Iran ranks first in biotechnology among Islamic states

Head of the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) Ja'far Mehrad appreciated Iran’s astonishing scientific progress, and said the country ranks first in biotechnology among Islamic States. “In biotechnology, Iran ranks first among the Islamic countries and 23rd among the world states,” Mehrad said in Tehran in February. He also said that Iran ranks 2nd in the region and 28th in the world in the field of stem cells. Iran has taken wide strides in science and technology, particularly in medical and medicinal fields, in recent years. In relevant remarks in August 2012, former Iranian Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi boasted the country's astonishing progress in producing medical tools, equipment and drugs, and said Iran stands 12 in the world ranking of biomedicine production. "Iran ranks 1st in the region, 4th in Asia and 12th in the world in producing biological drugs," Vahid Dastjerdi said in a ceremony in Tehran at the time to unveil 8 new types of hi-tech medicines used for treating various kinds of diseases. She also announced that the global exports value of biomedicine industry stands at $1,000bln, and Iran can have a large share of this figure.