Biotechnology Solutions for today's problems

Whenever and however the war on the dreaded Ebola virus is won; the roles and impact of biotechnology tools and medicines used for fighting the scourge will always be remembered.

 Zmapp, an experimental drug belonging to a US Biotechnology Company, Mapp Biopharmaceutical Incorporated, administered to two American medical missionaries, Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol infected in Liberia, was the first to offer a ray of hope that the Ebola disease was not a death sentence afterall; as the patients recovered and returned to their families and normal lives.

The serum, never tested on humans before, was administered to the two Americans within 7-10 days of their exposure to the virus, broke the jinx of helplessness, and demystified the disease said to be without a known cure.

 As casualty rates increased to over 1000 lives in West Africa and leaving many more infected, the World Health Organisation( WHO) panel of medical ethics experts ruled that it was ethical to administer unproven drugs or vaccines to people infected with, or at risk of, Ebola virus.

Consequently, the requests for Zmapp and similar experimental drugs rose beyond possible supply limits. The US government’s announcement of insufficient doses of Zmapp to meet demand of affected West African countries was viewed by some people as an attempt by the West to withhold help from poor African countries.

However, whatever the arguments or questions, the Ebola scourge, certainly, tells a story, sends a message and teaches a lesson. It simply shows that in a world that has become a global village, good and bad exchanges occur. Diseases and disasters can penetrate borders and permeate boundaries. Epidemics have potentials of occurring in different parts of the globe within the same time.

 As a result, no one would leave the smoke sprouting in his house to come and put out the fire in another man’s house. Africa should as a matter of urgency grow to live up to the expectation of her survival and sustainability.

 It is time to take advantage of new science and technology that proffer solutions for today’s problem s. The Biotechnology experimental drug in the treatment of infected victims of the Ebola virus is phenomenal. As a set of techniques that employ organisms, or parts of it, to make or modify products; Biotechnology is applicable in Agriculture, Medicine, Environment, and Industry.

It behoves on the poor countries of Africa to copy these technologies that make the West the strong and developed entities that they are today. And a stitch in time, they say, saves nine. (Written by Ifeoma Comfort Ndefo)