On November 2022, the Study Program of Biotechnology, The Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada held a Career in Biotechnology course with the guest lecturer Professor Teruna J. Siahaan, an honorary Professor and Associate Director of Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the Kansas University (KU). At this opportunity, Prof. Teruna J. Siahaan explained the development of biotechnology, especially in the field of therapeutics. He also shared his various experiences and advice for the students who took part in the course.
In this Career in Biotechnology course, Prof. Teruna J. Siahaan explained that the development of biotechnology in the field of therapeutics is very rapid. In fact, not only at the level of small molecules and isolation of natural chemicals but now also entering the stage of using biotechnology products. Prof. Teruna also said that when he and his team joined KU in 1991, they had made therapeutics from biotechnology products from proteins and peptides. Besides that, Prof. Teruna explained that in the early 1960s a biotechnology product was developed from insulin which is still being developed today. There is also a peptide called oxytocin which is useful for inducing pregnant women to give birth immediately when the baby is difficult to come out or there is no sign of labor at the birth time. Another example of the most recent biotechnology products is vaccines. The most recent vaccine according to Prof. Teruna J. Siahaan is an mRNA-based vaccine from Moderna and Pfizer that requires long-term research. However, Prof. Teruna explained that if there are still many challenges in the future, research in the field of biotechnology will continue to develop.
Prof. Teruna hopes that Indonesia can play a role in developing biotechnology products independently. He gave an example of China and India which recruited their citizens after studying biotechnology to return to their countries to carry out development in the field of biotechnology. According to Prof. Teruna, now both countries are focusing on developing biosimilar products such as biosimilar insulin and biosimilar growth hormone. Even these two types of products have been widely sold in Indonesia. According to him, the roles of universities and industrial research have a role in helping the development of the field of biotechnology. The opportunities in the field of biotechnology are still quite large because the scope of the biotechnology area is quite broad such as animal biotechnology, plant biotechnology, food biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, industrial, environmental to pharmaceutical biotechnology.
Because the field of biotechnology still has enough potential to be developed, Prof. Teruna gave advice to guest lecture participants to focus on solving problems in Indonesia. Prof. Teruna gave an example of tropical disease, which until now has not found a cure for it. This is due to differences in interests between sub-tropical countries and tropical countries. Therefore, Prof. Teruna suggested focusing on areas that have not been worked on specifically for the benefit of Indonesia.
Author : Buhairi Rifqa Moustafid
