The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) would soon have a near perfect system in place to monitor the presence of harmful traces in genetically modified drugs marketed in the country.

The DBT is in the process of setting up four national facilities for GM validation attached to CFTRI, Mysore, CDFD and NIN, Hyderabad and ITRC, Lucknow.

According to DBT officials, these centres have already developed protocols to detect the presence of even 0.01 per cent of harmful genetic material in the genetically modified end product. However, the country is yet to trace any genetically modified item that has been imported into the country. "We have cleared the cultivation of GM Cotton. But as far as GM food supplements / neutraceuticals are concerned, we are yet to address a real case," they explained.

The officials informed that DBT is having an ambitious plan to support biotech programmes in the neutraceuticals sector. "The DBT has a permanent task force on food biotechnology. The taskforce, chaired by Dr V Prakash, director, CFTRI, is exploring newer areas of food biotechnology that can be recommended for Indian food processing sector. Health foods and neutraceuticals emerging as a major segment in biotech foods, DBT is open for proposals in this segment," They said.

"We are open for funding private-public research partnerships in neutraceutical sector. The private companies who have specific research ideas can approach the DBT for partial funding and technical assistance. The government research institutions in the country would be asked to tie up with the industrial units to work on specific projects that can be jointly funded," officials said.

Says Dr Prakash, " DBT has tremendous interest in food, biotech and nutraceutical segments. The dietary food supplement and neutraceutical segment is an area having vast scope. It is one of the fastest growing segments internationally. Geriatric nutrition is another important segment that triggers the growth of neutraceuticals. One should realise that even in India, about 23 per cent of urban population and 17 per cent of rural population are becoming obese. This underlines the importance of health foods. Genes and diets, neutrigenomics are all emerging areas of scientific discipline. Joint R&D efforts can be initiated in these areas through DBT and private industry partnerships."