The Central Institute for medicinal and Aromic Plants (CIMAP) has been awarded the first Nina Saxena Excellance in Technology Award-2007 instituted by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur for their novel anti-malarial drug variety of plant Artemisia annua with complete technology package to improve health, while enhancing rural income through value chain development. The award included a memento and a cash prize of Rs 51,000.
Malaria is one of the world's most dreaded infectious diseases caused by Plasmodium falciparum, threatening the livers of over two billion and causing above a million deaths every year. In this demanding situation 'Artemisinin' from Artemisia annua is presently the only alternative for treating chloroquine resistant or cerebral malaria. The drug industry in India has been importing artemisinin and the non-availability of raw materials demands sustainable cultivation of this crop for which WHO (World Health Organization) and MMV (Medicine for Malaria Venture) are highly concerned. The team at CIMAP took this challenge through a novel molecular genetics approach of improving metabolic potential of Artemisia to synthesize this drug molecule.
In this process, a DNA tagged super genotype 'CIM-Arogya' of Artemisia annua was achieved with artemisinin content 0.8 to 1.05 per cent (32 NF 2004, US 6,396,763). This genotype is the first drug yielding plant genotype developed through molecular breeding. With its agrotechnology and downstream processing it could be licensed to six pharma industries linking farmers for assured price cultivation spread to an area of about 2000 acres in northern India initially.
A first of its kind, the award was instituted by IIT, Kharagpur in 2006 to commemorate the memory of Nina Saxena, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. It celebrates the spirit and memory of Dr Nina Saxena, B.Tech (Hons.), CE 1991, who passed away tragically in 2005. Nominations for the award was open to all scientists of Indian origin.
Meanwhile, Dr S.P.S. Khanuja, director, CIMAP and his team (Shilpi Paul, Ajit K Shasany, Anil Gupta, Mahendra P Darokar, MM Gupta, RK Verma, Govind Ram, Aniruddha Kumar, RK Lal, RP Bansal, Anil K Singh, RS Bhakuni and Sudeep Tandon), have decided to use the award money of Rs 51,000 in a novel and noble way for instituting an award 'Sumanav' (meaning great soul humans) to be conferred to an innovative research student/project fellow every year by CIMAP for his/her outstanding contribution for excellence in science & technology capable of benefiting humanity.