Top Ten Biotechnologies

From eurekalert:

"The 10 most promising cutting-edge technologies for health in developing countries:

1. Easy-to-use molecular diagnostic tests for TB, hepatitis C, HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases, which detect the presence or absence of pathogen-associated molecules, such as DNA or protein, in a patient's blood or tissues;

2. Recombinant vaccines against infectious diseases, produced through genetic engineering, which promise to be safer, cheaper and possibly easier to store and transport than traditional vaccines;

3. Reducing pollution and making water safe to drink through bioremediation -- the potential exploitation of micro-organisms with remarkable biochemical properties;

4. Creating microbicides for female-controlled protection against sexually transmitted disease like HIV, both with and without contraceptive effect;

5. Better drug and vaccine delivery methods that avoid the use of needles and reduce cross contamination;

6. Bioinformatics to identify drug targets and to examine pathogen-host interactions;

7. Nutrition-enriched crops to counter specific deficiencies, such as vitamin A-rich 'Golden Rice' to improve health for millions without a balanced diet;

8. Sequencing pathogen genomes to understand their biology and identify new antimicrobials;

9. Recombinant technology to make therapeutic products (e.g. insulin, interferons) more affordable to help fight such diseases as diabetes, now emerging as a major public health problem throughout the world;

10. Combinatorial chemistry for drug discovery. "