A professor, Olufunmilayo Adebambo, has said that the country is missing in the development and utilisation of its biotechnological potential. Adebambo, who is the Director, Biotechnology Centre at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, blamed the development on the inadequate funding of the sector. The first Nigerian female Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics, who cited United States and South Africa as some of the countries where biotechnology flourished, noted that poor funding was the major challenge faced by Nigerian biotechnologists.
Noting that the genetic makeups of individuals vary, she explained that there was the need for people to know this to enable them to know what their bodies like. Adebambo said, “I am different from you because of my genetic makeup. You need to know your genotype yourself, to enable you to know the type of food you can eat and those you cannot eat or whether you are carrying genetic diseases or not.”
She also urged members of the university community to exploit the institution’s biotechnology centre, which, according to her, provides services that border on Animal Biotechnology, Plant Biotechnology, Protein Analysis, Bio-informatics, among others.
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