E-Paper
Call to undertake research in nanobiotechnology
DR WOLFGANG Parak of the Centre of Nanosciences of Ludwig Maximillian Universitat, Munchen (Germany) on Friday said that a developing country like India, which has a large number of science students, should undertake researches in the emerging field of nanobiotechnology in a big way.
DR WOLFGANG Parak of the Centre of Nanosciences of Ludwig Maximillian Universitat, Munchen (Germany) on Friday said that a developing country like India, which has a large number of science students, should undertake researches in the emerging field of nanobiotechnology in a big way.
He said the field has a lot of potential in the field of energy and medicine and India by starting working in the field immediately can ensure that it remains at the forefront of the new science along with other leading nations of the world.
Dr Parak was speaking at the inaugural session of the one-day international workshop on 'Frontiers in Nanobiotechnology' organised by the Nanotechnology and Molecular Lab of AU's Centre of Biotechnology at the SN Ghosh Auditorium of AU's JK Institute of Applied Physics.
Dr Parak said that a lot of basic work is yet to be done in nanobiotechnology and the need of the hour is for more and more scientists to embrace this field and undertake the research work.
"This is one field in which the scientists need to perform the experiments in the labs in place of reading published matter as conclusions may easily vary from person to person. One of attractive features is that for the bulk of primary experiments you do not need heavy investments or costly equipment and this is where India can easily benefit," added the 36-year-old Dachau-born scientist.
About his own research work on Colloidal nanocrystals, Dr Parak said that colloidal nanocrystals are building blocks of the "nanoworld" with a variety of interesting features.
"Their electronic properties enable the building of single-electron transistors, and their optical properties can be used to generate fluorescence labels with many different colours. However, in order to fully exploit these properties, besides the creation of the individual building blocks also the ability to arrange these building blocks to desired patterns or positions is of great importance," he said.
In his presidential address, AU Dean (Science) Prof Hari Prakash said nanobiotechnology holds great potential and reminded people as to how the Nobel laureate Richard Feynmen had predicted the growth of the field years in advance when the requisite technology was not even present. He said all efforts are being made to give research activities a push in the Allahabad University.
Guest of Honour, Prof Harish Chandra Verma of IIT-Kanpur said that the research under way in India and abroad in the field of nanobiotechnology would have a great impact on our lives in the years to come. In an attempt to make a layman grasp the size being talked about he said that while a drop of blood contains 5 million red blood cells, a single RBC would measure between 2000 to 4000 nanometres.
In his talk, Prof Verma also presented a brief introduction of various nanomaterials like carbon nanotube, nanomagnet besides nanogenerators, nanomachines, targeted drug delivery system and nanorobots that could one day be at the centre of our lives.
Some of the leading experts who presented their papers at the workshop included Dr Almudena Javier from Germany who spoke on 'Role of nanocapsules in drug delivery', Prof Debashish Chowdhury from IIT-Kanpur who spoke on 'Molecular Motors', Dr Ashutosh Pandey of MNNIT who presented a talk on 'Nanomaterials for solar cell fabrication', Dr Brijesh Pandey from IIT-Kanpur who delivered a talk on 'Synthesis of nanomaterials' and Dr Anjana Pandey who delivered a paper on 'Toxic Gene identification by quantum dots in sinobacteria'.
A large number of science students and faculty members of leading science and technology institutions of the city including AU and MNNIT were also present on the occasion.
