March 21, 2005
The Industrial Technology Research Institute and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) signed an agreement in early March to expand their cooperation and exchange partnership. While the two research bodies have already been working together on Chinese herbal medicine
R&D, with
ITRI researchers posted in the Netherlands, the new agreement will further apply systems biology to the study of herbal medicine.
ITRI is serous about expanding its bioscience research efforts, and its researchers have already commenced human testing on an herbal medicine designed to fight hepatitis B.
By teaming up with NTO,
ITRI aims to use hard science to provide scientific backing for the medicinal benefits of herbal medicine, thus boosting the international expansion plans of Taiwan's herbal medicine industry.
NTO plays a similar role to that of
ITRI. While it is a non-government organization, it receives funding from the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and Ministry of National Defense. It pursues research in the areas of life sciences, environmental and earth sciences, information and telecommunications technology, defense industry technology and service industry technology. It was established in 1932 and currently employs 5,100 personnel.
In the future, the
ITRI-NTO partnership will be broadened to include semiconductors, nanotechnology and optoelectronics. NTO may also station its
R&D personnel at
ITRI laboratories.
(Central News Agency)
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