodaj JIC, "www.jic.cz":[ http://www.jic.cz].

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