“Don’t throw anything away. There is no away.” Thus did Dr. William Padolina, erstwhile chemist, director for general services of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), open his lecture on biotechnology in agriculture during the R&D Symposium to celebrate the National Science and Technology Week (NSTW).

Held at the SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the symposium culminated the NSTW celebration of the Los Baños Science Community Foundation, Inc. (LBSCFI) on 20 July 2007.

Outlining the new sciences encountered in biotechnology, Padolina, former secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) emphasized that although these new sciences offer new knowledge and eventually, new wealth, the question of sustainability always arises.

Nobel laureate Robert M. Solow (2004) says sustainability is the ability to preserve productive capacity for the indefinite future. He then clarified that this does not mean saving resources, only ensuring that there is sufficient capital (human, physical, natural) for future generations to create living standards at least as good as ours (but in ways that match their preferences).

Solow further said “Yes-or-no lends itself to stalemate and confrontation; more-or-less lends itself to trade-offs”. Basing on this approach to sustainability, Padolina identified trade-offs to consider in determining biotechnology’s ultimate value to society. Eventually, he said, we must be able to decide on whether clean air is more valuable than the need for cars for transport and whether the need of poor families for firewood is more significant than the need for erosion control and conservation of topsoil.

He further pointed out the need to weigh whether agricultural growth is more important to us than the preservation of biodiversity and furthermore to determine whether the welfare of people yet to be born is more important than those currently suffering from hunger and want.

Beyond the emotions aroused by these trade-offs however, the scientist stressed the need to build a scientific basis for sustainability. He said we have to consider the earth’s ability to regenerate itself (environmental resilience) and to absorb waste (a potentially irreversible process). Furthermore, we need indicators to forecast these abilities now so that we can make informed decisions regarding biotechnology and our future.

Issues brought about by recycling and biodegradation products still need to be settled the soonest. As the pundit said, there is no 100% recycling and in a corollary to this, biodegradation products may also be toxic while effects of high concentration of biodegraded products have still to be determined.

Lastly he pushed for the revitalization of Basic and Applied Microbiology, which he described as the neglected science. In closing, Padolina pointed out that while there are new tools in modern biotechnology, deciding on what is sustainable remains problematic.