Necessity sharpens ingenuity. Like an indelible mark on the way of doing business, the Argentine context was shaping habits to promote business models based on particular virtues and making the most of the innovation network that was multiplying despite the very low support of successive governments for activity.
A clear example is the promotion of technology-based ventures that proliferated, rowing against the current: Argentina invests only 0.46% of GDP in the key area of Research and Development (R&D), according to data collected by the World Bank. This meager figure contrasts with the 1.21% of our neighbor Brazil, but even more so with the 1.86% of the average for low and medium development countries.
Exit. With its meager budgets at all levels, Argentina, scientific development found a vein in the concentration of efforts in areas of rapid productive application, generally in the area of biotechnology, materials engineering, nuclear or the countless technological derivations. quick implementation. Many developed by research teams sheltered in the university research system, but others also in autonomous groups with more specific searches for the fruits of innovation.
An example is the science-based entrepreneurship contest. IB50K that For 12 years it has been carried out at the Balseiro Institute, which was able to develop a center of excellence in Bariloche and cushion political ups and downs.. During this time, more than 200 projects with almost 830 professionals They were thus looking for a way to convert their scientific knowledge into a concrete application and a way of life for their own team. “One of the challenges of science and technology, in addition to generating knowledge, is to promote and impact the development of the country and one of the instruments that highly trained human capital has to contribute to that objective is precisely the creation of technological base,” explains its founder, the CONICET researcher María Luz Martiarena.
During its successful duration, the finalists, in addition to obtaining the US$50,000 in prizes (hence its name), They achieved something more valuable: visibility and the possibility of interacting with the support network and investors that support this unprecedented competition..
Chosen. Another example is the distinction that researchers received from a jury of personalities linked to scientific work for their contributions to the development of agrobiotechnology. Raquel Chanthe winner of this edition of the Bunge y Born Foundation Award, does not hesitate to comment that “science is in the electricity that illuminates us, in the telephones through which we communicate, in the materials of the chairs in which we sit, in our daily food, and in life and the health we have. Chan, since Institute of Agrobiotechnology of the Litoral (CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Litoral) in Santa Fe, achieved important results and created market products that are already used in different countries. In particular, the HB4 technology for tolerance to stress due to water deficit in sunflower and then incorporate it into soybeans, wheat and corn to sustain yields in adverse climates and drought. The winner explains that the growth of the world population requires greater production of food and energy and that is why we must redouble efforts to produce more food, in a sustainable way, with respect for the environment and, above all, taking care of water, our resource. more precious. “The lack of water is the most limiting factor in agriculture and produces 50% of losses worldwide; “We have to do much more than we did.”he concludes.
This is also the case of two other scientists distinguished with the Stimulus Award: Federico Ariel and Gabriela Soto. Ariel is dedicated to plant biotechnological research for the development of new healthy techniques that replace pesticides in the cultivation of vegetables and fruits. To do this, his team uses non-transgenic technology through the use of interference ribonucleic acid (RNA), which allows plants to develop specific molecules to achieve immunization against fungi, insects or viruses, in order to enhance crop productivity. in a manner that is respectful of the environment and human health. “At APOLO Biotech we design technology to replace them with solutions based on RNA, respectful of the environment and human health.“, he points out and adds that in their “development pipeline” they have more than 20 projects.
For its part, Soto has been researching and innovating in genes of agronomic interest, focusing on alfalfa to obtain varieties with greater sustainable production for seedbeds, producers and consumers; including three international patents. “The seed developed in this project will have greater resistance than those already existing due to the non-conventional breeding process that was applied to obtain the genetically edited seeds.”for a market that, they estimate, will continue to grow 5% annually to reach a volume of US$42 billion by 2030. Opportunities in which knowledge not only does not take up space, but also opens doors to new business developments.
