Technological Development and Scientific Production in Biotechnology in Latin America

Abstract

Biotechnology has aroused the interest of social actors because of its potential impact on the development of countries as a base technology applicable to various productive activities. The present paper describes and relates, for Latin America, regarding Biotechnology (during the period 2010 to 2018) the production of knowledge and its use, measured in scientific articles and citations, with the technological development, taking into consideration the granted patents. Only Mexico, Brazil and Cuba report patent grants in this region. Regarding scientific production, 49% correspond to Brazil, followed by Mexico (18%) and Argentina (11%). Citations dropped significantly, reaching only 5% of what was observed in 2013.Additionally, it was found that there is a very high correlation between scientific production and patents granted in Biotechnology.