The rapid spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria threat new spread of infections33. The natural adaptation
of bacteria, viruses and fungi, makes them increasingly resistant to medicines. The inappropriate use of these valuable medicines and the time involved in the development pipeline for new antibiotics represent urgent research challenges. Stronger international partnerships are needed to ensure that, among other important things, surveillance is in place which quickly identifies new threats or changing patterns in resistance. The role of infrastructures is therefore key like the ESFRI Project ERINHA for emerging infectious diseases (broader than antimicrobial resistance) providing Cat3/4 containment facilities; the ESFRI Project MIRRI to maintain the key strains in the evolution of resistance and provide pre-changed reference strains to help understand the process of resistance development; the ESFRI Project EU-OPENSCREEN for studying small molecules and translation into applications; the ESFRI Project EMBRC for marine biodiversity across animal and plant domains; the ESFRI
Landmark BBMRI ERIC for human-derived disease- and population-oriented bio-samples and the ESFRI Landmark ELIXIR for data streams.
Nanomaterials for Health and Food sciences
Nanotechnology impacts therapeutics, diagnostics/imaging and regenerative medicine, particularly in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. Nanotechnologies create the possibility of foods with new flavours
141
3
34ERA-Net SynBio. See: http://www.erasynbio.eu/lw_resource/datapool/_items/item_59/erasynbiostrategicvision.pdf
and textures, and also healthier food products with reduced salt, fat or sugar content or increased vitamin and nutrient content, using nanoencapsulation. Nanotechnologies are also used in food additives and packaging, and therefore have the potential for wide use in food manufacturing. The creation and use of smart nanoscale pesticides and fertilisers in agriculture is in an early stage of development, and has the potential to provide beneficial effects to agri-ecosystems, via the use of novel delivery systems for the more effective use of pesticides and the development of slow release fertilisers in the field. The coordination of European facilities for nanomaterials fabrication and characterisation within the field of H&F sciences should be explored, where due regard needs to be given to public perception and stakeholder engagement and the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation:
•
a range of facilities for nano- and microfabrication and a comprehensive set of characterisation parameters (physical,chemical, in vitro, in vivo biological properties) allowing researchers to apply their particles to solving problems that affect food as well as patients health;
•
direct link with the European Medicine Agency or other relevant agencies (e.g. notified body), which are requiredto facilitate the approval of medical and food products.
Biomanufacturing for Environment
The sustainable production and conversion of biological raw materials for use as sources of renewable energy, materials and chemicals can provide alternatives for diminishing fossil resources and drive the growth of the knowledge based bio-economy. Addressing the demand for sustainable supplies of materials, fuels and food through biological means required the use biological resources towards environmental and economic sustainability:
•
Industrial biotechnology•
Bioproducts, biofuels, and biorefinery facilities, link to ENE SWG•
Scale-up facilities, high-value chemicals, link to ENE SWG•
Environmental biotechnology, facilities, link to ENV SWGAn effort at European level is to be considered to bring together pilot-scale facilities, demonstrators and up-scaling facilities to enable access to the production and processing of materials, chemicals (e.g. antibiotics) and energy, using biological resources, including plant, algae, marine life, fungi and micro-organisms.
Synthetic Biology
Synthetic biology applies engineering to the biosciences, seeking to design and construct/modify new or existing biological parts and systems to deliver novel functions that do not exist in nature. The field is expected to impact many sectors of the economy, and to provide tools of great social and environmental interest, including health,
energy and food security34. An EU effort to develop biopart repositories and exploitation software is to be
considered. Synthetic biology is both highly interdisciplinary and technically and scientifically demanding and also addresses a range of social, economic, ethical, and legal issues. It can be seen as a set of tools and techniques to be applied to and embedded within a range of disciplines to enable a broad spectrum of applications. The capability will interact with and connect to existing infrastructures such as the ESFRI Projects EU-OPENSCREEN ,
ISBE , MIRRI , the ESFRI Landmarks BBMRI ERIC , ELIXIR , INSTRUCT and possibly other RIs in the
environment, and energy sectors.
A health research information system for European citizens
A Health research information system is needed to harmonise health indicators and surveillance tools across Europe, and to host health-related databases including population based and clinical registries for diseases, biobanks, health protocols as well as metadata for health determinants. It could be an excellent tool for health planning and will require full European engagement in order to implement the principle of a high level human health protection (Art. 168 of the Treaty).
LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS
3
Health & Food
REGIONAL DIMENSION
The objective is to increase active participation of all MS in RIs, to achieve capacity, prevent the brain drain and regional unbalances and ensure a greater coherence and synergy throughout Europe. Adaptation and improvements are needed in:
•
membership fees of established RIs need to be carefully considered in order to facilitate the entrance of NewMember States to Health and Food RIs.
•
promotion of the use of Structural and Cohesion Funds to enhance research excellence and impact on societythrough smart specialisation, Czech Republic being an excellent example by bringing together national expertise, creating an excellent national research infrastructure network, and joining the ESFRI Landmarks INSTRUCT and EATRIS ERIC as founding member. The Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine in Olomouc, Czech Republic, is a leading translational medicine infrastructure funded with 40 M€ via the European Structural Funds within the project BIOMEDREG. The ESFRI Landmark INSTRUCT has also benefited from structural fund investment into two structural biology centres CEITEC and BOICEV that together form the Czech National Affiliated Centres of INSTRUCT. In addition, regional funding continues supporting the establishment of ESFRI RIs, e.g. support from Regione Toscana for the Italian INSTRUCT Centre CERM/CIRMMP.