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R.N. 70269/98ISSN : 0972-169X

Postal Registration No.: DL-SW-1/4082/09-11Date of posting: 26-27 of advance month

April 2011 Vol. 13 No. 7 Rs. 5.00

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Genetically Modified Food:

Boon or Bane?

Inside

Glenn Theodore Seaborg(A Legend in

the Annals of Discovery)

(1912-1999)

Editorial: Positive attitudetowards the Earth

Glenn Theodore Seaborg:A Legend in the Annalsof Discovery

Genetically Modified Food:Boon or Bane?

Interview with

Dr. Kirit Nanubhai Shelat

Managing acute pancreatitis

Recent Developments inScience and Technology

VP News


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Dream 2047, April 2011, Vol. 13 No. 7

Edi tor ia l

Editor : Er Anuj Sinha

Address or Vigyan Prasar, C-24,

correspondence : Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110 016

Tel : 011-26967532; Fax : 0120-2404437

e-mail : [email protected]

website : http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in

Vigyan Prasar is not responsible or the statements and opinions

expressed by the authors in their articles/write-ups published in

Dream 2047

Articles, excerpts rom articles published in Dream 2047 may

be reely reproduced with due acknowledgement/credit, provided

periodicals in which they are reproduced are distributed ree.

Published and Printed by Dr. Subodh Mahanti on behal o Vigyan Prasar, C-24, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110 016 and Printed at Aravali

Printers & Publishers Pvt. Ltd., W-30, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II, New Delhi-110 020 Phone: 011-26388830-32 Editor: Er Anuj Sinha

o Anuj SinhaE-mail: [email protected]

Students o psychology are conronted with a paradox. Precise models o attitude structure do notdistinguish between the process o impression or attitude ormation and its transormation orattitude change. The implication is that these models handle both processes. KJ Kaplan established

that impact mediator inuences the second the process o attitude change. Without delving deepinto sociology, the impact mediator can be understood as change in the strength o initial stabilised

belies.Acceptance alone is operative in attitude ormation or impression and this occurs airly early in

most people. (Dont we oten jump to conclusions or make frst impression the last impression.) Acceptance and impact both are

crucial in the process o attitude change. Co-relational evidence supports this view and oers the way orward to communicators

engaged in raising awareness or attitude ormation and behaviour change. A lot o understanding has emerged rom consumer

behaviour and market researchers.

Attitudes are always towards some object that is linked to our mind (orming a bond.) This can be associative (positive link

with the object) or dissociative (negative link). A person may like a social group/club and adventure sports. I this group endorses

adventure sports there is congruity. There can be congruity also i both the group and the person do not endorse adventure sports.

There will be incongruityi the person likes adventure sports and the club does not endorse such sports. The challenge beore a

communicator is to inuence a desirable change in attitude.

Every April or the past our decades, many nations have celebrated Earth Day on the 22nd. Beginning with the action o

Gaylord Nelson, a passionate and committed US Senator rom Wisconsin, the movement has picked up momentum even as the pace

o deterioration o the environment has continued to climb. Many readers have participated actively in the Earth Day celebrations

in earlier years.

There is now a wide range o actions that are supported by networks o activists individually and through citizen organisations.

The common people are concerned about their air, water, land and orests, and they need to tell the authorities how they eel about

it. They cannot be at the receiving end o the development processes and remain silent victims. This year the elements or Earth

Day can include:l Recruiting athletes to speak or the Earth: There are role models rom the recently concluded Commonwealth Games and the

National Games and they can be requested to lend their voice to the environment movement.l Trees or Earth: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has called or every citizen to plant and adopt one sapling. Many government nurseries

oer healthy saplings and necessary tips or the early care o tender plants. Housing societies, educational institutions,manuacturing plants, and deence establishments can be encouraged to plant local species o saplings and nurse them or at

least a year.l Green Schools: Early exposure to environmental action in school helps in attitude ormation and many innovative ideas

are aordable even by municipal and panchayat schools. This can include roo rain water harvesting, kitchen waste waterrecycling, composting o organic waste, etc.

Engaging womens groups, entrepreneurs, and artists creatively can be explored during this month or creation and development

o sustainable models o local development that are environmentally benign.

The large community o science communicators and the growing number o active science clubs can use the occasion to raise

awareness on important issues both local and global. The media electronic, digital and print has been properly concerned and

has perormed a sterling service. The aim o the campaign should be to involve and engage those who can inuence opinions and

policies. Ensuring a change in attitude will require study and understanding o the sociology and then applying the key lessons to

make a signifcant dierence. The task is not easy; but no worthwhile task ever is.

Positive attitude towards the Earth

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Glenn (originally Glen) TheodoreSeaborg was the discoverer or co-discoverer o 10 elements namely

plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium,caliornium, einsteinium, ermium,

mendelevium, nobelium, and seaborgium.The elements discovered by Seaborg andhis group are called transuranium elements;that is, elements whose atomic numbersare higher than 92, the atomic number ouranium. The frst transuranium elementis neptunium with atomic number 93. Alltransuranium elements are radioactive andthey do not occur naturally. The process bywhich these elements are produced is callednuclear transmutation, a process in which achemical element or isotope is converted intoanother through nuclear reaction in whichan outside particle reacts with the nucleus oan element. Nuclear transmutation may alsooccur through radioactive decay where nooutside particle is needed.

Naming element 106 in honour oSeaborg marked the frst time an element hadever been publicly named or a living person.The popular science magazine Discoveroncenoted that Seaborg could have received a letteraddressed in chemical elements: seaborgium(his name), lawrencium (he worked in the

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory), berkelium(Berkeley), caliornium (Caliornia), andamericium (America).

Seaborgs role in the developmento the chemistry o plutonium is verysignifcant. He developed the chemicalextraction process used to isolate plutoniumor the second atomic bomb as part o the

Manhattan Project while working withWillard Libby at the University o ChicagoMetallurgical Laboratory. The frst atomicbomb produced was a uranium bomb.

Seaborg developed the actinideconcept which placed the actinide seriesbelow the lanthanide series in the PeriodicTable. He also proposed the placement osuper-heavy elements in transactinide andsuperactinide series. He made the greates

changes in the Periodic Table since the timeo Mendeleev.

Seaborg is rightly regarded as thepioneer in nuclear medicine. He developednumerous radioactive isotopes o elementsincluding iodine-131, with importanapplications in the diagnosis and treatment odiseases. It is interesting to note that Seaborgtransmuted several thousand bismuth atominto gold atoms by removing protons andneutrons. This was not a practical method oproducing gold, but it was certainly closesto the alchemists Philosophers Stone.

Seaborg was the Chairman o the USAtomic Energy Commission rom 1961 to1971. As Chairman o the Atomic EnergyCommission, Seaborg worked or promotingcommercial nuclear energy and peaceuapplications o nuclear science.

Serving as Adviser to ten USpresidents on nuclear policy Seaborg playedan instrumental role in nuclear arms contronegotiations between the super powers othe world. He was signatory to the FranckReport, a document signed by severaeminent nuclear physicists recommendingthat United States should not use atomicbomb to hasten Japans surrender in theSecond World War. He made signifcancontributions to the achievement o theLimited Test Ban treaty, the Nuclear Nonprolieration Treaty and the ComprehensivBan Treaty.

Seaborg published more than 500research papers and wrote several booksincluding A Chemist in the White HouseFrom the Manhattan Project to the End o the

There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship o science andpoetry in the description o nature, and exquisite orm in a molecule. Attempts to placedierent disciplines in dierent camps are revealed as artifcial in the ace o the unity oknowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the politicalanalyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan and the musician.

Glenn Theodore Seaborg

It is rare to name a chemical element ater a living person. But Glen Seaborg had anexceptional claim to that honour. He added ten elements to the periodic tableamountingto almost a tenth o all the elements known. So the American Chemical Society, whichstruggled against international opposition to allow this exception, was simply recognisingsomeone who had signifcantly extended its feld o play when element number 106

(the last to be discovered by Dr Seaborg) was ofcially dubbed seaborgium in March1997. The Economist( US, 6 March 1999)

Glenn Seaborg lived the lie o a legend, exempliying the use o heart and mind or greatbeneft to humankind. He will always be remembered in 106Sg.

Daniel E. Koshland Jr. in Science(Vol.284, No.5413, p.447, 1999)

Glenn Theodor e Seabo rgA Legend in the Annals

of DiscoveryDr. Subodh MahantiE-mail: [email protected]

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Glenn Theodore Seaborg


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Cold War, A Scientist Speaks Out: A PersonalPerspective on Science, Society and Change,and Man-made Transuranium Elements. Heobtained 50 patents and supervised doctoralwork o 50 students. Seaborg spent his entireacademic career at Caliornia University atBerkeley, except some brie periods. TheUniversity not only shaped his career buthe also shaped the University. He playeda key role in establishing the LawrenceHall o Science at Caliornia University,Berkeley as a tribute to the great physicist

and his teacher Ernest Orlando Lawrence.Seaborg was the second Chancellor (1958-1961) o the University o Caliornia atBerkeley. Richard Atkinson, the Presidento the University o Caliornia at Berkeleysaid: Glenn Seaborg gave his magnifcentintellect to the world and his heart and soulto the University o Caliornia. He once saidthat everything he had achieved in a lietimeo towering accomplishment he owed to hisassociation with UC. Few universities havebeen given so much in return. As a NobelPrize-winning scientist who revolutionised

our understanding o matter, and as asuperb proessor, chancellor, laboratoryleader, and champion o science educationor generations o Caliornias children, Dr.Seaborg has earned a proud and permanentplace in the Universitys history. AnotherPresident o the University, Clark Kerrsaid: I consider Glenn Seaborg, among allthe aculty o the University o Caliornia,to be the most distinguished in all theour areas o excellence in which we judge

acultyresearch, teaching, universityservice and service to the country. He wasthe best balanced, most distinguished acultymember at the most balanced distinguisheduniversity in the country.

Besides being a great nuclear scientist,Seaborg was a great educationist. He stronglybelieved in the importance o education

in building o a nation. He played animportant role in reorming the chemistryand science curricula o high schools inUSA. The project named CHEM Studydeveloped under the direction o Seaborgor improving the teaching o chemistry athigh school level became an internationallyrecognised educational resource. He was alsoounder o many other science educationprojects including Great Exploration inMath and Science (GEMS). He was a keycontributor to the report A Nation at Riskas a member o President Reagans NationalCommission on Excellence in Education.He was the principal author o the SeaborgReport on Academic Science issued in theclosing days o Eisenhowers presidency.In 1998, Caliornia Governor Pete Wilsonappointed Seaborg to the Commission orthe Establishment o Academic Content andPerormance Standards.

Seaborg always gave credit to histeachers who had helped and inspired him.Even ater winning the Nobel Prize he tookutmost care to maintain his contacts with his

ormer teachers. Besides his school teacherDwight Logan Reid, who taught him physicsand chemistry, two other teachers whoencouraged Seaborg were Gilbert Newton

Lewis (1875-1946) and Ernest OrlandoLawrence (1901-1958). Lewis introducedSeaborg to the idea o valence and bondingand encouraged him to work hard on hisendeavours. Lawrence taught him to use thecyclotron.

Seaborg was born on 19 April 1912in Ishpeming, a small iron-mining townHis parents Herman Theodore Seaborg andSelma Olivia Seaborg (nee Erickson) were oSwedish ancestry. His ather was a machinistHis parents spoke Swedish at home and soSeaborg learned Swedish beore English

His frst school was High Street School inIshpeming, which he joined in September1917. Seaborgs parents with the objective oproviding better educational opportunitieto their children moved to Home Gardensnow a part o South Gate, near Los AngelesCaliornia. Seaborg was 10 years old whenthe amily moved to Los Angeles. Hisather could not fnd regular employmentand the economic condition o the amilyworsened. Young Seaborg took up odd joblike distributing newspaper and mowinglawns to augment the amily income. He

completed his school education rom DavidStarr Jordan High School located in Wattsa suburb o Los Angeles in 1929. Inspiredby his school science teacher Dwight LoganReid, Seaborg developed a special interesin physics and chemistry. He joined theUniversity o Caliornia, Los Angele(UCLA)and had to support himsel. He didvarious jobs worked in a warehouse as astevedore (a person employed at loading andunloading ships) and as laboratory assistan

In ter nat iona l Year o f Chemis t r y 2011

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Gilbert Newton Lewis Otto Hahn

Ernest Orlando Lawrence


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in the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company

at night. He had to commute more than 30kilometres to reach the University. He couldcontinue his university education as theUCLA was a tuition-ree public university. In1933, he received his BA degree in chemistryand spent one year more by taking coursesin physics.

In those days the Department oChemistry o the UCLA had no acility ordoing PhD studies and so Seaborg moved toCaliornia University at Berkeley (UCB). Hewas ascinated with the prospect o working

near the great proessor Gilbert NewtonLewis and the physicist Ernest OrlandoLawrence, the inventor o cyclotron. Seaborgound the atmosphere at UCB exciting andglamorous. He obtained his PhD degree inthe spring o 1937. The time was not good orfnding employment as USA passing thoughthe period o great depression. Fortunatelyor Seaborg he was asked by Lewis to stayat UCB as his personal research assistant.Seaborg greatly admired Lewis as his teacherand mentor. In 1939, Seaborg was appointedas Instructor and then in 1941 he was made

Assistant Proessor in 1941. Seaborg and J. J.Livingood produced and discovered severaldozens o new radioisotopes includingiodine-131 by using the newly-built 37-inchcyclotron at UCB. Many o these isotopesare still widely used in nuclear medicine. Thisexperience eventually led him to the work oexploring the transuranium elements, whichremained his lie-long passion

Nuclear fssion was discovered byOtto Hahn, Lise Meitner (1878-1968), and

Fritz Strassmann (1902-1980) in January1939. The news o this discovery reachedBerkeley by word o mouth and promptedEdwin Mattison McMillan (1907-1991)and Philip Hauge Abelson (1913-2004) tostudy the fssion process by bombardinguranium with neutrons at the newly-built60-inch cyclotron and they discovered the

frst transuranium element with atomicnumber 93 called neptunium. Encouragedby their sudden success McMillan begana search or the next heavier transuraniumelements. However, he could not continuehis search as he had to leave Berkeley to takepart in wartime research at the MassachusettsInstitute o Technology. It was Seaborgwith the approval o McMillan who startedlooking or heavier transuranium elements.In February 1941, Seaborg and his groupsucceeded in isolating and identiyingplutonium. It was plutonium-238 and theyproduced it by bombarding uranium withdeuteron. The isotope was ound to behighly fssionable, which meant it could beutilised or producing nuclear weapons.

Seaborg was deeply inuenced byOtto Hahns Applied Radiochemistry. Hewrote: As a young graduate student at theUniversity o Caliornia at Berkeley in themid-1930s and in connection with our workwith plutonium a ew years later, I used his(Otto Hahns) bookApplied Radiochemistryas my bible. This book was based on a series

o lectures which Proessor Hahn had givenat Cornell in 1933; it set orth the lawsor the co-precipitation o minute quantitieso radioactive materials when insoluble

In ter nat iona l Year o f Chem is t r y 2011

substances were precipitated rom aqueousolutions. I recall reading and rereading everyword in these laws o co-precipitation manytimes, attempting to derive every possiblebit o guidance or our work, and perhaps inmy zealousness reading into them more thanthe master himsel had intended. I doubtthat I have read sections in any other bookmore careully or more requently than thosein Hahns Applied Radiochemistry. In act, read the entire volume repeatedly and I recalthat my chie disappointment with it was itslength. It was too short.

In 1947, Seaborg was selected as oneo Americas ten outstanding young men bythe US Junior Chamber o Commerce. Heshared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistrywith Edwin McMillan or their discoveriesin chemistry o transuranium elements. Hereceived the National Medal o Science, thehighest award o the USA given or scientifcachievements, in 1991. The AmericanChemical Society named Seaborg as one othe Top 75 Distinguished Contributorto the Chemical Enterprize. He waalso recipient o the US Atomic Energy

Commissions Enrico Fermi Award (1959)Nuclear Pioneer Award o the Society oNuclear Medicine (1971), Order o theLegion o Honor o the Republic o France(1973), Priestley Medal (1979), and USNational Science Boards Vannevar BushAward (1988) . He was President o boththe American Chemical Society and the American Association o the Advancemen

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Lise Meitner

Fritz Strassmann

Edwin Mattison McMillan

Continued on page 27


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Genetic modifcation o ood isthe most radical transormationin our diet since the invention o

agriculture 10,000 years ago. During thesethousands o years, people have used thenaturally occurring processes o genetics togradually shape wild plants into tastier, morenutritious, and more attractive ood or all ohumanity. Until very recently, these evolvedood plants were part o the commonheritage o humankind. Food plants havebeen available to all as seeds or distribution,trade, and warehousing. In act, selectiveplant breeding has brought ood security,

greater nutrition, and increased biodiversity, while at the same time protectingood systems against hard times, likenatural or economic disasters.

Three eatures distinguishgenetically modifed ood. Firstand most important, the ood isaltered at the genetic level in waysthat could never occur naturally. As genes rom plants, animals,viruses, and bacteria are mergedin novel ways, the normal checksand balances that nature provides

to keep biology rom runningamok are nullifed. Exactly howgenes work is a topic o enormouscomplexity and some controversy,so it is difcult i not impossibleto predict what will happen whenindividual combinations o genesare created in ways that have neverbeen seen beore and then releasedinto the environment.

The second novel eature othe revolution in our ood is that the oodis owned. Not individual sacks o rice, dal or

atta, but entire varieties o plants and evenmicroorganisms are now corporate products.In some cases, entire species are owned. Theterm "monopoly" takes on new power whenone imagines a company owning majorportions o our ood supply, the one thingthat every single person now and into theuture will always need to buy.

Finally, this new technology is"globalised." This means that localagriculture, careully adapted to local ecology

and tastes over hundreds and thousands oyears, must yield to a planetary monocultureenorced by intricate trade agreements andlaws. According to these trade treaties,local laws that we have come to rely on orprotection must take a back seat to decisionsmade ar away by anonymous ofcialsworking in secret.

Change at the genetic levelLet us examine each o these argumentsin a little detail. But beore doing that letus try to understand the basic principlesinvolved in genetic engineering o ood.

DNA, which is called the blueprint o lie,

is a molecule in a shape commonly calleda "double helix," which i we could see it,

would look something like a twisted ladder.The rungs o the ladder are made o what arecalled base pairs. A gene, which is a specifcsequence o base pairs, represents one unitor piece o inormation in the DNA, andcarries instructions or the production o aprotein that it codes or.. Genes, whetherin humans or brinjal, provide the blueprintor producing proteins that combine withother proteins that were coded or by othergenes. The interaction o huge numbers o

proteins is almost unimaginably complexThe exact mechanisms by which the proteinproduced by any one gene contributes toa specifc change or characteristic o thewhole organism are only dimly understoodBecause each gene codes or only one proteinit takes a great many genes to produce evena simple living organism. Corn, or examplehas about 50,000 dierent genes, moswith distinct unctions. Genes are arranged

linearly along the DNA molecule which is packaged into structurecalled chromosomes. Every celin a plant carries copies o all thechromosomes o the plant.

Natural species barriers makecrosses between unlike living thingimpossible, so genetic engineerhave to fnd ways to overcome thesebarriers. In genetic engineeringo ood crops, a gene, or piece oDNA rom one source (a fsh or

example), is isolated, removedand then inserted into the DNAo another source, a tomato orexample. The DNA o interest isremoved rom one living organismby enzymes that aect the chemicaprocesses inside one organism andthen moved to another organism, tobe rejoined with its host's DNA innew combinations.

Foreign DNA the DNA thais brought in rom another living thing icarried to the target organism by vectors

Vectors unction like postmen: they are justcarriers. In genetic engineering, viruses arecommonly used as vectors, because virusetypically attack the host's cells and slip rightinto the cell's DNA.

Genetic engineers attach a piece oDNA to a viral vector and then insert thevector into the new organism so that it caninect the cells o the target organism, thusdelivering the new DNA ragment into theDNA o the target. Because all this cutting

Genetically Modifed Food:Boon or Bane?

N. Ramdas IyerE-mail: [email protected]

Bt brinjal


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and pasting at a submicroscopic level is verydifcult to keep track o, scientists oten markthe vectors with antibiotic-resistant genes sothat normal cells can be distinguished romgenetically engineered cells. The cells aredoused with antibiotics, and those cells thathave incorporated the oreign DNA and theresistance genes rom the vector grow, while

those that haven't been modifed die.Genetic engineering is oten called

"genetic recombination"because it literally recombinesDNA inside an organism.Several dierent terms areused to reer to the resultso genetic engineering, suchas recombined, engineered,modifed, or manipulated. Acrop that has been geneticallyengineered is oten called a"transgenic" crop, meaningit contains genes romdierent sources.

Why geneticallymodied foods?Now let us examine somearguments or adoptinggenetically modifed oods:The world population hascrossed 650 crores and ispredicted to increase urtherat an alarming rate in the

coming decades. Ensuring an adequate oodsupply or this booming population is goingto be a major challenge in the years to come.Genetically modifed, or GM oods promiseto meet this need in a number o ways.People who argue or genetic modifcation oood list out the ollowing points in avouro their argument.

Pest resistance: Crop losses rom insectpests can be huge and crippling, resultingin fnancial loss or armers and starvationin countries like ours. Farmers use manytons o chemical pesticides annually. But

ood that has been treated with pesticideshas potential health hazards, and run-oo agricultural wastes rom excessive use opesticides and ertilisers can poison the watersupply and cause harm to the environment.Growing GM oods can help eliminate theapplication o chemical pesticides.

Herbicide tolerance: For some crops,it is not cost-eective to remove weeds byphysical means such as tilling, so armerswill oten spray large quantities o dierent

herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, atime-consuming and expensive process thatrequires care so that the herbicide doesn'tharm the crop plant or the environment.Crop plants genetically-engineered to beresistant to one very powerul herbicidecould help prevent environmental damage byreducing the amount o herbicides needed.For example, Monsanto, a biotechnologycompany has created a strain o soybeans

genetically modifed to be not aected bytheir herbicide product which will soon beavailable in India too. A armer growing thesesoybeans will need only one application oweed-killer instead o multiple applications,reducing production cost and limiting thedangers o agricultural waste run-o.

Disease resistance: There are manyviruses, ungi and bacteria that cause plantdiseases. Plant biologists are working tocreate plants with genetically-engineeredresistance to these diseases. There are severalsuccess stories too like the Bt cotton and the

Bt Brinjal cases.Cold tolerance: Unexpected rost

can destroy sensitive seedlings in case ocrops grown in higher altitudes like applesin Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, potatoesin Shimla, and saron in Kashmir. Anantireeze gene rom cold-water fsh could beand indeed has been introduced into someplants such as potato. With this antireezegene, these plants are able to tolerate coldtemperatures that normally would kill

unmodifed seedlings.Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance

As the world population grows and morland is utilised or housing instead o oodproduction, armers will need to grow crops inlocations previously unsuited or cultivationCreating plants that can withstand longperiods o drought or high salt content in

soil and groundwater will help people togrow crops in ormerly inhospitable places.

Nutrition: Malnutritionis common in third worldcountries where impoverishedpeoples rely on a single cropsuch as rice or the main stapleo their diet. However, rice doesnot contain adequate amounto all necessary nutrients toprevent malnutrition. I ricecould be genetically engineeredto contain additional vitaminsand minerals, nutriendefciencies could be alleviatedFor example, blindness dueto vitamin A defciency is acommon problem in severacountries including IndiaResearchers have created a straino "golden" rice containing anunusually high content o betacarotene (vitamin A).

Pharmaceuticals:Medicines and vaccines oten are

costly to produce and sometimerequire special storage conditions not readilyavailable in developing countries. The orapolio vaccine is an example. Researcherare working to develop edible vaccines intomatoes and bananas. These vaccines wilbe much easier to ship, store and administethan traditional injectable vaccines.

The ip side of GM foodBut opponents o genetic modifcation oood argue otherwise. It is their contentionthat normally, the boundaries between

species are set by nature. Until recently, thosebiological barriers had never been crossedGenetic engineering allows these barriers tobe crossed with results that no one can predictIt may seem bizarre or even oensive, i youare a vegetarian to think that the tomatoeyou buy and eat, could have fsh genes inthem. Some o these combinations might benot only peculiar but downright dangerouto our environment or even our own healthEven some geneticists eel that though the

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Frost-resistant GM tomato

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artifcial nature o genetic modifcationdoes not make it dangerous, the impreciseway in which genes are combined and theunpredictability in how the oreign gene willbehave in its new host results in uncertainty.From a basic genetics perspective, GM oodspossess an unpredictable component that isar greater than the intended change.

They claim that the genetic engineeringo ood crops is a new technique that is stillin its inancy. Traditional plant breedingand agricultural practices have a historythat stretches back 10,000 years, and thebiotechnology industry tries to tell the publicthat genetically engineered oods are just anatural extension o this process nothing tobe alarmed about. But genetic engineeringis a radical departure romtraditional plant breeding.Plant genetic engineeringis a hit-or-miss process.Farmers and plant breedersknow that genes aremutable, and many actors,including the environment,play a major role in theexpression or adaptation oa gene or genetic trait.

It is their view thatclassical plant breedingmethods have steadilyincreased crop yields everyyear or decades. These

techniques include breedingdomestic crops with their wild relatives becausethe wild relatives providestrong survival traits thatcan improve domesticatedcrops. By relying on thebirds and bees rather than the microscopeand Petri dish to determine the success orailure o their new crops, classical plantbreeders take advantage o nature's vaststorehouse o inormation, accumulatedover millions o years o experimentation,

as to what works and what does not. It maybe slow, but it ensures that no catastrophicmistakes are made.

Proponents o genetic modifcationargue that natural selection gave way toselective breeding o crops by humanintervention and this resulted in increasedyield, which in turn was improved uponby hybrid varieties, and that geneticmodifcation is but a logical next step.But others say that there are undamental

dierences between genetic engineering andtraditional agriculture. Prior to the advent ogenetic engineering, all selection was basedon the crossing o similar plants o onevariety. Acting as outside observers, humansnoted what traits were most desirable andthey shaped natural breeding processes toselect or those traits. Farmers, amiliar with

breeding, cultivation, and seed collection,understood these genetic processes andso carried out their selective breeding toproduce plants that ft local conditions andcommunity standards.

With genetic engineering, the armeris no longer needed to observe and react asa "selector." Just as hybridisation broughtabout enorced dependency o the armer,

along with corporate consolidation o theood supply, so does genetic engineeringseparate the armer even urther rom theagricultural process.

Genetic engineering also alters theundamental composition o crops. The

dangerous power o such technology isimmense. While natural crossbreedingrestricts the types o hybrids that can beproduced, genetic engineering allows orgene transers between vastly unrelatedspecies, such as fsh and tomatoes. Criticspoint to several instances like RecombinantBovine Growth Hormone or increasing milkyield; the "terminator gene technology; theRoundup herbicide, made by Monsanto;and the associated Roundup Ready seeds to

establish their point that biotechnologicamodifcation o seeds will bring aboudisaster.

On the other hand supporters pointo the Bt story. Bacillus thuringiensis (Btis a spore-orming bacterium that produceproteins called Cry proteins), which aretoxic to many species o insects. Bt can be

ound almost everywhere in the worldBt has been ound in all types o terrainincluding beaches, desert, and tundrahabitats. There are thousands o dierenBt strains, producing over 200 Cry proteinthat are active against an extensive range oinsects and some other invertebrates.

Being non toxic by itsel, Bt is largelyused in agriculture, especially organic

arming. Bt is also usedin urban aerial sprayingprograms. Since 1996 planthave been modifed withshort sequences o generom Bt to express the Cryprotein Bt makes. With thismethod, plants themselvecan produce the proteinsand protect themselverom insects without anyexternal Bt and/or syntheticpesticide sprays. Othebenefts attributed tousing Bt include reducedenvironmental impact

rom pesticides, increasedopportunity or benefciainsects (though there areclaims that ladybugslacewings, and monarchbutteries are harmed whenthey eed on engineered

plants) and reduced pesticide exposure toarm workers and non-target organisms Worldwide many plants have beincorporated with Bt genes and the eects soar seen have been benefcial. But opinion istill divided as can be seen rom the protests

to introduce Bt Brinjal in India.Whatever the case may be the debat

rages. While it is certain that like any newtechnology, genetic modifcation o oodtoo has its uses and pitalls. What makesthis particular technology dierent is thait concerns something which orms the veryessence o our lie ood. I it succeeds, iwill be a revolution unlike any seen in humanhistory. I it backfres, the consequences mayturn out to be anything but welcome.

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Beta-carotene-rich golden rice

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Avisionary, author, philosopher, policymaker and an institution builder

Dr. Kirit Nanubhai Shelat has beeninvolved in the development o villages andvillage leaders to reduce the migration romvillages to mega cities. Ater his retirementas Principal Secretary, Agriculture andCooperation Department, Government oGujarat, he has been associated with multi-dimensional rural programmes and activelyinvolved in International School or PublicLeadership, and National Council or ClimateChange and Sustainable Development.

Dr. Shelat started his career in public

administration by joining the Gujarat Administrative Service in 1967. Duringhis career o 40 years, he has worked atthe grass roots level and had his hand inthe ormulation and implementation opolicies or agricultural, rural and industrialdevelopment. As a bureaucrat he has workedat top positions in the departments o RuralDevelopment, Industries, Employment andTraining, Disabled Persons, Energy, Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation, and LandDevelopment Corporation. He also workedin Aghanistan as Land Settlement Advisor

to Government o Aghanistan.Dr. Shelat has designed and

implemented large-scale projects or pooramilies, armers, and micro entrepreneursand has made a signifcant contribution inthe development o Gujarat. He developedguidelines or micro-level planning withocus on individual poor amily and villagedevelopment plan. He was responsible orCluster development approach or smallindustries and Step-up project or ruralmicro-level entrepreneurs. He developedmicro-level production plan module or the

individual armer and has been active inrestructuring the Gujarat agriculture sector.

Dr. Shelat is the author o severalbooks on development issues includingPlanning or Rural Development (Vol.I) Methodology or micro-level planning orrural development (1980), and Planning orRural Development (Vol. II)- Evolution orural development programme guidelinesor feld level ofcers (1982).

Er Anuj Sinha, Director, Vigyan

Prasar and Consultant, Department o

Science and Technology, Governmento India interacted with Dr. Shelat anddiscussed about his achievements on ruraldevelopment o Gujarat. Here are excerptso this interaction.

Er Anuj Sinha: Sir, I am delightedthat you have agreed to an interview sessionwith DREAM 2047.

Dr. Kirit Nanubhai Shelat: Thankyou very much and I am equally delighted.

In act Dream 2047 is a very well receivedmagazine-cum-newsletter and I congratulateyou on putting it in the shape as it is now.

AS: Our readers will be interested toknow about International School or PublicLeadership (ISPL). How it was set up andwhat are its activities?

KS: As regards International Schoolor Public Leadership, it has been promotedto meet the challenges on the leadershipront. India has a rich and long history osel-governance and responsible leadership.It has emerged as the largest democracy inthe world, rooted in tradition and culture.As the nation grows at a rapid pace, thereare issues o poor health delivery systems,inadequate educational acilities, socialconicts, gender imbalance, and lack oinrastructure, particularly in rural areas.These gaps are against a backdrop orevolution in telecommunications and

Inormation technology, creating long-termimpact on social inrastructure and public

administration. There is now an environmeno opportunities, challenges and pressures orall the partners in the process o developmentAt the same time India is becoming a powerto be reckoned with and thereore Indianleadership will have to address severacore issues. All these call or creating atraining hub or Public Leadership whereknowledgeable, committed and efcienleaders can emerge rom within communitieor local sel governments, women SHGscooperatives, public and private institutions

and government administration.Mission o ISPL can thereore besummarised as: (a) Strengthening thecapabilities, attitudes and behaviour oelected representatives, particularly agrass roots level; (b) Preparing the younggeneration to assume responsibility as electedleaders and to remain committed to the needo the country; and (c) Preparing existingleadership to ace challenges o globalisationspread o Naxalities and terrorism and issuelike armers suicide.

ISPL has in last three years conducted

more than 200 training programmes or10,000 participants who were local leveleaders and students.

AS: You are truly an institutionbuilder. Dr Shelat, you are mentoring theNational Council or Climate Change andSustainable Development. What are itsunctions and what role do you envisage orthis council?

KS: National Council or ClimateChange, Sustainable Development and PublicLeadership (NCCSD) has been ormed veryrecently. An international conerence on

Global Warming, Agriculture, SustainableDevelopment, and Public Leadership was organised at Gujarat Vidyapeet Ahmedabad in March 2010 by the ISPLalong with other organisations. The outcomeo this conerence, known as the AhmedabadDeclaration 2010, articulated an actionplan to promote sustainable livelihoodand simultaneously mitigate impacts oglobal warming through appropriate use oagriculture involving public leadership. I

Dr. Kirit Nanubhai Shelat Promoter of village leadership

Dr. Kirit Nanubhai Shelat:


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was decided to constitute NCCSD to giveshape to this mandate. Justice B.P. Singh,ormer judge o Supreme Court agreed to bethe head and we have wide range o membersrom dierent disciplines including you, ascience communicator o eminence.

AS: The last comment is embarrassing.Climate change and development are a very

complex set o challenges. The discussionrounds organised over the last ew monthsby the NCCSD are enlarging the network.Can these dialogues help crystallise localaction o mitigation and/or adaptation?

KS: I agree but I have always takenchallenges head on in my long career. Weare witnessing a coalition that is emergingand enlarging with every round. Expertsrom dierent felds are contributing to thedialogue. We are documenting the outcomesand these will become good reerencematerial or policy makers.

AS: I share your vision. How cancommunication and outreach become moreeective on issues o climate change?

KS: Communication and networkingwill be the key to success in this ront. Weneed to increase the use o ICT and developcapacity building at ground level. At presentcomputers with Internet connectivity andmobile services do exist in our rural areas.

AS: In your experience o workingwith village leaders, do you see the expectedlevel o empathy, commitment and wisdom?

When can our rural population really beginto experience the beneft o enlightenedleadership?

KS: My experience is and has beenthat there is leadership which exists atindividual level and community level. Ihave narrated experiences o Kutch in whichlocal level leadership has played a majorrole greening the region in my book onSustainable Development a green solutionto Global Warming. It describes how localpopulation took up the challenges o adverseclimate and salinity ingress and how there

was convergence o eorts and successulreplication o experiences. It also shows howMr KC Shro and amily took initiatives with their NGO Vivekananda ResearchTraining Institute (VRTI), Shrujan Trust,and Shro Foundation. These organisationsplayed a key role in the intervention.

AS: An eective training programmeor village leaders requires structured courses,manuals, charts, flms and evaluationmethods. How is ISPL working on this?

local leaders themselves. These are all highlyinteractive sessions.

AS: I can see the large measure ointeraction built into the ormat. Theproblems o rural migration are maniold. Iis not just the people but also those with skillwho leave behind an impoverished societyWhat are your prescriptions or this?

KS: Rural migration is a continuouaair. Main reason is some armers fnd thaagriculture does not provide sustainablelivelihood due to recurrent crop ailure or lowyield due to untimely rain. Another reasonnow is the high price o land they are gettingrom land developers. The only solutionis to make agriculture sustainable and o

Transformation of Dahod: a success story from Schoolfor Public Leadership (ISPL)

Prior to 1974l Poorest district in the country

l Drought-prone area - with highly uncertain monsoon

l Tribal villages

l Migration every year ater monsoon

l The irrigation coverage 10% on records, but in reality around 5%

l Agriculture yields poorest with predominance o maize crop

l Milk production lowest despite large cattle population

l Literacy rate very low

l Women literacy in one digit

l Undulating terrain with barren land with hardly any tree cover

l Most o its orest land without tree cover

l No horticulture, vegetable or oriculture

l High poverty.

In 2010l Achieved ood security

l Housing conditions improved

l School enrolment and attendance increased maniolds

l 68,000 ha o land under irrigation. 17,000 wells recharged.

l Irrigation coverage around 30 %

l 700 community water resources developed and managed by 325 village level

irrigation cooperative societies.l 2,700 village institutions and users groups managing their aairs and assets

l 65 rivers and rivulets made perennial through a series o structures connected tolit irrigation system.

l Migration rate 10-15 %

l Cropping pattern changed with introduction o horticulture mangoes, oriculture,roses and vegetable crops.

l Six crore trees planted with 50 % survival at long run

l About 25,000 armers opted or horticulture with average income o Rs.50,000with continuous increase in income o poor amilies also.

I n te rv iew

KS: We have developed a two-daytraining module. This has been done withthe help o two distinguished experts who were aculty members o Indian Instituteo Management, Ahmedabad Dr. D.M.Pestonji and late Pro. Anil Bhatt. Both likedthe idea o developing training modules orgrass roots level leaders which has modern

management technique. The training modulestarts with a warming up session ollowedby role play to identiy problems and itssolutions, card game to identiy strengthsand weaknesses o individual participantsollowed by interaction on a video osuccess on dierent acets o developmentand how situations have been improved by


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that it has to be scientifcand proftable. I quote howmigration problem in Dahodwas solved with convergenceeorts initiated by SadguruDevelopment Foundation andGovernment departments.Local leadership was ignited

rom this most backward andremote district with difcultterrain and agro climaticconditions (See box).

AS: Your lastassignment was in the State Agriculture Department.What would you rank as themost signifcant achievementduring your tenure and why?

KS: I worked asa Principal Secretary in Agricultural Department.The most signifcantachievement was laying pathor sustainable agriculture.This was done by re-structuring the Departmentand introducing a newExtension Model throughKrushi Mahotsav. We organised pre-khariextension at village level. Farmers wereguided at their door steps. The extensionteams along with agriculture scientistsvisited the village and guided the armers,

and answered their questions on personto person basis. This was backed by twosignifcant actions: (i) Provision o qualityseeds to poor armers ree o cost along withagricultural equipment limited to Rs.1,500.15 armers rom every village provided thisacility every year. The poor armers normallyuse their own produce year ater year whichyielded low productivity. With certifed/quality seeds, this changed and there wasdirect improvement in productivity. (ii) Thesecond important step was distribution oSoil Health Card which was based on soil

health and moisture analysis. The armers were given guidelines about crops whichcould be sustained on their soil, based onmoisture and chemical composition o soilwith appropriate nutrient and ertiliser use.Farmers were also given market price o thecrops so that they could select best possiblecrops. This made agriculture sustainable inGujarat coupled with measures related towater harvesting and linking o rivers.

AS: You were the head o this

important department. What prescriptiondid you implement to make its unctioningmore responsive and less bureaucratic?

KS: The approach I have taken wasto develop teams rom the top at Secretariat

level, Honble Chie Minister and ChieSecretary to grass roots level; i.e., villagelevel worker and Sarpanch and have directdialogue with local level members o publicgovernance system like village accountant(Talati), local level elected leaders oPanchayati Raj system and cooperatives andinvolve all o them or betterment o poorarmers who constitute a majority.

AS: Enlightened scientists have beenable to recover the waste and saline areasin the Rann o Kutch. How rigorous is thedocumentation so that lessons can be learnt

or replicating this strategy in other regions?KS: As discussed earlier, the

documentation has been brought out as abook. This is being used by developmentplanners in the country and outside.

AS: Planning Commission hasrecognised the experience and expertise oISPL, Ahmedabad and NCCSD under yourleadership. This is an acknowledgementand a huge responsibility. What do youread and how do you keep yoursel abreast

with developments in this rapidly changingscenario?

KS: We had an opportunity to give apresentation to Dr. Kasturirangan, PlanningCommission and later to participate in

interaction meet on Agriculture Missionchaired by Dr. Montek Singh AluwaliaIt was pleasant to realise that PlanningCommission is conscious about these issuesand keen on taking initiatives to motivatelocal level leaders to play important role inmitigating impact o global warming andor promoting sustainable livelihood and ouse o successul experiences which alreadyexists.

AS: How do you spend your ree time?Are you ond o reading, listening to musicor watching flms?

KS: I am ond or reading, walkingand yoga.

AS: One last question, Sir. How areyou grooming the next generation o leaderin the movement who have the necessarycommitment and competence?

KS: I am conscious that the nexgeneration has very high levels o skilland commitment. We must give themopportunities to lead the developmenprocess.

I n te rv iew

Prosperity is visible due to innovative interventions in Dahod, a backward region o Gujarat


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The pancreas is a long, at glandthat lies horizontally behind yourstomach. The head o the

pancreas rests against the upper parto the small intestine (duodenum),and its tail reaches toward yourspleen.

The pancreas hastwo main unctions in thebody:

Exocrine functionThe pancreas producesdigestive juices andenzymes that help breakdown ats, carbohydratesand proteins. Thesepancreatic digestive juices andenzymes are transported to theduodenum through a small ductthat courses through the pancreas,and opens into the duodenum.

Endocrine function

The pancreas also secretes the hormonesinsulin and glucagon into the bloodstream,along with somatostatin, another hormonethat helps regulate their unction. Theprimary role o insulin and glucagon is toregulate the metabolism o carbohydrates.The maintenance o steady blood sugar levelsin the body relies on these hormones.

What is acute pancreatitis? When inammation develops in thepancreas, its unctions get disrupted. Theinammation can be acute or chronic. Most

cases are mild to moderate, but in about 20per cent o people, symptoms can be severe.

Acute pancreatitis comes on suddenly, when digestive enzymes produced in thepancreas remain and activate in the pancreas,causing irritation and inammation othe delicate pancreatic tissues. Each year,hundreds o thousands o people developacute pancreatitis due to one or the otherreason. The condition is serious and can belie-threatening i let untreated.

Key signs andsymptomsAcute pancreatitis causes a rangeo symptoms that occur suddenlyand can be rather severe. Thesesymptoms may include:

Spreading abdominal painThe main symptom o acute pancreatitisis a severe upper abdominal pain that oten

bores through to your back. Lying at causesyour stomach to hurt even more, so to relievethe pain, you double over. Pain like thiswhich may last or hours to days is typicalo pancreatitis.

It can persist or hours or days without relie. Drinking alcohol or eatingmay worsen the pain. Many people withacute pancreatitis sit up and bend orward,or curl up in a oetal position, because thesepositions seem to relieve the pain.

Nausea and vomitingPeople with severe pancreatic

inammation oten eel and lookvery sick and they requently

experience nausea and vomiting

Other symptomsOther symptoms may includea high ever, difculty in

breathing, and abdominabruises rom internal bleedingIn severe cases, inammationaects the whole abdomen

making it rigid and the painbecomes worse. There is also

a risk o shock, a potentiallyatal condition in which the blood

pressure alls extremely low.

Managing

acute pancreatitisDr Yatish Agarwal

e-mail: [email protected]

29


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28

Mediscape

Two causes stand outPancreatitis can occur or various reasons,and in some cases its cause is unknown.The two most common known causes aregallstones and excessive alcohol use.

GallstonesAbout hal o people with acute pancreatitishave gallstones. Sometimes these stoneswill migrate out o the gallbladder throughthe common bile duct, which merges with

the pancreatic duct near the entrance tothe duodenum. At this junction, gallstonescan lodge in or near the pancreatic ductand block the ow o pancreatic juices intothe duodenum. Digestive enzymesbecome active in the pancreas insteado the digestive tract, causing severeinammation o the pancreas (acutepancreatitis).

AlcoholExcessive alcohol consumption over along period can also cause an acute

attack o pancreatitis. Between 5 percent and 15 per cent o people whodrink excessive amounts o alcoholget pancreatitis. Why some peopleget the disease but most dont isuncertain. It is also unclear howalcohol damages the pancreas. Onetheory is that excessive alcohol leadsto protein plugs precursors to smallstones that orm in the pancreas andblock parts o the pancreatic duct.

Another theory is that alcohol directly injurespancreatic tissues. Typically, an attack oacute pancreatitis occurs 1224 hours atera heavy bout o drinking.

Less common causesSome other conditions may also lead to acutepancreatitis. These include:

l Calcium deposits or stones that canblock the pancreatic or common bileduct

l Increased levels o triglycerides(blood ats) or o calcium in blood(hypercalcaemia)

l Structural abnormalities o the

pancreas, abdominal trauma or majorsurgery

l Viral inectionl Certain medications such a

immunosuppressants and thiazidediuretics (water pills)

Diagnosing pancreatitisI your doctor suspects acute pancreatitis, heor she will check your abdomen or pain andtenderness.

Blood tests A sample o your blood also may banalysed or abnormalities signalling acuteinammation:l Elevated levels o the pancreatic

enzymes amylase and lipasel Elevated white blood cell countl Elevated liver enzymes and bilirubin, a

substance that results rom breakdowno red blood cellsl High blood sugar (hyperglycaemia)l Low calcium level (High calcium

levels can cause pancreatitis, but lowlevels o calcium in blood, calledhypocalcaemia, are the result.)

Ultrasound or computedtomography (CT) scanof your abdomenYour doctor may request an ultrasound ocomputed tomography (CT) scan o your

abdomen to examine the pancreas and lookor gallstones, a duct problem or destructiono the gland. You also may have X-rays oyour abdomen and chest to rule out other

causes o your pain.

Complications ofacute pancreatitisAbout one-ourth o all cases o acutepancreatitis are severe and may lead toserious complications:

Infection

A damaged pancreas may becominected with bacteria that spreadrom the small intestine into thepancreas. Signs o inection includeever, an elevated white blood celcount and organ ailure. A uidsample rom the pancreas may betested or bacterial inection. I thetests are positive, the patient requireantibiotics. Some people also needsurgery to drain or remove inected


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areas o the pancreas. Sometimes, multipleoperations are necessary.

PseudocystsCyst-like blisters called pseudocysts mayorm on and extend rom the pancreas ateran attack o acute pancreatitis. I the cyst issmall, no special treatment is necessary. I itis large, becomes inected or causes bleeding,intervention is necessary. Your doctor maydrain the cyst through a catheter or you mayneed surgery to remove the cyst.

AbscessThis is a collection o pus near the pancreasthat can develop 4 to 6 weeks ater the onseto acute pancreatitis. Treatment involvesdrainage o the abscess by catheter or surgery.

The treatmentSevere acute pancreatitis usually requiresa hospital stay under a surgeons care. Iyou have complications, you may needcontinuous monitoring in an intensivecare unit. Treatment centres on controllingthe pain, allowing the pancreas to rest, andrestoring a normal balance o pancreatic juices. Since the pancreas goes into actionwhenever you eat, you wont be able to eator drink or a ew days. Your stomach willbe kept empty to prevent the pancreas rombeing stimulated to produce more digestiveenzymes. A tube will be passed throughyour nose into your stomach to remove itscontents by suction, and you will receiveuids and nutrition intravenously.

I your attack is caused by gallstones

blocking the pancreatic duct, your doctormay recommend a procedure to remove thestones. You may eventually need surgeryto remove the gallbladder once you haverecovered rom this acute attack. I alcohol isthe cause, treatment may include therapy tostop drinking alcohol.

Mild cases o acute pancreatitisgenerally improve in 3 to 7 days, ater which you may be able to eat and drinkagain. Moderate to severe cases take longerIn a ew cases where the damaged pancreasbecomes inected, it may need to be drainedsurgically. About 9 in 10 people survive anattack o acute pancreatitis, i they are ableto receive the appropriate treatment. Severepancreatitis carries a not-so-good prognosisand may turn out to be lie-threatening.

o Science. He was elected to a dozen ooreign national academies o science. Hereceived over 50 honorary degrees rom

various universities. The number o awardsreceived by Seaborg can be judged by theact that his name ound place in the GuinessBook o World Recordsor having the longestentry in Whos Who in America. Seaborghimsel considered naming an element(element 106 as seaborgium) in his honourwhile he was still living as his greatest honourand he said: This is the greatest honor everbestowed upon meeven better, I think,than winning the Nobel Prize.It is oten

said that seaborgium is the only element tobe named ater a living person but it maynot be considered an accurate inormation.Two elements were proposed to be namedeinsteinium and ermium ater AlbertEinstein and Enrico Fermi when both othem were alive but because o nuclear secrecyrules these names were not made public. Thepublic or the broader scientifc communitycame to know about these elements and

their names only ater the death o Einsteinand Fermi.

Seaborg died on 25 February 1999 inLaayette, Caliornia at the age o 86. Onceon being asked what advice he would givethe students he said: I I could tell studentsanything, it would be two words Workhard,. This is perhaps the greatest lesson astudent can learn rom a teacher. Throughouthis lie Seaborg shared his enthusiasm ordiscovery with others, particularly withhis students and colleagues. Room 307o the Gilman Hall in the University o

Caliornia, where Seaborg did most o his work on transuranium elements, has beendeclared a US National Historic Landmark.An autobiography written with his son EricSeaborg, Adventures in Atomic Age: FromWatts to Washington was published in 2001.

References1. Cotton, F. Albert and Wilkinson,

Georey, Advanced InorganicChemistry: A Comprehensive Text(2nd

Philip Hauge Abelson

Edition), New Delhi: Wiley EasternPrivate Limited, 1970.

2. Heilbron, J. L. (Ed.), The OxordCompanion to the History o ModernScience, Oxord: Oxord UniversityPress, 2003.

3. 100 Years with Nobel Laureates, NewDelhi: Encyclopaedia Britannica(India) Pvt. Ltd., 2001.

4. The Cambridge Dictionary o Scientist

(2nd Edition), Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2001.

5. Koshland Jr., Daniel E., GlennSeaborg (1912-1999), ScienceVol.284, No.5413, p.447, 1999.

6. A Dictionary o Scientists, OxordOxord University Press, 1999.

7. Chambers Biographical Dictionary,New York: Chambers, Harrap PublisheLtd., 1997.

8. Available sources on the Internet.

(The article is a popular presentation othe important points o the lie and work oGlenn Theodore Seaborg available in theliterature. The idea is to inspire the youngergeneration to know more about Seaborg. Theauthor has given the sources consulted o writing this article. However, the sources onthe Internet are numerous and have not beenindividually listed. The author is grateul to althose authors whose works have contributedto writing this article and the sources o thepictures reproduced here.)

Continued from page 36(Glenn Theodore Seaborg A Legend in the Annals of Discovery)

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Recent developmentsin science and technologyKeplerdiscovers six-Earth-like exoplanetsThe discovery o the frst Earth-sized planetsmade o a mix o rock and gases around aSun-like star, by NASAs Keplermission wasannounced in February (Nature, 3 February2011). The planets were discovered in the

habitable zone around the star a regionwhere liquid water could exist on a planetssurace. O the six planets one is 0.9 timesthe radius o the Earth, and our o themare less than two Earth radii. Any othose would be the most Earth-likeworld ever detected outside the solarsystem. The researchers describe themas being relatively puy, havingairly large radii or their masses. Theysuggest that the planets probably liesomewhere between the densities o

Earth and Neptune, and the inner twoplanets may well be made rom rockand water with a steam atmosphere,being very close to the star.

The discovery has been hailed asthe biggest discovery in the feld sincethe frst exoplanet was discoveredin 1995. With the new fndings thetotal number o planets identifed byKeplerto date has gone up to 1,235,circling 997 host stars. O these, 68

are approximately Earth-sized; 288 are superEarth-sized; 662 are Neptune-sized; 165 arethe size o Jupiter; and 19 are larger thanJupiter.

The Sun-like star, named Kepler-11,around which the six planets were discovered,lies at a distance o over 2,000 light years

rom Earth. The planets were discoveredby the transit method, in which a slightdimming in the light o a star, as a planetsweeps across our line o vision rom Earth,

is detected and measured by a photometerThe recent fndings are based on the resultso observations conducted between 12 Mayand 17 September 2009, o more than156,000 stars in Keplersfeld o view, whichcovers approximately 1/400th o the skyThe star feld that Keplerobserves lies in theconstellations o Cygnus and Lyra.

Since transits o planets in the

habitable zone o Sun-like stars occur onlyabout once a year and require three transitsor verifcation, it usually takes three years tolocate and veriy Earth-size planets orbitingSun-like stars, as was done in the presencase. Prior to this fnding, only one star wasknown to have more than one orbiting plane Kepler-9, discovered last year, which hatwo confrmed planets and possibly a third.

The Keplerspacecrat is a NASA spaceobservatory specially designed to discoveEarth-like planets orbiting other starsNamed in honour o German astronome

Johannes Kepler, the spacecrat was launchedon 7 March 2009, with a planned missionlietime o at least 3.5 years. Keplercarries aphotometer an instrument or measuringthe intensity o light developed by NASA to

continuously monitor the brightnesso over 145,000 stars in a fxed feldo view. From the analysis o the datacollected rom these observationperiodic uctuations in intensity canbe detected to show the presence oplanets around distant stars.

According to the Keplescience team, the six planets aremixtures o rock and gases, possiblyincluding water. The rocky materiaaccounts or most o the planetsmass, while the gas takes up mosto their volume. By measuring thesizes and masses o the fve inneplanets, the scientists were able todetermine that they are among theplanets with the lowest mass beyondour solar system.

26

Biman Basue-mail: [email protected]

An artists depiction o Kepler-11, a Sun-like star with six planetsorbiting on the same plane. (Credit: Reuters)

This artists conception shows the Kepler-11 planetarysystem and our solar system to demonstrate that the orbitso each lie on similar planes. (Credit: NASA/Tim Pyle)


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Fungus to ght malariaA tiny ungus calledMetarhizium anisopliaecould become the next weapon to fghtmalaria, which kills more than 200,000people in India every year. This ungusnaturally inects mosquitoes but, unlikepesticides, takes days to kill them, whichcannot be quite eective in malaria control.

A team o American and British researchershave now engineered transgenic ungithat can bore into mosquitoes and kill themalaria parasite inside the frst tool o itskind. Historically the only way to controlmalaria was by killing the mosquitoes with insecticides because the parasite thatcauses malaria, Plasmodium alciparum,is transmitted by the emale Anopheles mosquito. But thisapproach has caused the rapidevolution o insecticide-resistantmosquitoes, lessening the eectso current control tactics. Whenused in conjunction withtraditional use o insecticidesagainst mosquitoes, expertssay this bioinsecticide has thepotential to greatly improvemalaria eradication eorts.

To make the ungus actaster, researcher Raymond St.Leger and his colleagues addeda ew new genes to the ungalDNA, turning M. anisopliae

into a drug-producing actory.The engineered ungus is able todrill through the insects cuticleand express any o three dierent genes thatcould potentially control the transmissiono the malaria parasite: a gene that blocksthe parasites access to the mosquitos saliva,where it could be passed on to its next bloodmeal; a human anti-malaria antibody; andan antimicrobial rom scorpion venom.Interestingly, these genes are only activatedonce the ungus hits the haemolymph theblood equivalent o the mosquito, in which

the malaria parasite circulates. According tothe researchers, the chemicals are bad ormalaria parasites but do not do any extraharm to mosquitoes (Science, 24 February2011).

According to the researchers,individually, these genes reduced Plasmodiumsporozoite counts by 71, 85 and 90 percent,respectively, when sprayed onto mosquitoeswith advanced malarial inections (11 daysater eeding on parasite-inected blood).

When the gene that blocked the saliva glandswere combined with scorpion antimicrobial,an astounding 98 percent o sporozoites were eliminated. Notably, the ungus M.Anisopliaehas no eect on humans and thatmeans it could be saely released in large-scalemalaria control eorts. Morover, because theungus is slow-acting, the mosquitoes are notlikely to quickly evolve resistance against itsattack.

Unortunately, putting the newtechnique into action may not be an easytask because genetic engineering involvesa suite o regulatory issues and inevitablypublic critics. Moreover, only rigoroustesting will show whether the modifed ungi

work under real-world conditions. So, eventhough this discovery is extremely exciting,it may be still a long way rom being a toolin the feld.

Dumped drugs lead toresistant microbesThe high and sometimes inappropriateuse o antibiotics has accelerated thedevelopment o antibiotic resistance,

creating a major challenge or the sustainabletreatment o inections world-wide. Apartrom indiscriminate use or treating minorinections in humans, dumping o antibioticdrugs in water bodies has been ound to be amajor cause o development o drug-resistantmicrobes. Recently a team o scientistsrom Sweden led by Joakim Larsson othe University o Gothenburg, Sweden,reported the presence o high levels oantibiotic drugs in river water near a waste-

water treatment plant in Patancheru neaHyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. According tothe researchers, the treatment plant releaseddrugs in its euent water at levels sometimeequivalent to the high doses that are giventherapeutically. The antibiotic-containingwater reaching the plant came rom 90 bulkpharmaceutical manuacturers in the region

the researchers ound. When the researcherstried to fnd out what might be happening tobacteria in the environment exposed to thesedrugs, they ound evidence o resistancegenes in bacteria ound in the contaminatedwater.

Bacteria can exchange bundles odrug-resistance genes present in smal

circles o DNA calledplasmids, which can replicatethemselves independently othe bacteriums chromosomeTo fnd these bits o DNALarsson and his colleagues useda DNA sequencing approachcalled shotgun metagenomics,to analyse all the DNA presenin the euent, the river waterand the river sediments. Abioinormatics method waalso developed to analyse theinormation and search orevidence o known antibioticresistance genes.

The researchers ound

that in three sites downstreamo the plant, the resistance genesmade up almost two percent o

the DNA samples taken there (PLoS ONEFebruary 2011). Since only one or two geneout o the typical genome o around 5,000genes are necessary to protect the bacteriumthe degree o genetic resistance ound by theresearchers was quite substantial.

Surprisingly, the researchers oundresistance genes or a wide range oantibiotics, but in many cases there was nodirect relationship to the antibiotics present

For example, the most requent resistancegenes ound were or a class o antibioticcalled sulphonamides, but the researchersound no evidence o the drugs themselvesin the water. They hypothesise that thismay be an instance where resistance to onegroup o drugs could provide resistance toothers. On the other hand, despite detectinghigh concentrations o uoroquinolones, achemical group that includes the antibioticciprooxacin, the team ound less evidence

New Hor izons

25

A genetically modied ungus can kill the malariaparasite in the body o the Anopheles mosquito.


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New Hor izons

o resistance to these drugs downstream thanupstream rom the plant.

According to some scientists whospecialise in inectious diseases, the spreado antibiotic-resistance genes is complicated.They say resistance hotspots like the oneat Patancheru could end up behaving likea volcanic eruption. Resistance genes may

appear somewhere else, not just around thesewage plant. Also, resistance genes alreadypresent in bacteria rom human waste, ordeveloped by the bacteria used in the plants

treatment stages to break down the sludge,could be swept along with the euent intothe river. Thereore there is need to considerthe entire lie-cycle o antibiotic substances,both beore, under, and ater usage, to ullyevaluate their role in the promotion oresistance.

Global warming increaseheavy rain oodsThe rise in extreme weather conditionsin recent years has been taking a heavytoll o lie and property around the world.The devastating oods in Australia,Brazil, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are recentexamples. Floods in Queensland, Australiahave ravaged an area the size o France andGermany combined. On the other side othe globe, in the mountains o southeast

Brazil, more than 340 people have died aterferce mudslides swept away homes ollowingheavy rains. A new study directly links risinggreenhouse-gas levels now roughly 390parts per million, up rom 280 ppm in the1700s with the growing intensity o rainand snow in the Northern Hemisphere, andthe increased risk o ooding in many parts

o the world (Nature, 17 February 2011).Warmer atmospheric air means more

water vapour, which is itsel a greenhouse gas,which makes the problem worse. What goes

up must come down and, in this case, moreand more o the water vapour that goes up iscoming down in extreme precipitation events,causing widespread oods. ClimatologistFrancis Zwiers o the University o Victoriain British Columbia and colleagues atEnvironment Canada examined daily recordso rainall, snowall and other precipitation

stretching rom 1951 to 1999 rom morethan 6,000 weather stations around theglobe. In each year o that period, theydetermined how extreme precipitation hadbeen. By compiling the inormation romall these years and comparing it with theprecipitation patterns predicted by computermodels o the climate, the scientists noted asimilar pattern emerging in the real-worlddata. Signifcantly, the researchers couldnot explain this pattern by natural climate

uctuations. They suggested that humaninduced climate change is the culprit behindthe increase in downpours and blizzards inthe last 50 years o the 20th century at leasin the Northern Hemisphere.

The study demonstrates or the frsttime the human inuence on the climateand also on the water cycle, and outside the

bounds o typical physical responses suchas warming o deep ocean and sea suracetemperatures, or diminishing sea ice andsnow cover extent.

In order to attribute any specifcextreme weather event such as thedownpours that caused ooding in Pakistanor Australia, or example requires runningsuch computer models thousands o timesto detect any possible human impact amidsall the natural inuences on a given day'sweather. So, the research team also called

on tens o thousands o volunteers who rana climate model thousands o times on theipersonal computers in the background apart o the climateprediction.net Web siteAter six years o running such simulationsit was ound that the increasing greenhousegas concentrations as a result o burningossil uels and cutting down orestsindeed increased the risks o ooding intwo out o three model runs by more than90 percent.

Increasing severity and requency o heavy rain and foods can be attributed to global warming caused by human activity.


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Your opinionDream 2047has been inviting your opinion on a specifc topic every month. The reader sending the best comments will receive a popularscience book published by VP. Selected comments received will also be published in Dream 2047. The comments should be limited to400 words.

This months topic:

After the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan that caused serious damageto three nuclear power plants, do you consider nuclear energy a safe option

for generating electricity to counter global warming?Response should contain ull name; postal address with pincode and email ID, i any; and should be accompanied by a recent passportsize photograph. Response may be sent by email ([email protected]) or by post to the address given below. I sent by post,Response: Dream 2047April 2011 should be clearly written on the envelope.

Vigyan PrasarA-50, Institutional Area, Sector-62, Noida 201 307 (U.P.)Phone: 91-120-240 4430/35 Fax: 91-120-240 4437Email: [email protected] Website: www.vigyanprasar.gov.in

Sarabjeet Kaur#1081, sector 56, Chandigarh.PIN: 160055Nature has provided an excellent blanket on Earthrom icy cold space with right amount o greenhousegases that has kept it about 33Celsius warmer thanit would be without it. But with increasing amounts

o greenhouse gases, anthropogenic global warming has rung alarms odanger. It has posed danger or next generation in the orm o severe oodsand drought, increasing prevalence o insects and deadly diseases, rise insea level due to melting o arctic glaciers. Ater 1997 Kyoto protocol, under

which 37 countries committed themselves to reduction in greenhousegases emission, global warming became a world concern. It was ollowedby other agreements that ocused on solving this problem .But still a lotneeds to be done to get ruitul results in the next 50 years. Eorts atindividual level such as using public transport and renewable sourceso energy, cutting gross carbon emission by using less electricity, smartelectrical appliances, CFL bulbs, etc, and ollowing the 3 Rs: Reduce,Reuse and Recycle. Planting o trees and plants on a large scale can havesignifcant impact on reducing greenhouse gas level in the atmosphere. It isnot just the responsibility o environmental organisations or governments

but also each individual to stand together to solve this problem or a betteruture.*****

Mahendra SinghPGT (Physics)KV No 1, AFS, Jodhpur

Jodhpur (Rajasthan)Pin-342001Global warming is a phrase that is used to describethe unusually rapid increase in Earths average suracetemperature over the past century. This rise in temperature is attributed

to an increase in greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrousoxide in the atmosphere. . Greenhouse gases are produced mainly byburning o ossil uels such as coal, oil, and gas by industry, in homes,and in transport vehicles. Global warming is a grave issue that is aectingnot only one region or one country, but the world as a whole. It may bepossible to control global warming in next 50 years only i we can reduceour dependence on ossil uels and go or renewable, non-conventional

and nuclear energy sources. Evolution o high efciency CFL or lightingis a major step orward. Solar photovoltaic technology, Fuel cells, improvedbatteries, second generation biouels, etc., are some o the technologies

which have the potential to reduce energy consumption leading to loweringo carbon ootprint. Carbon capture and storage is another promisingtechnology as ar as controlling global warming is concerned.

*****

Ekansh Goel, 8th-BPolice DAV Public School, Jalandhar cantt.EF-2 Mandi Road,

Jalandhar City,Punjab 144 001

The biggest problem is o global warming is basicallydue to increasing amounts o carbon dioxide and othergreenhouse gases. The problem o global warming can be tackled throughthe use o renewable energy resources like solar energy, wind energy,tidal energy, and geothermal energy. But problem arises rom their initialcost. For example, to extract energy rom the Sun rays we have to usephotovoltaic cells which are costly to produce because the raw materialused to make them is pure silicon. So we have to explore more so that wecan make it cheaper and everybody could install it in their homes. It wouldbe possible to tackle global warming in next 50 years only i each o us acttogether to reduce consumption o energy in any orm.

*****

Winners o Your Opinion contest or January 2011

Topic: Will it be possible to control global warmingin the next 50 years?

Your Opini on

23


19/20


VP New s

22

Regional workshop on InnovativeExperiments in Physics

Based on the module developedby Vigyan Prasar and IIT, Kanpur as a

collaborative programme to train MasterResource Persons, Vigyan Prasar has plannedfve regional workshops on InnovativeExperiments in Physics. The second our-day workshop was organised or the WesternZone at Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai,

rom 31 January to 3 February 2011. Fity-two teachers and science communicatorsattended the workshop. The participantso this workshop were selected out o350 nominations received by VP. Thenominations were invited through Dream-2047, VIPNET News and Vigyan Prasarwebsite.

The workshop was inaugurated byShri Anil Manekar, Director, NationalScience Centre. Proessor Dipan K. Ghosh,Department o Physics, IIT, Bombaywas the chie guest at the inauguralunction. Shri Rintu Nath, Scientist,and Shri B. K. Tyagi, Scientistrepresented Vigyan Prasar.

Shri Rintu Nath and Dr. AjayMahajan conducted the workshopand demonstrated 120 innovativeactivities/experiments during theour-day workshop. Participantsdid hands-on activities duringthe workshop. Each participantassembled one kit. Using the kitabout 20 activities can be perormed. A CD on Innovative Experimentsin Physics and a kit 'Emergence o

Modern Physics' developed by VP was givento all the participants.

Dr. V. B. Kamble gave a talk onemergence o modern physics. Dr. Kambleand Shri Rintu Nath demonstrated theModern Physics Kit. Shri Rintu Nathperormed a ew experiments based on thePC interace developed by Vigyan Prasar and

explained how new projects can be designedusing the kit.

During the workshop, NationalScience Centre also demonstrated a number

o activities related to physics. A 3D flmshow and night sky watching was organisedor all the participants. A series o interactivesessions was organised by Shri B. K. Tyagi onprogrammes and activities o VP and howscience clubs could be ormed to initiateactivities.

Er Anuj Sinha, Director, VigyanPrasar, interacted with the participant

on the last day o the workshop. Hementioned that manpower trained by VPin dierent workshops should be a part oVP initiatives in science communicationand each participant may start workingin their respective areas. The participant

demonstrated innovative activities developedby them. Many participants were o the viewthat hands-on activities/experiments help inunderstanding the concepts better and make

the subject interesting. All the participantwere given certifcates o participation by ErAnuj Sinha.

The third workshop was organisedor the Southern States at Sri VenkateswaraUniversity, Tirupati rom 7 to 10 February2011. Forty-six participants representing

Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil NaduPudducherry, and Karnataka attendedthe workshop. The workshop wainaugurated by Pro. Prabhakar RaoVice Chancellor o SVU.

During the 4-day workshopabout 130 experiments weredemonstrated on topics like opticsmagnetism and electricity, etc. A kicomprising o about 35 items wasalso assembled and given to eachparticipant. A Valedictory Function was organised in Department Physics, which was presided over byPro. Buddudu, Head o Departmeno Physics, S V University.

Workshop in progress Er Anuj Sinha interacting with the participants

Participants doing hands-on activities


20/20

Heretic to Hero: GalileoGalilei-Rebel AstronomerT V VenkateswaranISBN:978-81-7480-204-0pp : 124 Price:`120

This book elucidates the context and theimplication o Galieos discoveries that led towhat historian o sciences call as frst scientifcrevolution.

Tools of AstronomyBiman BasuISBN:978-81-7480-196-8pp : 216 Price:`180This book attempts to take the reader throughthe ascinating journey o the developmentand evolution o astronomical instrumentsthrough the millennia.

Eyes on the Sky: The Story ofTelescopesBiman NathISBN:978-81-7480-196-8pp : 172 Price:`140This book chronicles the history o telescopesin easy language and with many illustrations.

Story of ChemistryAnirban HazraISBN: 81-7480-135-9pp: 115 Price:`75

This book traces the development oChemistry, the science o matter, rom itsorigins in antiquity to the modern and quicklyevolving sceince that it is today.

Science Musings: Selected editorials fromDREAM 2047Vinay B. KambleISBN:978-81-7480-203-3 (HB)pp : 361 Price: `200This book is a compilation o the selectededitorials written by Dr. Vinay B. Kamble,

ormer editor o the popular science monthlymagazine Dream 2047 o Vigyan Prasar, overthe period 2000-2009.

Dinosaurs: Myths and FactsU.B. Mathur and Neera MathurISBN: 978-81-7480-206-4 Price:`120This book answers practically all the question

on the dinosaur myths and acts. The illustratedbook tells a great deal about the wonderulrecent fnds o Indian dinosaurs skeletons,eggs, ootprints, dungs etc. which are some o

the best in the world; and evidences in India about extinction odinosaurs.

Charles Darwin: An EvolutionistParul R. ShethISBN: 978-81-7480-208-8 Price:`120This book is a tribute to Charles Darwin's

works and his ideologies and it also includesDarwin's lie sketch, his love or animals andplants, his works and the debates that havearisen.

Evolution of Our Understanding ofthe Planetary MotionsJ.N. Desai, N.M. Ashok,V.B. Kamble, S.P. PandyaISBN: 978-81-7480-198-2pp : 108 Price:`75This book is a journey in time tracing the

evolution o the understanding o the motionso the planets rom the very beginning. It is

hoped that this book would prove useul or students and teachersin colleges and universities, along with general readers.

Founders of Modern Astronomy:From Hipparchus to HawkingSubodh MahantiISBN: 978-81-7480-200-2pp : 326 Price:`200The book presents in chronological order,the lives and works o 28 scientists who have

made signifcant contributions to the growtho astronomy.

Vigyan Prasar Publ icat ions

DirectorVigyan PrasarA-50, Institutional Area , Sector-62. NOIDA (201307)Phone: 91-120-240 4430,35 Fax: 91-120-2404437e-mail : [email protected] Website : http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in

For urther details please write to:

april 2011 english

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