Self-Regulation of genetic studies in Russia: search for the optimal model

The article is devoted to the general analysis of self-regulatory practices of genetic research in Russia (conducted by public research institutions and commercial companies). Selfregulation is a special type of regulation, performed by organizations providing genetic research and their associations as well as by relevant professional and scientific community; it is regulated by local acts, agreements, memoranda, professional standards, codes of ethics, etc. and is aimed at establishing relationships in the field of organization, provision and use of results of genetic studies. Basically, selfregulation is especially critical in various aspects of organization and conducting genetic research in the worldwide perspective. The analysis provided by this article allows concluding that self-regulation practice in Russia is applied in several public research institutions, but rather fragmentarily. Moreover, the development of such form of regulation goes slowly. At the same time non-public genomic institutions are trying to evade any significant self-regulation of their activities; they do not provide for any expanded rules or standards of their practices (or they just confine themselves to references and general provisions which are not in line with the specifics of the mentioned activities). On the other hand, it is important to keep in mind that the current Russian legislation is full of gaps in terms of regulating genetic research process. Analysis of several websites of Russian private companies providing genetic profiling services revealed that those organizations almost never place complex information guides on their information portals; they neither provide the standards for performing genetic research in an intelligible form. The websites do not contain any information on possible risks or threats to health connected with application of medical procedures, while the issue of disclosure the gathered genomic information to third parties (e.g., enforcement agencies) is often ignored. More than that, there are hardly any published standards for conducting genomic research or documents on protecting patients rights, etc. Thus, we are forced to acknowledge that the institute of self-regulation in the field of genetic studies is not developed well enough in Russia. The current fragmented nature of legal regulation and selfregulation concerning genetic research may contribute to violation of rights and legitimate interests of patients in terms of confidentiality and safeguarding genetic information, gathered in the process of research. The state therefore should within the established goals of intensive genetic technological development provide all the necessary conditions (including of legal character). However, it is still not clear how the issues of legal regulation of status of genetic research participants, protection of genetic data, incentives for providing genetic research, etc. should be handled. We assume that one of the possible ways of tackling the aforementioned challenges is developing relevant complex legal regulation (including departmental acts) and/or investing the frontline public research institutions with special functions (i.e., within a special council, commission, or association). Such powers will contribute to regulating certain aspects of administering and conducting genetic research and using its results in the framework of legal regulation, which should be mandatory, including for non-public organizations, offering genetic services in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Tapping the Potential of Rice Research for Sustainable Agricultural Development: Lessons from Malaysia’s Public Research Institutions

This paper explores the achievements, implications and future potential of rice research to achieve sustainable agricultural development in Malaysia according to the Quadruple Helix Innovation Model. The case study on Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) reveals that there are three elements that drive food security and sustainable rice research and development – quality research by Public Research Institutions (PRIs), cooperative private firms in supporting national agricultural agenda and productive farmers in delivering high-yields farming. This paper claims that the presence of public-driven objectives in rice research is the crucial pivot in achieving national food security. The study also found that the cooperation from private firms is key in steering national agricultural agenda towards self-sustaining. The study also found the potential of civil society organisations (CSOs) to transform farmers into more active key players in sustainable agricultural development.

Scientific Production and Intellectual Property

In Brazil, Public Research Institutions (PRI) are agents that promote innovation and technological production. The role of these institutions in social and regional development is to provide scientific and technological production and make it available for productive arrangements. This study aims to relate the evaluation and valuation of patents with the processes of Technology Transfer in Public Research Institutions in Brazil. To justify the execution of the study, it is observed that it is necessary to improve the use of technologies created in PRI so that society can take advantage of the advances promoted in scientific research, and so that the distance between industry and academia is minimized. We researched 30 Public Research Institutions, in five variables collected on the platform of INPI (National Institute of Industrial Property), ESPACENET (European Patent Office) and BDTD (Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations). In possession of the data, the Shapiro-Wilk test and the Spearman correlation coefficient were used used to analyze them. The R software was used to apply the statistical methods. For data discussion, the reports of FORMICT (Information Form on Intellectual Property Policy of Scientific and Technological Institutions) were analyzed to guide the arguments. The data did not show normality and have moderate and strong correlations, the significance of the correlations is strong or very strong. It is believed that the patent evaluation and valuation processes have space for improvement and thus can enhance the Transfer of Technologies of PRI.

Public Research Institutions and Their Connections with Patents of Companies in Technological and Regional Development

The interaction between companies and universities is a central theme in discussions on technology transfer. In Brazil, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of the importance of this cooperative relationship for local and regional development. In this sense, it is observed that the innovation process is strategic so that an institution is strengthened and can fulfill its social mission in economic and regional development. Piauí, according to the IBGE census, has a population estimate of 3,273,227 in 2019. Piaui's per capita income is R$ 817.00 and ranks 24th in Brazil in this regard. With these data, the need arises to intervene scientifically in this reality. The objective of this study is to investigate the partnership relationships between companies and public research institutions in Piauí, in the development and transfer of technologies. Research Institutions are the main promoters of technological development in the state, however, for these technologies to reach productive arrangements, strategic alignment in the management of these technologies is necessary. Documentary research was used, with a quantitative approach. In the exploratory search, INPI's databases (National Institute of Industrial Property) and of Espacenet ( European Patent Office ) was used. We sought to select the companies with relevant economic representativeness in the state scenario and investigated the patent information. In the analysis of the data obtained, the Competitiveness Ranking of the CLP States (Public Leadership) was used to compare Piauí with well positioned states. According to the results found, it is observed that the transfer of technology between research institutions and companies is not evident. However, we can see that there are partnership initiatives with small companies in conducting research that can project a change in this scenario. The low number of patents and public/private partnerships in driving innovation in the state of Piauí, may be related to the low index evidenced by the Competitiveness Ranking of States - CLP.