Biotechnology (BT) is definitely a wonderful technology and a big promise for the future. It takes care of a string of modern scientific branches like microbiology, environmental engineering, healthcare, agriculture, etc. India was able to make good strides since the inception of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in 1986. Though BT is not fast as IT, it is a sustainable technology, which can work wonders and that too for the benefit of the common people.

  By this year itself we would be able to release a genetically modified (GM) potato that has 50% increase in yield and are highly nutritious. A gene from Amaranth is transferred to potato for the desired yield and quality. The new transgenic plant would have higher content of Lysine - type of amino acid. Rice plants with less water consumption, abiotic tolerance and increased beta-carotene will be a reality soon.

  Edible vaccines are being developed and thus eating the tomato or the cabbage can cure diseases. This is aimed to use in pediatric population of the country. We were able to develop important vaccines for some of the dreaded diseases. The drug for Cholera will be released to the market in the next year. Vaccines for Leprosy and Anthrax will be ready shortly. Very sensitive diagnostic kits for a variety of communicable diseases like HIV, Tuberculosis (TB), Dengue Fever, Japanese encephalitis, etc are being developed. A lot of research is performed in functional genomics. We are trying to knock out all the gaps.

  Kerala has a tremendous scope in this field and is one of the best export potential zones. We are sitting on a gold mine and our scientists and institutions must be strengthened. Kerala Agriculture University, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI), ar doing pioneering works. Scientists in Kerala have developed tissue culture protocol for pepper, which has a high market potential and were able to setup a good national genome bank.

  DBT has initiated talks with the Government of Kerala for setting up a Biotechnology Park. The state is included for the Bio-prospecting programme.

  During the last two decades our scientists were able to develop a strong base. The market is continuously growing and the investment in this field ia ever increasing. We have a strong human resource capability and thousands of students and scientists are trained every year. Thus a critical mass of well-trained scientific personnel for research, teaching and industrial activity is readily available. DBT is not in isolation. Many institutes of eminence like Indian Institute of Agricultural Research(ICAR), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Natural Centre for Plant Genome Research (NCPGR), Central Drug Research Institute, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) are cooperating in the efforts for progress.

  The government funds eighty percent of the research in this knowledge intensive branch and 10% is shared by the industry.

  We give high priority to human resources and are liberal in allotting doctoral and post doctoral fellowships. Sixty-seven Universities are now running M.Sc. courses in Biotechnology and we really want to spread out.

Courtesy : Deepika Education