In an earlier article, I wrote
about how the field of nanotechnology is impacting developments in electronics,
pharmaceuticals, new materials and many other areas. Fascinating developments
have also taken place in the field of life sciences, particularly during the
last six decades. These have impacted developments in agriculture and medicine
in a profound manner.
The rapid developments in the field of genetic engineering started after the
historic announcement of the structure of DNA in 1953. Three scientists, Watson,
Crick and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work. What is DNA?
Think of it as a long necklace of three billion beads (molecules) that is
present in living cells in all of us. There are actually two necklaces
intertwined with each other. There are four types of molecules in these
necklaces, and it is the sequence in which these molecules are arranged that
determines everything about us – the colour of our skin, as well as the
structure of our heart or brain or other organs. This is nature’s code within
us.
Similar molecular necklaces, though in smaller sizes, exist in other animals and
plants. These intertwined molecular necklaces unwind and come apart when a cell
divides at amazing velocities – up to 30,000 revolutions per minute, much faster
than a jet engine. Just think. In every cell of our body we have these tiny
molecular jet engines that are whirring away without our even noticing it!
Such developments are opening the way for countries like Pakistan to increase
crop yields, and incorporate resistance against diseases by suitable changes in
their genetic make-up. We are learning about what portion of these necklaces
impart what functions (colour, size, fragrance, yield, size of fruit etc). By
manipulating and making suitable changes in the sequence of the molecules, new
improved properties can be incorporated.
The first human genome to be sequenced was in May 2006, although the first draft
was announced in 2003 by the then US president Bill Clinton. This process of
determination of the sequence took 13 years and cost $60 million. There have
been spectacular advances in gene sequencing technologies, and the genome of the
Nobel Laureate Prof. Watson was sequenced in 2008 in just two months at a cost
of $1 million. My genome was sequenced in 2012 in just a few weeks at a cost of
about $40,000. Now machines are under development that will bring the cost of
sequencing down to under $1000 and the process will be able to be done in days.
This is opening up vast new opportunities for research in the field of plant and
animal sciences.
In view of the importance of this field, I decided to donate money to build a
centre for genome research at the University of Karachi. The construction of the
Jamil-ur-Rahman Centre for Genome Research has recently been completed and the
centre is expected to become fully operational within a few months. One of the
key fields that it will focus on is the development of salt tolerant crops that
can grow on saline soils or even with sea water.
The field of genomics is finding fascinating applications. The fascinating
manner in which fireflies glow in the dark is due to a certain compound
‘luciferin’ that emits light particles. Scientists have now succeeded in
transferring the genes responsible for the production of luciferin into orchids
– the result is that it is now possible to have luminescent orchids – flowers
that glow in the dark just like fireflies!
For centuries, bacteria have been known for conversion of molasses to citric
acid and other chemicals, as well as being used to prepare industrial enzymes
and in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. Now genetically-modified bacteria
have been developed that can serve as tiny robots (‘biobots’) to work for us in
various ways. For instance, they can be used to imprint nanoscale patterns on
microchips by secreting certain chemicals along predetermined paths. They have
also been used to clean oil spills from oceans and beaches, and to improve the
life of textiles.
An exciting development in this field has been to create a synthetic cell that
can reproduce itself. This was achieved by Dan Gibson and colleagues at the J
Craig Venter Institute in the US who succeeded in synthesising an entire
bacterial genome artificially, which made a billion copies of itself – just like
living bacteria.
In Pakistan a number of good centres have emerged where excellent research of s
is being conducted in such areas. However, where we lack is our ability to
convert the research into commercially feasible products and processes. The main
reason for this is that our universities produce job seekers, not job givers. In
other words, the students that pass out of our universities are exposed to an
enviornment where opportunities for entrepreneurship are severely limited.
The present government urgently needs to take a number of steps so that we can
benefit from the increasing pace of discovery. These are:
1) Establishment of technology parks and business incubators in universities,
where students interested in setting up companies based upon new research are
facilitated by access to legal advice, financial services, technical assistance,
and appropriate mentoring in various areas;
2) Establishment of a major venture capital fund that can be used to promote the
commercialisation of exciting new ideas with commercial potential;
3) Offering incentives to the private sector to persuade them to invest in
research and development. This could be in the form of double tax rebates on
amounts invested, training scholarships, sharing costs for establishment of new
labs and long-term tax holidays in selected high technology fields.
Pakistan must move from the low-value-added agricultural economy to a
knowledge-based economy if it is to rid itself of the massive problems of
poverty, hunger, joblessness as well as the mounting debt it faces. It can only
do so by adopting the paths followed by Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, which was
to set aside at least 30 percent of the budget to education, a quarter of that
used to strengthen higher education. It is only by unleashing the tremendous
creative potential of our youth that we can march forward.
Pakistan today spends less than two percent of its funds on education and less
than one percent on science and technology. We are, therefore, doomed to remain
dependent on others. Given the vast natural and human resources that we possess,
all we need is an honest, visionary and competent leadership.
Unfortunately it may take a decade of good governance and hard work to recover
from the shambles the country has been left in. All our major institutions are
on the verge of collapse due to the last five years. It is now up to the PML-N
to show that its government can turn this country around quickly, and set it on
the path of progress.
The author is the president of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and former
chairman of the Higher Education Commission.