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Ten Technologies
to Save the World
(October 8, 2004) -
In an ideal world, science and politics would join forces to give
developing countries in the South a helping hand. With that dream
in mind, a report published yesterday lists the 10 biotechnology
breakthroughs most likely to save lives by 2015: less costly molecular
diagnostic testing to detect hepatitis C, HIV or malaria; the
use of microorganisms to reduce pollution of a water source; the
elimination of needles for vaccinations; microbicides for use
by women to counter sexually transmitted diseases.
The report, released at the Conference yesterday
simultaneously with its publication in the American journal Public
Library of Science, is the work of the Canadian Program in
Genomics and Global Health based at the University of Toronto
Joint Centre for Bioethics. It will be up to developing countries
to select which of the 10 technologies they consider the most
urgent, said Dr. Peter Singer, one of the report’s authors.
The big question, he says, is funding: the bill for that kind
of quick boost can vary considerably from one country to the next
depending on the condition of its research and public health infrastructures.
The report: http://www.utoronto.ca/jcb/home/news_genomics.htm
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