The Hindu : Tap potential of medicinal plants: Kalam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 23, 2003

National

National

Tap potential of medicinal plants: Kalam

By Our Special Correspondent

The President, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, having a word with J. Craig Venter of the U.S. at the inaugural session of Assocham's international summit on "The business of biotechnology", in New Delhi on Saturday. The Human Resource Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi (left) looks on. — PTI

NEW DELHI March. 22. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, today called upon experts in the field of biotechnology to have greater interaction with practitioners of ayurveda, siddha and other traditional systems of medicine so that the country could tap the enormous potential of the medicinal plants to improve the health of the people. Recalling how a scientist at the Anna University in Chennai discovered a new anti-cancer molecule from a herb in collaboration with a siddha expert, Dr. Kalam said there was need for such fusions of modern science and traditional knowledge.

Inaugurating an international summit on `the business of biotechnology' organised by Assocham, he stressed the need to evolve a new national policy to tap the full potential of biotechnology and to use it for social and economic development. Dr. Kalam gave away the Assocham's knowledge millennium awards to J. Craig Venter, who had led the non-Governmental international project on mapping of the human genome, Inder Verma, Professor, Salk Institute, U.S., and R. A. Mashelkar, CSIR Director-General.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National