MUMBAI, JANUARY 10: All the genetically engineered material will have to be certified at the recently set up Transgenics Testing Facility (TTF) at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resource in Delhi, according to secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Manju Sharma.Delivering Haffkine memorial oration on `Biotechnology in Medical Research for the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges' here today, she said TTF has developed probes for testing all transgenics and therefore India will not allow the import of any transgenic material without testing it. The testing facility was recently set up by DBT and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).Sharma emphasised the need to promote biotechnology in agriculture as India's existing 142 million hectares of arable land required high quality planting material, biofertilisers and biopesticides to increase quality food production for its growing population.DBT has issued biosafety guidelines which are considered the best in the world, she said.To carry out clinical trials of biotech products on animals smoothly, Sharma said DBT and Indian National Science Academy have jointly helped in the modification of the act for prevention of cruelty to animals with an agreement with the union minister for social welfare, Maneka Gandhi.Regarding the collaboration of biotechnology labs with Indian industries, Sharma said there is a change in attitude of both scientists and industry and there are several instances of collaboration in the form of `lab to land' in the field of biotechnology.Sharma said the department of biotechnology has been supporting research and development in medical biotechnology mainly from the view point of developing easy to use, highly operative diagnostic kits for dreadful communicable diseases resulting in a heavy disease burden for the country.She said it would be a major challenge for the 21st century to develop an integrated understanding of the cells and organisms, their survival and reproduction process. `Cell biology is now becoming a study of functional modules and their interconnections during the evolutionary process which can have an impact on the behaviour of various organisms and cells,' she said.
