Taiwan Microbiota Consortium was recently established in central Taiwan’s Taichung City with the goal of making the country a world leader in discovering the underlying mechanisms that cause major health threats such as autism, cancer, depression, obesity and Parkinson’s disease.
The Taichung Veterans General Hospital-based consortium, which comprises top local medical experts and representatives of related medical care firms, is tasked with promoting microbiota research and application, boosting cross-field multidisciplinary and multisector cooperation, and establishing a platform for sharing samples and conducting information and talent exchanges.
Dr. Wu Jun-ying of TVGH’s Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology said as microbiota are the major causes of many human ailments, analysis of their genes and proteins is enormously beneficial. For example, microbiota extracted from excrement can be made into drugs or used directly to change the microbial ecosystem in the gastrointestinal tract so as to develop more effective treatments, he added.
According to Wu, the importance of microbiota research is recognized worldwide, with many developed countries allocating sizeable funding and resources to field-specific R&D. Taiwan’s wealth of outstanding clinical experts, world-class National Health Insurance system—able to provide big data information for large-scale research—and proven track record in medical studies give it a genuine chance of making real progress in this field, he said.
Taiwan has already made considerable headway in using microbiota research for possible use in medical treatment sometime in the future, Wu said, citing the completion of animal trials for the use of microbiota in treating cancer and diabetes. He urged the government to springboard off this success and review relevant legislation pertaining to human clinical trials to help Taiwan significantly strengthen its core competitiveness in such leading-edge medical procedures and treatments. (SCK-E)
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