Sarawak is well-endowed with a diverse wealth of biological resources i.e. biodiversity, that potentially have unique applications in healthcare, agriculture, and industries. Bioprospecting of the biodiversity to discover potential and useful applications very much depends on implementing a highly robust R&D programme involving various scientific tools including biotechnology.
Biotechnology makes use of knowledge of the biological system to generate useful bio-products and applications for our everyday life such as medicines, food and the environment. Biotechnology and the development of bio-industries has also been earmarked as an engine of growth for the State and country.
SBC’s R&D Programme focuses on making discoveries in biological resources that would lead to the development of herbal therapies, nutraceuticals, cosmaceuticals for health-care and pharmaceutical drugs for countering diseases such as cancer and infectious agents. The programme also aims to discover chemicals and enzymes from our biological resources that would be useful over a broad range of applications as industrial related products such as essential oils, bio-pesticides and commercial dyes.
The objectives of this programme are to:
Well-equipped and specialized laboratories
The R&D Programme is supported by 7 well-equipped and specialized laboratories and staffed with trained scientists who work in a conducive environment intended for innovative research.
- Extraction Lab
- Microbiology Lab
- Molecular Biology
- Plant Tissue Culture
- Analytical Chemistry
- Bioinformatics
- Product Development
SBC's research facilities also provide the State with the means to bioprospect its biodiversity through R&D and share the benefits made from the discoveries with the people. The discoveries will consequently provide a pipeline of bio-products for the bioindustry to jump-start and generate future economical returns and revenues for the State.