South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT held the "MSIT-Bio Academies Future Policy Forum" at 4 p.m. on Monday at Best Western Plus Hotel Sejong, together with the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology, the Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology.

AlphaGenome has recently emerged, going beyond protein structure prediction technologies such as AlphaFold and RosettaFold, to predict functions based on large-scale DNA sequencing analysis. AI technology is also spreading rapidly as a means of refining biotechnology in the bio field.

At the forum, each society introduced the latest research trends. The Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology said life science research is shifting from analyzing single genes and proteins toward an integrated understanding of interactions within biological systems. It also said the use of advanced technologies and large-scale biodata will become a key competitive edge for new drug development and precision medicine.

The Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology introduced research trends in which basic studies such as neurobiology and genome engineering are expanding into precision medicine and new drug development using AI and data science. Based on global trends such as CES and the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, it also stressed the importance of automated data collection and large-scale AI analysis infrastructure.

The National Research Foundation of Korea shared detailed processes in which projects are planned and budgets are reflected based on the characteristics of government-funded projects and researcher demand. It presented key achievements from an open planning system operated together with academic societies and discussed future improvements and development directions.

The National Center for Bio Policy at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology introduced a "bio policy platform." Through the policy platform, experts from industry, academia and research institutes are communicating regularly on pending issues and policy directions in the bio sector, including innovative new drugs, synthetic biology and regulatory improvement. The center shared achievements to date based on three operating principles: openness, sustainability and field orientation.

In an open discussion, participants in particular discussed expanding the bio policy platform introduced by the policy research center to build a system in which people in the field and policy officials can communicate regularly and it can be reflected in policy.

Oh Dae-hyun (오대현), director-general for Future Strategic Technology Policy at the ministry, said, "We will support policy officials to become one team with researchers in the field so that the voices from the field are reflected in policy and bio technologies that change people's lives can grow faster."