10/07/03

Malaysia keeps BioValley under wraps

By: David Cyranoski

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Malaysia keeps BioValley under wraps</h1>
<h4>By: David Cyranoski</h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><P>The Malaysian government is quietly launching a major project aimed at harnessing the country’s abundant natural biodiversity to create a viable biotechnology industry. </P><br />
<P>It plans to invest US$160 million over the next three years to build three research institutes, dedicated to molecular biology, plant biotechnology and drug development. </P><br />
<P>But in contrast to similar initiatives elsewhere, BioValley Malaysia is being set up in an atmosphere that borders on secrecy. Some Malaysian researchers are suggesting that the government wants to keep the project low profile because a comparable information-technology initiative in 1997 failed to meet its advertised goals. Others say the government is sensitive to charges that it is allowing private investors to exploit Malaysia’s rich biodiversity.</P><br />
<P><a href="http://www.nature.com/login/scidev_login.taf?ref=/nature/journal/v424/n6945/full/424118b_fs.html" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to <em>Nature</em> news story</A> </P>Reference: <em>Nature</em> 424, 118 (2003)</p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/malaysia-keeps-biovalley-under-wraps/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/malaysia-keeps-biovalley-under-wraps/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

The Malaysian government is quietly launching a major project aimed at harnessing the country’s abundant natural biodiversity to create a viable biotechnology industry.

It plans to invest US$160 million over the next three years to build three research institutes, dedicated to molecular biology, plant biotechnology and drug development.

But in contrast to similar initiatives elsewhere, BioValley Malaysia is being set up in an atmosphere that borders on secrecy. Some Malaysian researchers are suggesting that the government wants to keep the project low profile because a comparable information-technology initiative in 1997 failed to meet its advertised goals. Others say the government is sensitive to charges that it is allowing private investors to exploit Malaysia’s rich biodiversity.

Link to Nature news story

Reference: Nature 424, 118 (2003)