Wednesday 7 March 2012

US Nobel Prize Winner Praises Cuban Biotechnology

US Professor and biologist Peter Agre, winner of the 2003 Nobel Chemistry Prize, acknowledged on Monday in this capital the contributions made by Cuban biotechnology for the benefit of the health of its inhabitants and of other peoples.

After giving a keynote lecture on the biochemical and biological aspects of molecules and their implications in malaria, during the opening of the 2012 edition of Havana’s International Biotechnology Congress, the scientist pointed out that the Cuban Revolution offers medical attention and access to health care to the entire population.

“I have come to Cuba to teach, but also to learn, to unite and work together in a country where the struggle against diseases is a priority, even though it doesn’t affect its inhabitants, stated the director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute.

In statements to the press, the Nobel Prize winner extolled the special priority given by the island’s authorities to the prevention of diseases with the purpose of increasing life expectancy, which is of almost 80 years.

He also underlined Cuba’s results in the research, development and production of medicaments, some of the unique in the world, which, he stressed, benefit patients from the island and from other parts of the planet.

In the presence of Jose Miyar Barrueco, Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, and Jose Ramon Fernandez, Vice-president of the Council of Ministers, Peter Agre received the certificate of Honorary President of the event, which brigs together some 600 delegated from 41 countries until Thursday.

In his keynote lecture about the social impact of the Cuban biotechnology industry, Doctor Luis Herrera, director of the Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, highlighted that the products developed by that institution cover the diagnosis and therapy of 26 diseases. (ACN)

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