Dr Lalji Singh, director, CCMB in an exclusive interview to Nandita Singh comments on the need for India to realize its potential in biotechnology.

Where does India stand in the field of biotechnology?

India has an inherent strength in its biodiversity. We have it all—be it plant diversity, animal diversity or human genome diversity. India can be in the forefront of biotechnology. We have the potential. However, we need to work on that potential. We lost out on the genome sequencing project. Now, the next challenge is how to determine the function of genes. Out of the 40,000 genes we know the function of barely 1,000. To be in the reckoning in delineating the gene functions we need to be in tune with the R&D worldwide.

How do you think India can realize its potential in biotechnology?

We need to go mission mode. The way we took space program on mission mode, the way we took nuclear defense on mission mode. We need to make the latest technology and research facilities available to our scientists. We need to designate some of CSIR labs as national levels research facilities and bring it on par with the best in the world. Having one CCMB is not enough. We need to have an integrated research grant system for our scientists where they can send in proposals as if all the technology in the world is available to them and then they should be assigned to the most appropriate lab for their research. We need to create a strong resource centre tree structure in the country, which reaches out up to the village level. These days technology drives science, not the other way round. So we must acquire new technologies at an early stage. This is an investment we need to make. A concerted effort is must. One has to realize the value of biotechnology. IT (Information Technology) is India today and BT (BioTechnology) is Bharat Tomorrow.

To be in the reckoning what research areas we need to strengthen?

There is so much of interesting development happening and we need to be there in all of the areas. Our ultimate objective is to make use of the knowledge to reduce human suffering. Bioinformatics, Microarray, Proteomics, Nanotubes… it pays great dividends if we acquire new technologies in their developing phase and capitalize on them. Also, we need to look at our research grant system and integrate it instead of putting our resources in small projects. Unless we come up with a system to tap excellence from the remote corners of the country we are not utilizing the potential of the country.

At CCMB what are the areas that you think will pay good dividends in the near future?

All that I have mentioned so far and a few more. Since the time I have taken over from Dr PM Bhargava I have concentrated on building up the momentum. Today, you just have to take a look at the facilities that we have at CCMB. In the near future and far future too, biology as a science will get its rightful due and will not be limited to drug discovery. I have concentrated on making CCMB future compatible. However, still there is lot to be done. For example, currently we are struggling to create a 600 mega hertz nuclear resonance micro imaging facility so you don’t have to kill the mouse. This will help us follow the impact of the drug every hour and the resolution can go up to single cell. I am hopeful that in the next financial year we will be able to create the facility.

What are the other things in pipeline at CCMB?

We want to create a biological level 4 containment facility. It is Rs 62 crore project yet to be passed by the planning commission. We also need a sophisticated microscope facility—an atomic force microscope to determine the structure of the nanotube. This is an emerging area with a great future impact. Today’s research is more of a collaborative effort it requires physicists, chemists, engineers and biologists to come together on a platform.

What are your expectations?

After creating the facilities that are now a part of CCMB I expect a number of breakthroughs from our labs. I have focused on creating a lot of networking within CCMB in terms of interaction between scientists from various disciplines. We are already getting representation in better journals. We continue to retain our focus on socially relevant research. We will also step up efforts to patent the research outcome from our labs. We want more scientists to work in the area of infectious diseases. And of course, the ultimate for any institute would be to produce a Nobel laureate.

What is that one thing in biotechnology, which has the power to change the face of the country?

Genotyping. The future medicine will be based on individual genotypes. And the big question is how will this medicine be delivered to each and every citizen in this country? We need to reach out to the gram panchyat level and create a gene database. The very thought that what all we can do with that information is so overpowering—right from disease distribution to effect of food habits to environmental impact will all be available and health management for us as a nation will take on a different meaning altogether. But of course all of it won’t just happen on its own. It requires large scale planning and good execution. I think Andhra Pradesh will lead the way here too, an exercise to the effect is on in the state.