Taipei Biotech Award

Sept. 14, 2011, 2011  TAINAN, Taiwan, Sep 14, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) has won the Industry-University Collaboration Award of 2011 Taipei Biotech Award, the Oscar in the biotechnology industry, for collaborating with Taipei-based Merit Ocean Biotech Inc. on grouper fingerling. Huey-Lang Yang, a professor from the NCKU Institute of Biotechnology and the former director of NCKU Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, has led a research team and spent 8 years to develop a total solution for sustainable grouper aquaculture: a virus free and disease resistant grouper fingerling production system. In addition to the 100% reproducible production, the so-called High Pathogen Resistant Grouper Fingerling Rearing System can produce 2,000 grouper fingerlings per ton of water, which is 100 times over the current density of traditional earth pond hatcheries, and the fingerlings have reached an 80% survival rate in field tests. More importantly, NCKU has signed a technology transfer license agreement with Merit Ocean Biotech Inc. in 2010 to jointly develop new grouper fingerling rearing technologies, promote highly resistant grouper fingerlings and find international partners. "The rearing system is not only the key to healthy grouper fingerlings, it is also the solution to sustainable grouper aquaculture industry in Taiwan," said Yang. Taipei Biotech Awards is the first Biotech Awards started by Taipei City Government since 2004. It is a contest exclusively for the biotech industry, which includes the following four reward items: Biotechnology Commercialization Award, Research and Development Innovation Award, Transfer of Biotechnology Award and Industry-University Collaboration Award. There are 82 awards that had been issued from 2004 to 2010, and the accumulative amount of prizes is NT$35,000,000. The 2011 Taipei Biotech Award ceremony will take place at Cathay Financial Holdings conference hall on September 15th to announce the award winners. Out of the 90 projects participated, the winners will receive a total grant of NT$5,600,000.