The Hindu : Kerala News : `Biotechnology will form basis of the world'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 26, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

`Biotechnology will form basis of the world'

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 25. A. E. Muthunayagam, executive vice-president (designate) of the State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, has said that biotechnology along with nanotechnology and information technology will form the foundation of tomorrow's world.

Inaugurating a symposium on ``Steroid Hormone Receptor Super-family and Molecular Signalling'' at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) today, Dr. Muthunayagam said that the shape of the world that would emerge tomorrow could not be fathomed today.

India is one of the world's 12 mega diversity area with more than 45,000 wild plant species and 77,000 wild animal species registered, accounting for about 6.5 per cent of the world's known wildlife.

Extensive research

Recognising the strategic advantage of having the Western Ghats, one of the mega centres of endemic biodiversity in India, in close proximity, the RGCB was engaged in extensive research using the natural resources along with other academic and research and development institutions in the State, he said.

"The centre is engaged in the crucial task of surveying and mapping bio-resources of the area, documenting ethnic knowledge base and identifying medicinal herbs using molecular tools to dissect and study them. This is of utmost importance since the rich traditions of Ayurveda and traditional medicines needs protection so that the country does not lose this technology to foreign aspirants," he said.

Kerala, he said, is an ethnological museum in the eye of anthropologists with several easily recognisable racial strains, a cross of which has practiced consanguineous marriage. "Thus this is an area with good sample population for conducting research into genetic causes of various multi-factorial disorders and phamacogenomic studies. The RGCB has been studying on the extent of genetic variability in ethnic communities and searching for ethnically predisposed variants for the various diseases," he said.

Hormone actions

Referring to the topic of the symposium, Dr. Muthunayagam said that defects in signalling events associated with hormone actions were directly and indirectly responsible for several human diseases. A full knowledge of the molecular signals of a hormone action would help in the treatment of those diseases.

"Over the years, every nation has recognised the importance of knowledge and formulated plans and programmes for capacity building for knowledge. Every effort is made to convert the science of yesterday as technology of today and wealth of tomorrow. For us to become a super power, we must generate knowledge, share knowledge and apply knowledge for our socio economic benefit," he said.

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