Purpose

The main purpose behind the establishment of the Virtual institute of Biotechnology is to stimulate interaction and knowledge sharing between Jordanian and other Arab scientists working in the various fields of Biotechnology with the ultimate aim of nurturing cooperation, which would lead to practical results.

In contrast to science (where the purpose is to increase human knowledge), technology is a system based on science and technical skills, to achieve a product or service of economic return. Thus it should lead to financial benefits to the scientist, his/her institution and the economy of the country.

We feel that Jordan can become highly competitive in biotechnologies, as the main expense in the field is the cost of the high-level manpower; this in Jordan is a fraction of that in the West.

In the developed world the line between basic and applied research has all but disappeared. Universities in the West are now requiring their researchers to patent their discoveries and inventions and are encouraging their professors to go into the marketplace. Unfortunately this attitude is still in its infancy in the Arab World.

The very low level of Arab spending on scientific research can, at least in part, be attributed to the fact that Arab society (including governments) does not see benefits from our research.

It is not to be expected to find often one scientist who can alone develop a feasible technology. But it is expected that putting together several scientists (possibly in complementary fields) could lead to a complete, or close to complete, technology system with large economic potential. We hope that the networking will be the first step in this direction.

Even when no economic benefits are achieved, cooperation between scientists always leads to more productive science and better funding.

In our recent experience we brought together five scientists, from different Jordanian universities, with some local companies to explore the possibility of producing commercially viable monoclonal antibodies.

We are exploring the possibilities of other biotechnology products.

See report