Enzyme technology in Brazil: trade balance and research community

Karina De Godoy Daiha,Rodrigo Volcan Almeida,Denise Maria Guimarães Freire,Ariane Leites Larentis,Gabriela Coelho Brêda

doi:10.1186/s40552-016-0029-0

Abstract

Despite Brazil’s large numbers and its position as one of the world’s ten largest economies, its exports are mainly composed of non-industrial or low-technological goods. It results in a trade deficit and technological dependence that affects several sectors, including biotechnology. The present study aims at analyzing the Brazilian trade balance (from 1996 to 2013) of enzyme-related goods and correlating such data with the scientific community, number of scientific publications and filings of patent applications related to four technological areas that commonly use lipases, the most important enzyme studied in Brazil. Brazil seems to have a sufficient, but not saturated, technical staff working in enzyme-correlated areas, while the trade balance is deteriorating over the years. The major problem seems to be that the increase in the number of scientists is not accompanied by a proportional increase in effective development policies. These conclusions are corroborated by the number of scientific publications and patent documents related to the industrial use of lipases, one of the most important enzyme group: while Brazil has an important contribution in publishing scientific documents regarding the industrial use of lipases, its contribution in filing patent applications is only marginal.

Highlights

Brazil is a country of large numbers: it is a continental size country, the fifth most populous country in the world (United Nations Population Found 2010) and one of the world’s richest countries in biodiversity terms (Mittermeier et al 2005)
All data related to imported and exported goods are classified in accordance with the Mercosur Common Nomenclature (MCN), which was adopted by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in 1995
Trade balance The evolution of Brazilian trade balance in the enzyme technology field has been analyzed in terms of the value and volume of the goods imported and exported by the country

Summary

Introduction

Brazil is a country of large numbers: it is a continental size country, the fifth most populous country in the world (United Nations Population Found 2010) and one of the world’s richest countries in biodiversity terms (Mittermeier et al 2005). Brazil occupied the seventh position in the ranking of world’s largest economies in 2013 (Centre for Economics and Business Research 2013). Brazil’s exports are mainly composed of non-industrial or low-technological goods. In 2010, the commodities accounted for 51 % of Brazil’s exports, representing around 5 % of all commodities traded in the world. Brazil’s contribution to the global exportation of high-technological goods was of around 0.5 % in the same period Besides affecting the Brazilian trade balance, this scenario causes a high technological dependence that reaches several areas, including the biotechnology sector. Even though the significant growth of this sector in Brazil is worldwide recognized

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Conclusion