President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam exhorted scientists and biotechnologists to work on the development of vaccines for the dreaded HIV, and also common diseases in the country like malaria and tuberculosis. Speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), in Hyderabad on Tuesday, Dr Kalam said biotechnologists in healthcare should work for developing proper treatment for diseases afflicting a large section of the society. Biotechnology should be used for creating good life, a diseaseless life, the President said.

He called upon the scientists to assess, and not ignore, the ancient knowledge on herbs and translate it into potential drugs, which would be safer and cheaper. He mentioned the research work done by a scientist in Tamil Nadu to treat cancer. Herbal extracts proved that the presence of certain molecules could help cure some types of cancer, he said.

However, the man who stole the CCMB jubilee show was V S Ramachandran, Director, Centre for Brain and Congnition, University of California, San Diego, USA, who gave an interesting presentation on brain phantasy. It was all about the functioning of the brain and "what neurology can tell us about human nature, art and synesthesia."

Dr Kalam, excited about the presentation, asked the galaxy of scientists including Nobel laureates, to get ready to face one of the biggest challenges - the memory power of brain vis-à-vis the computer. Quoting from a book, he said how a computer could match the human brain by the year 2019 and 1,000 such human brains by 2029. Do you want the computer to master you, or make the computer just a tool, he asked.

Dr Kalam said if India was to be transformed into a developed nation by 2020, which was his own vision, efforts should be made in value addition to our enormous natural and human resources. Such value addition would push up the economy and the GDP and bring 300 million people above the poverty line, the President said. Dr Kalam had interaction with the budding scientists.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said he was amazed to see the spectrum of research areas in which the CCMB scientists were engaged and the world-class facilities that were available at the Institute for pursuing research in the areas of biotechnology. It was indeed a centre of excellence and may be among the top 10 institutions in the world.

Andhra Pradesh had made rapid strides in IT, BT and PT (pharmaceutical technology). In fact, AP would emerge as the Drug Capital of India because of the presence of several pharmaceutical companies, which were active in producing and delivering drugs.

He said the 21st century belonged to biotechnology. After the sequencing of human genome, the face of medicine was bound to change from the curative mode to productive and preventive modes. "We would not like to lag behind in the race, when genomics, through biotechnology will play a vital role in healthcare systems." Institutions like CCMB should continue to contribute to the development of biotech and pharmaceutical industries in the state, Naidu said.

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Bachi Singh Rawat said CCMB was a shining example in the firmament of India's bioresearch. He hoped that CCMB would continue to make major contributions in carrying out a glorious niche for Indian biotechnology in the years to come. Rawat said the Government of India had formulated a far-sighted Biotechnology Vision for the nation. In fact, the 10th Plan outlay for biotechnology would be more than three times the amount spent in the 9th Plan.

Dr R A Mashelkar, Director-General of CSIR, said the country was proud to have a top-class scientist as the President. His vision to make India a developed country by the year 2020 had fired the imagination of all. He said CCMB, the vibrant, living laboratory, was a jewel in the crown of CSIR. It would also become a jewel in biotechnology. He paid glowing tributes to Dr Pushpa Bhargava, the founder of CCMB, but for whose ceaseless efforts it would not have become a world-class research institution.

The CSIR chief expressed his concern over brain drain among scientists. He said it was essential to create opportunities. Ambition without ambience would not succeed. The only way to stop brain drain was to create a dozen institutions like CCMB. Then it would be possible to attract talents even from outside, Dr Mashelkar said.

Dr Lalji Singh, Director, CCMB, listed out some of the major milestones and achievements of the Institute. Among the significant contributions in the recent years was the development of a novel in vitro Drosophilasystem for screening and validation of anti-cancer drugs for which an international patent has been filed.

CCMB had developed a technique to deliver double standard RNA as well as small interfering RNAs in animals, which was a major step in therapeutic drug discovery based on RNA interference. CCMB's association with Shanta Biotechnics has helped in developing the hepatitis-B vaccine. The institute has very close interaction and tie-ups with pharmaceutical companies like Biological E Ltd and Dabur. Its partnership with IT companies like Satyam Computers and i-Labs had led to the creation of new databases and the development of novel software tools for genome analysis.

CCMB has modern facilities such as DNA Microarray, proteomics, high throughput DNA sequencing, X-Ray Crystallography and Transgenic and Gene Knock-out Mice facility for the creation of models for human diseases and helpful in the drug discovery programme. And two days ago it had signed a MoU with the Cardiff School of Biosciences, UK, for research in Stem Cells.

The week-long jubilee celebrations would conclude on November 29.