Biotechnology:
Our next industry?

A center for engineering new food strains,
antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs stands
a good chance of getting funded

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Crispier and less oily French fries, sweeter fruit with fewer calories, pest- and virus-resistant plants, bigger crop yields and better antibiotics.

Those are just a few examples of the many products developed or under research in Hawaii's growing biotechnology industry.

The value of biotechnology products here will exceed $7.3 billion annually if the present rate of development continues, officials said yesterday at an Agriculture and Marine Biotechnology conference at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.

Gov. Ben Cayetano said he wants Hawaii to be "the Silicon Valley of the plant and ocean world." And the state already is moving toward that goal, he and others said.

Cayetano said "chances of approval are very strong" for a National Science Foundation-funded Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center proposed by the University of Hawaii and University of California-Berkeley.

It will involve at least $20 million in federal funding over five years, said Oskar R. Zaborsky, principal investigator for the project. He said National Science Foundation officials were here recently to discuss the venture.

Zaborsky directs the Marine Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering Laboratory in the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute. He was formerly with the National Science Foundation and Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

He's been involved in biotechnology activities in business, government and academia, and "it was apparent that Hawaii would be a good staging area" for a marine biotechnology center, he said. "This type of center is not just for the sake of knowledge but for the next generation of biotechnology," he said. "It will be a spawning ground for new companies in the 21st century in biotechnology."

H. Michael Harrington, interim director of the UH's Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, said pre-clinical trials already are under way on natural materials that appear promising for antibiotics.

Scientists at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources are working with the Army to characterize and develop antibiotic drugs for resistant strep viruses, Harrington said.

Chemical engineers also are looking at marine organisms for anti-cancer drugs and other antibiotics, he said, explaining those and other UH research efforts would be part of the proposed center.

John B. Mahaffie, vice president of Coates & Jaratt Inc., a leading futurist firm, said Hawaii can be the link to Asia in the development and marketing of diverse foods, herbal cures, medicines and other biotech products.

But, he said, "If you did nothing else but promote products for the middle-class American lifestyle, you would be very successful."

Mahaffie said Hawaii has "terrific strengths" for global commerce in biotechnology.

He cautioned, however, that the state must be quick to respond to changing world needs and demands.

"Hawaii has room to build its own future," Mahaffie said.

"Everyone from the governor to schoolchildren should think of Hawaii as a center of biotechnology, not as a place to come for a tropical vacation."

Harrington and Michael Markrich, with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, presented a paper pointing out that biotechnology has great potential for Hawaii because high-value products and high-paying jobs can be generated on small amounts of land.

Many scientists view Hawaii as "one of the premier nursery sites in the world for marine and agricultural biotechnology research," and multinational companies are investing in corn-seed production here, they said.

The Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company also is making new investments in Hawaii marine biotechnology products, they said.