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 The
department focuses on ways of finding solution to diseases
that are found in Nigeria. The effort of the agency
is presently focused on the production of vaccines capable
of preventing diseases like Malaria, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis-B,
HIV / AIDS etc. The Department is also interested in
the production of therapeutic proteins, monoclonal antibodies,
diagnostics, biopharmaceuticals, stem cell therapy /
technology, cord blood banking, novel drugs discovery
and DNA finger printing. In order, to be able to fulfill
these objectives, the department needs to create expertise
through training and capacity building in the following
areas: genomics, proteomics, recombinant DNA technology
and bioinformatics.
VACCINES RESEARCH / PRODUCTION
Biotechnology Vaccine Production
Vaccines help the body recognize and fight infectious diseases. Conventional vaccines use weakened or killed forms of a virus or bacteria to stimulate the immune system to create the antibodies that will provide resistance to the disease. In most cases only one or a few proteins on the surface of the bacteria or virus, called antigens, trigger the production of antibodies. Most of the new vaccines consist only of the antigen, not the actual microbe. The vaccine is made by inserting the gene that produces the antigen into a manufacturing cell, such as yeast. During the manufacturing process, which is similar to brewing beer, each yeast cell makes a perfect copy of itself and the antigen gene. The antigen is later purified. By isolating antigens and producing them in the laboratory, it is possible to make vaccines that cannot transmit the virus or bacterium itself. This method also increases the amount of vaccine that can be manufactured because they can be made without using live animals. Using these techniques of biotechnology, scientists have developed antigen-only vaccines against life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis B and meningitis.
Hepatitis –B
In Nigeria, studies by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the incidence of Hepatitis-B disease have indicated that between 10-15% of Nigerians are carriers of Hepatitis-B virus. The Hepatitis-B virus is several times more virulent than the HIV, thus one can imagine the level of morbidity and mortality.
In NABDA we are in current collaboration with SHANTHA Inc. to mass produce Hepatitis-B vaccine for the benefit of all Nigerians. The collaboration will lead to the establishment of the first of its kind vaccine production facility in Nigeria, and it will target not only the Nigerian market but that of ECOWAS and sub-Saharan African countries.
Others
The collaboration will encourage indigenous research in relevant areas and thus provide affordable vaccines that can be used in preventing the transmission and infection of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria etc. These represent an aspect of our current interest in the field of vaccine production. We are also interested in collaboration in these fields as well.
NANOTECHNOLOGY/MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS
Nanotechnology
The word nanotechnology derives from nanometer, which is one-thousandth of a micrometer (micron), or the approximate size of a single molecule. Nanotechnology—the study, manipulation and manufacture of ultra-small structures and machines made up of as few as one molecule—was made possible by the development of microscopic tools for imaging and manipulating single molecules and measuring the electromagnetic forces between them.
Nanotechnology uses the extraordinary properties of biological molecules and cell processes, to accomplish many goals that are difficult or impossible to achieve by other means. For example, rather than build silicon scaffolding for nanostructures, the DNA’s ladder’s structure provides nanotechnologists with a natural framework for assembling nanostructures; and its highly specific bonding properties bring atoms together in a predictable pattern to create a nanostructure.
Such biochips are DNA-based processors that use DNA’s extraordinary information storage capacity. Conceptually, they are very different from the DNA chips discussed below. Biochips exploit the properties of DNA to solve computational problems; in essence, they use DNA to do math. Scientists have shown that 1,000 DNA molecules can solve in four months computational problems that require a century for a computer to solve.
Nanobiotechnology joins the breakthroughs in nanotechnology to those in molecular biology. Molecular biologists help nanotechnologists understand and access the nanostructures and nanomachines designed by 4 billion years of engineering—cell machinery and biological molecules. Exploiting the extraordinary properties of biological molecules and cell processes, nanotechnologists can accomplish many goals that are difficult or impossible to achieve by other means.
Diagnostics
We can now detect many diseases and medical conditions more quickly and with greater accuracy because of the sensitivity of new, biotechnology-based diagnostic tools. A familiar example of biotechnology’s benefits is the new generation of home pregnancy tests that provide more accurate results much earlier than previous tests. Tests for infectious diseases can provide results in minutes, enabling treatment to begin immediately in contrast to the two- or three-day delay of previous tests. Biotechnology has also decreased the costs of diagnostics.
A new blood test, developed through biotechnology, measures the amount of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad” cholesterol, in blood. Conventional methods require separate and expensive tests for total cholesterol, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Also, a patient must fast 12 hours before the test. The new biotech test measures LDL in one test, and fasting is not necessary. We now use biotechnology- based tests to diagnose certain cancers, such as prostate and ovarian cancer, by taking a blood sample;s eliminating the need for invasive and costly surgery.
The development of HIV/AIDS, malaria and Hepatitis-B diagnostic kits within the country represents an important collaboration with TRINITY BIOTECH of Ireland in the fight against the spread of these highly infectious diseases within our borders. There are also efforts to establish such relationship with other organization in the diagnosis and treatment of other highly contagious diseases like Avian Flu, Tuberculosis etc.
TROPICAL /INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (commonly abbreviated as TB) is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (Miliary tuberculosis), genitourinary system, bones and joints.
Tuberculosis is one of the most deadly and common major infectious diseases today. As of 2004, 14.6 million people have active TB disease with nine million new cases of the disease and nearly two million deaths, mostly in developing countries. However, developing countries are not the only places with tuberculosis. There is a rising number of people in the developed world who contract tuberculosis because they have compromised immune systems, typically as a result of immunosuppressive drugs or HIV/AIDS. These people are at particular risk of tuberculosis infection and active tuberculosis disease.
TB is one of the top four infectious killing diseases in the world: TB kills 1.7 million, and malaria kills 2-3 million.
HIV/AIDS, the neglect of TB control programs, and immigration have caused a resurgence of tuberculosis. Multiple drug resistant strains of TB (MDR-TB) and Extreme Drug-Resistance in Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) are emerging. The World Health Organization declared TB a global health emergency in 1993, and the Stop TB Partnership proposed a Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis which aims to save an additional 14 million lives between 2006 and 2015.
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. The virus, which is called hepatitis B virus (HBV), can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. What is the scope of the problem?
About one third of the world's population has been exposed at some time to the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is an infection of the liver with hepatitis B virus. Moreover, approximately 350 million individuals worldwide are chronically (long duration) infected with this virus. As a result, the complications of hepatitis B viral infection lead to two million deaths annually.
Hepatitis B virus and HIV are spread in very much the same way. Currently, the highest incidence of acute hepatitis B is among young adults, especially Blacks and Hispanics, between the ages of 20 and 30. Most adults (greater than 95%) with acute hepatitis B will recover completely. As a result, they will become immune to (that is, protected from) a future infection with hepatitis B virus. In contrast, most infants and children infected with acute hepatitis B virus will become chronically infected with the virus.
Hepatitis B vaccine is available for all age groups to prevent hepatitis B virus infection.
Malaria
Malaria in humans is caused by a protozoon of the genus Plasmodium and the four subspecies, falciparum, vivax, malariae, and ovale. The species that causes the greatest illness and death in Africa is P. falciparum. The disease is transmitted by the bites of mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, of which the Anopheles gambiae complex (the most efficient) is responsible for the transmission of disease in Africa. Fever is the main symptom of malaria.
The most severe manifestations are cerebral malaria (mainly in children and persons without previous immunity), anemia (mainly in children and pregnant women), and kidney and other organ dysfunction (e.g., respiratory distress syndrome). Persons repeatedly exposed to the disease acquire a considerable degree of clinical immunity, which is unstable and disappears after a year away from the endemic-disease environment. Immunity reappears after malarial bouts if the person returns to an endemic-disease zone. Most likely to die of malaria are persons without previous immunity, primarily children or persons from parts of the same country (e.g., high altitudes) where transmission is absent, or persons from more industrialized countries where the disease does not exist.
Malaria is one of the principal causes of sickness and death in Nigeria and imposes an enormous socio-economic burden on the country.
Artemisinin
Artemisinin is a drug used to treat multi-drug resistant strains of falciparum malaria. The compound (a sesquiterpene lactone) is isolated from the shrub Artemisia annua long-used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Not all shrubs of this species contain artemisinin. Apparently it is only produced when the plant is subjected to certain conditions. It can be synthesied from arteminisic acid
Artemisinin acts rapidly and potently against the malarial parasite, including some drug-resistant strains. Without significant side effects, it quickly reduces fever and lowers the blood levels of the parasite. This helps to keep small outbreaks of malaria from becoming epidemics and to quell ongoing epidemics. In a malaria epidemic in the early 1990's in Vietnam, artemisinin reduced the death rate by 97%. 
The department is interested in collaborations leading to the large scale cultivation of A. annua and subsequent commercial extraction of the active component for use locally and for export.
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus (commonly known as HIV, and formerly known as HTLV-III and lymphadenopathy-associated virus) is a retrovirus that is the cause of the disease known as AIDS: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, a syndrome where the immune system begins to fail, leading to many life-threatening opportunistic infections.
HIV primarily infects vital components of the human immune system such as CD4+ T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. It also directly and indirectly destroys CD4+ T cells. As CD4+ T cells are required for the proper functioning of the immune system, when enough CD4+ T cells have been destroyed by HIV, the immune system functions poorly, leading to the syndrome known as AIDS. HIV also directly attacks organs, such as the kidneys, the heart and the brain leading to acute renal failure, cardiomyopathy, dementia and encephalopathy. Many of the problems faced by people infected with HIV result from failure of the immune system to protect from opportunistic infections and cancers.
The first case of AIDS was identified in Nigeria in 1986 and the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate rose from 1.8% in 1988 to 5.8% in 2001. In 2004 it was estimated there were 300,000 deaths from AIDS and 2 million AIDS orphans in Nigeria. There has been an alarming increase in the number of HIV positive children in recent years, 90% of whom contract the virus from their mothers.
Currently very few Nigerians have access to basic HIV/AIDS prevention, care, support or treatment services. Around 520, 000 people are estimated to require ART (antiretroviral therapy) and only 17,000 are currently receiving treatment. At present there are 50 treatment sites for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries
The department is interested in collaborative studies leading to the development of vaccines against the disease. We are also interested in the scientific investigation of the many claims of herbal and other cures for HIV/AIDS.
Avian Flu
Avian influenza (“bird flu”) is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The disease, which was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, occurs worldwide.
All birds are thought to be susceptible to infection with avian influenza, though some species are more resistant to infection than others. Infection causes a wide spectrum of symptoms in birds, ranging from mild illness to a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease resulting in severe epidemics. The latter is known as “highly pathogenic avian influenza”. This form is characterized by sudden onset, severe illness and rapid death, with a mortality that can approach 100%.
Fifteen subtypes of influenza virus are known to infect birds, thus providing an extensive reservoir of influenza viruses potentially circulating in bird populations. To date, all outbreaks of the highly pathogenic form have been caused by influenza A viruses of subtypes H5 and H7.
Following the outbreak of Avian flu in Nigeria, the World Bank’s Board of Directors has given its endorsement of a new framework for a global funding program of up to US$500 million to help countries combat avian flu. Under this global framework the Bank will assist Nigeria in responding to the outbreak of the virus among chickens. A Bank mission visited Nigeria in February to assess the country’s needs and to work with its Nigerian partners (Including NABDA) and other international organizations on the modalities for Bank support. Bank assistance will include technical and financial support to farmers and veterinary and health services, to tackle the virus at its animal source and to help reduce opportunities for direct transmission to humans. Experience shows that early detection and rapid response, is critical to contain the virus and prevent its spread in the environment, thus minimizing the threats posed by the disease to humans.
The department desires assistance in the areas of conducting collaboration research on different aspects of the disease and in the setting up of a state-of-the art facility for the identification of virus and for capacity building in the field.
GENE THERAPY
Stem Cell
The human body contains 220 different types of cells. Stem cells are a type of primitive cells. Scientists have found ways of developing stem cells derived from embryos into most types of human cells, such as blood, brain, heart tissue, nerve cells, bone etc. Researchers are confident that stem cells will lead to the treatments of many diseases. Medical experts estimate stem cell research shows promise to develop cures and/or new treatments for millions who currently suffer from a wide variety of diseases and disorders.
Research on stem cells is advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. This promising area of science is also leading scientists to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is often referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine.
Stem cells are one of the most fascinating areas of biology today. But like many expanding fields of scientific inquiry, research on stem cells raises scientific questions as rapidly as it generates new discoveries.
Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3 to 5 day old embryo, called a blastocyst, a small group of about 30 cells called the inner cell mass gives rise to the hundreds of highly specialized cells needed to make up an adult organism. In the developing fetus, stem cells in developing tissues give rise to the multiple specialized cell types that make up the heart, lung, skin and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury or disease. It has been hypothesized by scientists that stem cells may, at some point in the future, become the basis for treating diseases such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes and heart disease.
Cord Blood
Umbilical Cord blood is human blood from the placenta and umbilical cord that is rich in hematopoietic stem cells. Cord blood is collected after the umbilical cord has been detached from the newborn, and utilized as a source of stem cells for transplantation.
Cord blood is stored by both public and private cord blood banks. Public cord blood banks store cord blood for the benefit of the general public. Private cord blood banks are for-profit organizations that store cord blood for the exclusive use of the donor or donor's relatives.
Properties
Cord blood stem cells are more proliferate and have a higher chance of matching family members than stem cells from bone marrow. Fathers have a 25% chance of matching their child's cord blood stem cells. Siblings have a 25% chance of being a perfect cord blood match.
 Sickle Cell
The disorder affects the red blood cells which contain a special protein called haemoglobin (Hb for short). The function of haemoglobin is to carry oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body.
People with Sickle Cell Anaemia have Sickle haemoglobin (HbS) which is different from the normal haemoglobin (HbA). When sickle haemoglobin gives up its oxygen to the tissues, it sticks together to form long rods inside the red blood cells making these cells rigid and sickle-shaped. Normal red blood cells can bend and flex easily.
Because of their shape, sickled red blood cells can't squeeze through small blood vessels as easily as the almost donut-shaped normal cells. This can lead to these small blood vessels getting blocked which then stops the oxygen from getting through to where it is needed. This in turn can lead to severe pain and damage to organs.
Everyone has two copies of the gene for haemoglobin; one from their mother and one from their father. If one of these genes carries the instructions to make sickle haemoglobin (HbS) and the other carries the instructions to make normal haemoglobin (HbA) then the person has Sickle Cell Trait and is a carrier of the sickle haemoglobin gene. This means that this person has enough normal haemoglobin in their red blood cells to keep the cells flexible and they don't have the symptoms of the sickle cell disorders. They do however have to be careful when doing things where there is less oxygen than normal such as scuba diving, activities at high altitude and under general anaesthetics.
DNA Finger Printing
DNA fingerprinting, which is also known as DNA typing, is a DNA-based identification system that relies on genetic differences among individuals or organisms. Every living thing (except identical twins, triplets, and so on) is genetically unique.
DNA typing techniques focus on the smallest possible genetic differences that can occur: differences in the sequence of the four building blocks of DNA. These building block molecules, or nucleotides, are commonly designated A, T, C and G.
Some uses of DNA typing compare the nucleotide sequence of two individuals to see how similar they are. At other times, the scientist is interested in assessing sequence similarity between a DNA sample and the known sequence of a reference sample. DNA typing has become one of the most powerful and widely known applications of biotechnology today. It is used for any task where minute differences in DNA matter, such as determining the compatibility of tissue types in organ transplants, detecting the presence of a specific microorganism, tracking desirable genes in plant breeding, establishing paternity, identifying individual remains, and directing captive breeding programs in zoos.
The department is in dire need of collbaborators for the domestication of this state-of-the art technology in the country; including profit driven public/ private partnerships.
Monoclonal Antibody
Monoclonal antibody technology uses immune-system cells that make proteins called antibodies. We have all experienced the extraordinary specificity of antibodies: Those that attack a flu virus one winter do nothing to protect us from a slightly different flu virus the next year. Specificity refers to the fact that biological molecules are designed so that they bind to only one molecule.
The specificity of antibodies also makes them powerful diagnostic tools. They can locate substances that occur in minuscule amounts and measure them with great accuracy. For example, we use monoclonal antibodies to
• locate environmental pollutants.
• detect harmful microorganisms in food.
• distinguish cancer cells from normal cells.
• diagnose infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants more quickly and more accurately than ever before.
In addition to their value as detection devices, monoclonal antibodies can provide us with highly specific therapeutic compounds. Monoclonal antibodies joined to a toxin can selectively deliver chemotherapy to a cancer cell while avoiding healthy cells. We are developing monoclonal antibodies to treat organ transplant rejection and autoimmune diseases by targeting them specifically to the type of immune system cell responsible for these attacks, leaving intact the other branches of the immune system.
The department also requires collaborating groups and/or individual scientists in this field of study.
DRUG RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Biopharmaceuticals
Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. They are proteins (including antibodies), nucleic acids (DNA, RNA or antisense oligonucleotides) used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic purposes, and are produced by means other than direct extraction from a native (non-engineered) biological source.
The first such substance approved for therapeutic use was recombinant human insulin (rHI, trade name Humulin), which was developed by Genentech and marketed by Eli Lily in 1982.
Classification of biopharmaceuticals
Large scale production
Biopharmaceuticals may be produced from microbial cells (e.g. recombinant E. coli), mammalian cell lines and plant cell cultures in bioreactors of various configurations. Important issues of concern are cost of production (a low volume, high purity product is desirable) and microbial contamination (by bacteria, viruses, mycoplasma, etc). Alternative platforms of production which are being tested include whole plants (plant-made pharmaceuticals).
The department also desires collborating scientists or groups in this field.
Ethnomedicine (traditional medicine)
The term traditional medicine is used with two main meanings.
The most common usage is to describe medical techniques traditionally used within various societies and developed before the era of modern medicine. These include broad areas such as herbal medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, and homeopathy. Although once solely the province of alternative medicine, traditional treatments have increasingly been subjected to scientific study; some have been discarded as mere superstitions, while others have been adopted to varying degrees in mainstream medicine.
The term is sometimes instead used to describe modern medicine, especially by those offering alternatives to established techniques. In this view, modern medicine is seen as the established form of medicine that is now the traditional treatment for illness, especially in western societies, and alternative approaches are seen as new alternatives to these traditional treatments.
While the World Health Organisation recognizes and respects traditional medicine, it also has a responsibility to ensure that quality, safe, effective and affordable traditional medicines are produced in Africa for Africans and the world. It is in the light of this that the WHO has developed various guidelines for the development of traditional medicine as well as for delivery of quality services from its practice.
Traditional medicine has demonstrated its contribution to the reduction of excess mortality, morbidity and disability due to communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and to non-communicable diseases such as sickle cell anaemia, diabetes and mental disorders. Traditional medicine also contributes to poverty reduction by increasing economic wellbeing of communities and development of health systems through increase of health care coverage. However, the major challenge is that scientifically-based evidence on traditional medicine, quality standards and regulations are not being developed at the same pace as the demands of standardized African traditional medicines based on the increased public interest and the expanding market for traditional medicines.
The Agency also requires collaboration with experts in this field to tap the immense potentials in this field in Nigeria.
Medicinal Plants
Plants continue to be a major source of medicines, as they have been throughout human history. Some medicinal plants, such as the opium poppy, have long been recognized and widely used, while others, such as the Pacific yew, the original source for the cancer drug, Taxol, are relatively new arrivals to mainstream medicine. In addition to providing the basis for between 30 and 40 percent of today’s conventional drugs, the medicinal and curative properties of various plants are also employed in herbal supplements, botanicals, nutraceuticals and teas.
Drug discovery, ethnobotany, and traditional and indigenous medicines have long been basic to medicinal plant research. As new uses for medicinal plants have been discovered and popularized, sustainability has become increasingly an issue; concern over the growth in biopiracy goes hand in hand with the critical need for conservation of both species and habitat.
Collaborating scientists and groups are also needed in this field of study harness the enormous potentials in this area in the country.
Tissue Culture
Basically the technique consists of taking a piece of a plant (such as a stem tip, node, meristem, embryo, or even a seed) and placing it in a sterile, (usually gel-based) nutrient medium where it multiplies. The formulation of the growth medium is changed depending upon whether you are trying to get the plant to produce undifferentiated callus tissue, multiply the number of plantlets, grow roots, or multiply embryos for "artificial seed".
This technique can therefore be used to mass-propagate medicinal plants of immense benefits which under conventional practice takes a long time before proliferation. It can also ensure viral or microbial exclusion as a result of the aseptic condition in which the process takes place. Normally, mold spores, bacteria and other contaminants will grow and overrun a culture; air that is not moving has a minimum of contaminants. In addition, disinfection of implements, work surface and nearby areas helps eliminate contaminants.
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