Researchers hope to extend the beet-growing season by 20 to 30 days. Though young, China's biopharmaceuticals industry is growing. The country needs to produce inexpensive, high-quality medicine in large quantities, says Chen. There are now 35 companies, including joint ventures, doing so. Drug companies from Shenyang to Shanghai and Shenzhen are making such products as hepatitis vaccines and anti-cancer interleukin proteins.
Microbes are the new drug factories.
They can be much more efficient in building complex substances than any scientist in a lab. Harnessing them has made many medicines cheaper and more widely available. Most insulin for diabetics is made by genetically altered bacteria. Delhi's International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology has come up with an inexpensive AIDS test now being sold in India. The environment also benefits.