The Hindu Business Line : `Corporates must invest more in R&D'

The country, instead of waiting for someone to take the initiative, should make others come to India to learn something new," the Advisor in Biotechnology to the US Government and President of the Texas-based Foundation for Genetic Research, Dr Krishna R. Dronamraju, said.

Recapping the recent developments in biotechnology, Dr Dronamraju said clinical trails in BT were gaining prominence. "While BT is seen as providing cure for many diseases, it is politicised by those who are opposed to genetic engineering."

He was delivering a special centenary address at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

Categorically stating that the fear of genetically modified food was "misplaced" as there were too many opponents of BT, who easily dismissed the safety and regulatory checks whenever a new agricultural product was brought to the market, he said people were concerned about the release of transgenic organisms into the environment and its long-term impact on human health.

In this context, he pointed out that science would not be useful to society unless the society accepted science. "There is therefore a need to develop and support a system of proprietary research. Corporates must invest more money in research and development," he said.

He later told presspersons that a vaccine for AIDS, which was still in the clinical trail stage, could be expected to be rolled out within the next four to five years. Similar clinical trails were on for treating malaria, which is said to kill four to five million people every year.

He said the introduction of `nano cells' was being contemplated in treating Cancer. "The nano particles are minute. They can be made to lodge next to the cancer cells in the human body. Then by using a high-density laser, the cancer cells can be killed leaving all other cells in tact. This process is in sharp contrast to Chemotherapy, which not only killed the cancerous cells, but the others too. Ms Nancy Halas has filed a patent for this process. It has been put to test under control conditions."

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