The SDGs require biotech

BIO helps report on biotech’s contributions to global sustainability. One such contribution is the effort to battle a surge in dengue. (496 words, 2 minutes, 28 seconds)

Biotech is essential to achieving SDGs, says report

To achieve the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we need biotech, says a new report by BIO and the International Council of Biotechnology Associations (ICBA).

Why it matters: The SDGs, adopted by the United Nations to guide the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, provide a roadmap for the survival of the planet and its inhabitants.

The report:Biotechnology: Driving Solutions for Sustainable Development, published Dec. 21, outlines biotech contributions to all 17 SDGs.

These biotech contributions include…

• Poverty reduction and battling hunger by supporting farmers with innovations that make crops more productive and nutritious—such as drought-tolerant corn and rice high in vitamin A.
• Improved health through rapid clinical trials of vaccines and efforts to battle antimicrobial resistance.
• Reducing water usage and waste, with biofilters and biosensors, as well as crops that use less water.
• Producing fuel alternatives like sustainable aviation fuels, other biofuels, and microbial fuel cells, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Developing bio-based materials such as bio-based plastics.

BIO’s view: “Biotechnology can—and often already is—providing tools needed to feed, fuel, and heal communities worldwide. This important research details how best to leverage biotechnology for advancing equity and more sustainable development,” says BIO Chief Policy Officer John Murphy. 

Read more in Bio.News.

Representatives of BIO, NewYorkBIO, and other members of the Council of State Bioscience Associations (CSBA) rang the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, celebrating the link between investment and innovation for patients.

Biotech can prevent another ‘horror year’ for dengue

Dengue fever is surging worldwide, driven by rising temperatures and weather extremes. Biotech is helping us fight back, Bio.News reports.

What is dengue? A viral infection spread from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to people, dengue causes high fever, headache, severe muscle and joint pain, nausea, and rash. While the virus usually causes little or no symptoms, it can be fatal.

In a “horror year,” dengue cases increased 30% year-on-year in 2023, according to Save the Children, while the World Health Organization (WHO) says over 5 million dengue cases caused at least 5,000 deaths.

We have a vaccine: BIO member Takeda’s QDENGA® earned European Medical Agency approval last year.

And we have solutions for mosquitoes: The World Mosquito Program breeds Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying a naturally occurring bacteria that reduces the mosquitoes’ ability to transmit the virus, while UK-based Oxitec genetically engineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to carry a gene lethal to female offspring, thereby limiting reproduction.

What’s next? Oxitec achieved promising results, but more research is needed to see if they can suppress the wild population.

Read more in Bio.News.

More Health News:

CNN: New antibiotic uses novel method to target deadly drug-resistant bacteria, study says
“Scientists say they have developed a new type of antibiotic to treat bacteria that is resistant to most current antibiotics and kills a large percentage of people with an invasive infection. … The researchers say the approach used to inhibit the growth of Acinetobacter could help with other hard-to-treat bacteria like E. coli.”

President Biden’s Thursday: No official events scheduled.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Congress remains in recess until next week.