February - 06
Food Biotechnology The Emerging Opportunities for India
To large extent, India’s leadership in the manufacturing technology is slowly growing up an it is here that Biotechnology products must make a large in road, if we want to make an edge in the international arena and market. It is here that the fundamental research that goes on in large number of research laboratories and academia must cascade into products and processes culminating with public private partnership for value addition. Perhaps, it is also necessary for the financial and joint venture firms to recognize the future growth potential of Biotechnology and not to label Biotechnology as Genetically Modified products only! It also to be recognised that Biotechnology has its own merit for biological products which are produced by biological processes through proper understanding of both the market issues, the corporate issues, the technology issues, the safety issues as well as cost effectiveness of the ultimate product and process for the consumer and the producer.
Author:V. Prakash
Preimplantation Genetic Diagonosis
Introduction
PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis) technology improves the like hood of a successful pregnancy and is requested by prospective parents who are concerned about passing an incurable genetically based disease or disorder to their child. PGD helps in early diagnosis of chromosomal/genetic disorders, prior to the onset of pregnancy. Pioneered by British Physicians in 1989, PGD is an extension to the previously developed procedure, in vitro fertilization (IVF), in wich eggs are removed from a woman’s ovaries and fertilized in the laboratory with sperm. Three days later, when the resulting embryos have grown to the eight-cell stage, the doctor can pluck a single cell from each embryo and use PGD to screen the cells for specific genetic defects and chromosomal abnormalities. One to four desirable embryos will be transferred into the woman’s uterus for development...
Authors: A.K. Vidya, V.M. Gopalakrishnan