Achieve self-reliance, scientists told

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, NOV. 13. The Principal Scientific Advisor-designate to the Centre, Dr. R.Chidambaram, on Tuesday exhorted scientists to achieve technology self-reliance in fields as diverse as human genomics and nuclear weapons, which were profitable commercially and strategically.

He was delivering the sixth convocation address of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (deemed university) here.

Dr. Chidambaram, who is also the DAE-Homi Bhabha Chair Professor, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), said technology was sought by companies and countries in fields as diverse as human genomics and nuclear weapons, through the instruments of Intellectual Property Rights and technology control regimes.

In areas which were profitable commercially or strategically, technologies would be denied to India. India should counter this by becoming self-reliant. Self-reliance did not mean avoiding international scientific and technological cooperation. In fact, the latter was a must, and India should take and should give in equal measure in international cooperation on an equal-partner basis. It must participate in international ``mega science'' projects. Self-reliance implied immunity against technology denial which India had developed in the nuclear field. It should be developed in other fields including medical technology.

Most medical procedures were now available in the country. The Department of Atomic Energy had introduced nuclear medicine techniques extensively and was supplying radio- pharmaceuticals and Radio-immuno Assy Kits to several nuclear medicine centres in the country.

The first Positron Emission Tomography (PET) was coming up at the Radiation Medicine Centre of the BARC in Mumbai and the PET technique was useful in diagnosing mental health disorders. Whether PET or MRI, such facilities were not enough. This would continue to be so unless the country developed indigenous medical instrumentation which would provide diagnostic and therapeutic facilities at affordable prices. For this to happen, a synergy between instrument designers in research institutions and industry was necessary. He emphasised basic research, which was a cultural necessity, because the highest intellectuals should be allowed to work on problems of their choice; to work in mission- oriented research in strategically important areas; to work in industry- oriented applied research; and to work on country- specific applied research.

Dr. Chidambaram said he gave low priority to ``parasitic research'', which appeared to be important because it followed global trends. As it was pursued with excessive foreign contacts and collaboration, it tended to depend on foreign patronage to compulsory research by reluctant college teachers to improve their promotion prospects, and to directionless applied research. Working on exciting problems of international interest should be welcomed but original ideas should come from India and the research should be done within the country.

Research on diseases endemic to India and to mental health disorders fell under the category of ``country-specific applied research'' and should be given priority. The boundary between basic research and applied research was fuzzy, and applied research should be backed up by basic research in relevant areas to fill the unexpected gaps that might emerge in future, he said.

He said genomics was changing the approach to medicine. The day when one's personalised DNA sequence would be examined by a doctor while treating one for any disease or estimating risk of acquiring it was far-off and perhaps never came in that explicit a fashion. But companies in the West were being started to study the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders and the effect of psychiatric drugs on the genes.

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