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"The Impact of Biotechnology on
Transformation of Traditional Business"
THE IMPACT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY ON TRANSFORMATION OF TRADITIONAL BUSINESS Thank you for inviting me to this distinguished forum! As the conference is one that addresses "Asia Pacific Innovation and Entrepreneurship", I would like to share with you CK Life Sciences' insight on "The impact of biotechnology on transformation of traditional business." I will start by looking at the potential of biotechnology to create opportunities for innovation within a wide range of industries. Then I will focus on how CK Life Sciences has utilized biotechnology to revolutionize traditional practices. This case study covers the agricultural, environmental and human health industries.
Biotechnology is a branch of technology concerned with forms of industrial production that use micro-organisms and their biological processes. Essentially, we are talking about a new branch of science, with the power to transform business in the same way electricity did in the 1800s. Electricity provided the opportunity to revolutionize our way of life. New businesses and products were possible due to electricity and indeed, electricity was one of the new forms of power that defined the industrial revolution. Biotechnology offers the same opportunities. By harnessing this new technology, we can slow food spoilage, inhibit inflammation, develop cleaner, more energy efficient production processes, break down environmental pollutants and control disease. In other words, biotechnology can provide solutions to the pressing problems in our world and consequently offer great opportunities to transform business. We are at the start of this revolution and we are only beginning to see the impact of using micro-organisms and biological substances to perform specific industrial or manufacturing process. Going forward, biotechnology not only will change and innovate the world, but also will transform traditional business practices and provide more opportunities for entrepreneurship.
CK Life Sciences is a biotechnology company that has harnessed the power of yeast. We have discovered that there are strains of yeast that can be activated to perform a specific task. The same yeasts that are used to bake bread or brew beer have powerful dormant characteristics. CK Life Sciences has developed a proprietary technology to identify and activate these strains to perform biological processes. This yeast technology is used in a wide range of applications in the fields of agricultural, environmental remediation and human health. Thus, CK Life Sciences is using new technology to revolutionize these industries, and creating entrepreneurship opportunities for other businesses to leverage. Let us take a look at these three industries and how biotechnology has initiated transformation. We will first start to look at the existing problems in each industry, then discuss how biotechnology brings about innovation to the traditional business and conclude by seeing how CK Life Sciences takes this opportunity to develop a number of innovative products.
The agricultural industry is in a period of immense change. Worldwide, we are starting to notice degradation of our soil and water resources that grow the food we eat. Soils that used to be rich in nutrients and organic matters are becoming wastelands, choked with salt and chemicals. Waterways that were once crystal clear are becoming choked with algae caused by excessive nutrients, and natural wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef are turning into marine deserts. A number of international studies have identified that the use of chemical fertilizers in growing crops is one of the major causes for the above polluted environment. We know that the basic nutrients for plants to grow are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. In order to achieve high yields, fertilizers with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are always applied at high rates to plants. However, normally plants do not need such amount of NPK. As a result, excessive nutrients are either leaching into soils or running off into waterways, causing damages to our environment. This leaves us in a difficult situation ------chemical fertilizers are needed to maintain the high levels of production we desire, and yet they are slowly killing the resources that nurture our food source. Of course there are a number of non-chemical fertilizers that can grow crops without making the environment polluted. But the question is: how to use less or non-chemical fertilizers and still maintain high yields in crops so as to ensure enough food to feed our populations? We believe biotechnology is the answer. Biotechnology enables the invention of a new form of fertilizer that maintains crop yields while protecting the environment. CK Life Sciences has developed an environmentally friendly fertilizer, NutriSmart that uses the yeast technology to supply the plant with the nutrients it requires. NutriSmart can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, decompose phosphorous into ingredients, and make phosphorous and potassium available in the soil, as and when, the crops need them. Therefore, no excessive N, P, and K would be leached into soil and waterways. Besides, crops which are grown with fewer chemicals by using fertilizer such as NutriSmart are reported to be tastier and healthier: with higher sugar content but lower carcinogenic nitrate level. In short, products like NutriSmart have transformed agriculture into substainable agriculture, i.e. maintaining high yield of crop production while preserving resources for future generations. In fact, many countries such as the United States and Australia are becoming very concerned about sustainable agriculture. They are exploring new technologies to enhance soil health and to purify waterways. As the sustainable agriculture tends to grow, we will see more biotechnology products to replace chemical fertilizers, and new industries to support these products.
What CK Life Sciences has realized is that the agricultural industry can go hand in hand with the environmental remediation industry. As we find new ways to grow our food, we also need to identify how to clean up environmental pollution. One of the key concerns is the quality of water. Many countries are experiencing or having trouble in supplying clean water to their people. Despite operating water treatment plants at full capacity, there is still not enough clean water for the whole population in the world. A solution is desperately needed to this problem, and biotechnology is the key to this solution. CK Life Sciences has again used its yeast-based technology to develop a bioremediation product called WonderTreat. WonderTreat is an all natural product that is used to clean wastewater, and remove pathogens. It can treat wastewater faster and more effective than current conventional methods without producing any harmful by-products. It has been proven that WonderTreat can improve the efficiency of a wastewater treatment plant by up to 30%. Same as a number of biotechnology products, CK Life Sciences discovered that WonderTreat could perform a second function, i.e. to be applied to animal manure to render the pathogens inert and produce environmentally friendly compost. WonderTreat can compost animal manure faster than current methods, and remove a lot more odour. This compost can then be used as a substrate for the NutriSmart granule, therefore creating closed loop, sustainable farming. For example, livestock farmers can use WonderTreat to break down manure into compost. This compost can be used as the substrate for NutriSmart which is used by vegetable-growing farmers. From the above, we can see the immense possibilities brought about by biotechnology. We believe it will open a number of opportunities for companies in the environmental remediation industry.
Biotechnology also has made huge advances possible in the area of human health. There is a race in all around the world to find a cure for two main illnesses, cancer and AIDS. A number of medical institutions/biotechnology companies are testing products that may save the human race from these pandemics. Currently, there are no perfect treatments for AIDS nor cancers. Even worse, some treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can cause a lot of painful and harmful side-effects to cancer patients such as vomiting, nausea and loss of appetite and hair, etc. Biomedical science has the potential to provide better treatment for these life-threatening diseases. CK Life Sciences has used its yeast-based technology to create anti-AIDS and anti-cancer products that help to strengthen our bodies to fight the illnesses. From our preliminary studies with medical/academic institutions, we have seen three distinct features from using our yeast-based technology to fight cancer and AIDS. Firstly, the products improve the immune system of the patients to combat the diseases, reduce the mortality rate and speed up recovery. Secondly, not only do these products produce no side-effects, but they also reduce common side-effects caused by the existing treatment methods. Thirdly, the products are for oral prescription and thus, more simpler and less painful than the conventional methods of taking injection or operating a surgery. The concept of using biotechnology to enhance a person's immune system to fight the above diseases also gave rise to the idea of improving people's general immunity. With the aim to improve people's general immunity, CK Life Sciences
has developed a series of nutraceutical products that would enhance
human's immune system to meet the challenges of general viral attack.
In May this year, the first of such series "Vitagain"
was launched in Hong Kong to cater for the need of the public who
have heightened the awareness of health related issues after the
unfortunate outbreak of SARS.
From these examples, we can see how a biotechnology platform can generate multiple innovative applications which have the ability to transform traditional practices and revolutionize the particular industry. Biotechnology brings about innovative ways to tackle current problems. Strong R & D would bring about innovation. At the same time, entrepreneurship is vital to commercialize the applications so that the full potential of these innovations can be realized. Innovation creates new standards and new knowledge bases in business. As we will see the knowledge and standards that biotechnology creates, we will also see the transformation of the practice of traditional business. CK Life Sciences has already challenged many of the notions about agriculture, environmental remediation and human health, and we are only starting to push the boundaries. We will continue to strive hard to achieve our mission, i.e., to bring quality of life to mankind through advanced breakthrough biotechnology. We hope that you would share our vision. Thank you! |
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