E-Paper
Biosciences get a collective push
PROFESSOR SS Katiyar, vice-chancellor of the Chatrapati Sahu Ji Maharaj University, said that various innovations carried out by teachers, students, professors and researchers, in the field of biosciences have been applied for the benefit of the society.
PROFESSOR SS Katiyar, vice-chancellor of the Chatrapati Sahu Ji Maharaj University, said that various innovations carried out by teachers, students, professors and researchers, in the field of biosciences have been applied for the benefit of the society.
He was speaking at the national seminar on ‘Innovation in biosciences’, organised at the DBS post-graduate college.
Katiyar explained that there were three areas of science in which innovative researches were required: agriculture sciences, environmental sciences and health sciences.
He said that the distinction and boundaries among different fields of sciences was very hazy and over the few decades, it had virtually disappeared.
He said today the population of our country was rapidly growing but the production of foodgrain was limited. If the conditions persists, after a period of 50 years the production of foodgrain would not be enough to fulfill the demand, he warned and added therefore, innovation in biosciences was a must to check the problem in the future.
Katiyar said that soon genetically modified crops would be produced.
These crops would have protection from all diseases and pests and would be more nutritious than the normal foodgrain. The vice-chancellor also talked about biodegradable plastic, which gets decomposed with time and plugs pollution.
Katiyar added no discrimination should be made in the various fields of sciences as it restricts the thinking of the researchers and hampers innovation. Dr Santosh Kumar, former vice-chancellor of Barkatullah University, Bhopal, said that the main function of the colleges and universities was to generate knowledge and that is why they are called intellectual power houses. The most important thing that the teachers should keep in mind is to maintain the quality of education imparted to the learners. Only this could lead to innovations in the field of teaching, he stressed.
Dr R Ramamurthi, general president (elect) Indian Science Congress, said that the field of biosciences was multidimensional in scope.
Dr HO Tandon, head of the department of zology, DBS College, said that biosciences represent the fastest growing area of science. It has made profound impact in the understanding of the problems related to life, health and diseases, he pointed out.
