State of the Art of Biotechnology Research in Zimbabwe

The thrust of biotechnology research in Zimbabwe is to promote already developed technologies, especially for commercialized crops such as tobacco, wheat, cotton and sugarcane. This involve tissue culture techniques for disease elimination and rapid propagation, development of transgenic plants (tobacco) and development of biopesticides and biofertilizers. Work in the animal sector focuses on laboratory diagnosis of diseases, vaccine development and vector control. There is also an on-going study on the molecular biology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its involvement in the etiology of hepatocellular carcina (HCC).