The establishment of a National Accreditation Board for testing and calibration laboratories and a GLP (global laboratory practices) monitoring authority would enable Indian industry to face global competition. Similar initiatives in other areas such as testing of biomedical devices and accreditation of animal testing houses were also suggested by Prof. V S Ramamurthy, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.

Delivering the Sixth Foundation Day Lecture of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), on "Facilitating technology development in a fast changing era," Prof. Ramamurthy said the proposed Science & Technology Parks and the Biotech Parks must have uniform testing facilities conforming to international quality standards. Access to international facilities was another area which could benefit substantially the industry and the scientific community in India. DST, through bilateral agreements, had made arrangements for such access.

He said the Technology Development Board was providing financial support not only to industrial houses but also to individual entrepreneurs for commercialising new technologies. DST was also participating in many of the technology parks and technology business incubators which would enable new enterprises based on latest technology to come into operation.

Prof. Ramamurthy said commercialisation of technology was still weak in the country and it was realised that a number of facilitating steps would be required to convert laboratory knowledge into marketable products and services. This would not only generate new opportunities for the Indian scientists, technologists and the industry to be globally competitive but also address the requirements of the country in solving some of the long-standing problems.

Knowledge resource was as important as natural and capital resources and access to knowledge was more important than geographical advantages. "We have a large population, educated and extremely young. Ensure that quality education reaches all and the burden of huge population is converted into human resources," he said.

Prof. Ramamurthy said if young scientists and researchers want to go abroad and work, they should be allowed to do so. Their work would benefit not only the country but also the international society. If 10 scientists want to leave, train 20 more to fill up their places. Voicing concern over the lack of interest among the students to pursue research as a career, he said steps should be taken to catch them young and convince them that science too could yield good pay packets. Institutions like CCMB, IICT and CDFD should become models for the young students.

Nobel Laurate for Medicine, Prof Timothy Hunt, head of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, UK, said working on sea urchin eggs, he made the revolutionary discovery of a class of proteins called cyclins which were involved in the regulation of cell division, a pioneering effort for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2001. Today cyclins and cyclin-dependent protein kinases were recognised as key elements in the regulation of cell cycle transitions, and the family of proteins had grown considerably.

Delivering the special lecture on the Sixth Foundation Day of CDFD on "Controlling the Events of the Cell Cycle," Prof. Timothy said all living things were made of cells and the cells were made of components that were ultimately specified by the genes (made of DNA) those cells contained. Cells arose from existing cells. "Gene sequencing tells us that all life on earth descends from a common ancestor, connected by a long series of cell divisions. The process and purpose of cell division are clear. It ensures that daughter cells inherit a complete and as accurate a set of genes as possible. The molecular details of DNA replication and segregation are still active areas of research, but depend on complicated protein machines that are assembled in the right time under the instructions of a kind master of regulator."

The nature of the key regulator and how we know about it formed the core of Prof. Hunt's lecture. He virtually presented his autobiography and his research which won for him the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2001.

Dr Seyed E Hasnain, Director of CDFD, gave an account of the phenomenal growth of the Centre within six years of its inception. The Centre had been providing yeoman services to the society in the area of DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics for genetic diseases. The Centre had been successfully assisting the police, forensic scientists, lawyers and the judiciary on subjects related to DNA fingerprinting as evidence in matters of crime investigations and matrimonial and paternal disputes. A very important service is diagnostics of genetic disorders. Another activity started recently was the biochemical screening on newborns for inborn errors for metabolism. Every child born in the government hospitals in Hyderabad is being screened for many common inborn errors of matabolism. The programme, partly funded by Dr Reddy's Research Foundation for Human and Social Development, had been well-received.

The Centre is also doing research on Bioinformatics, bacterial and silkworm genetics, molecular and cellular biology, molecular pathgenesis. "CDFD, as a young and growing institute has a head-start as an effective player in the fight against sickness and disease. With its own commitments to excellence in genetic typing and medical diagnostic services, and basic and applied research, CDFD hopes to take its place as a force to reckon with in the demanding arena of globally competitive research in the new millennium," Dr Hasnain said.

Dr D Balasubramaniam, former Director of CCMB and presently the Director of LV Prasad Eye Institute, presided over the function and introduced the speakers.