status, potentials and challenges of biotechnology development in nepal
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STATUS, POTENTIALS AND CHALLENGES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN NEPAL. Dr. Kayo Devi Yami RONAST. TRADITIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGIES. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
STATUS, POTENTIALS AND CHALLENGES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT IN NEPAL
Dr. Kayo Devi Yami
RONAST
TRADITIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGIES
For many centuries societies and communities have been using these technologies to alter plants & animal products to produce BETTER FOOD & IMPROVED PRODUCTION without knowing the actual scientific background.
DAIRY PRODUCTS (Cheese, Churpi, Curd etc.)
FERMENTED VEGETABLE PRODUCTS (Gundruk, Sinke, Pickles etc.)
BREWERY TECHNOLOGY(Raksi, Jand, Tomba etc.)
PLANT BREEDING
MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY
MUSHROOM PRODUCTION
TISSUE CULTURE
BIOFERTILIZERS
BIOPROSPECTING
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
VACCINE PRODUCTION
PLANT TISSUE CULTURE
GOVERNMENT SECTOR
Department of Plant ResourcesThapathali
produced 100,000 plantlets of disease free Banana & Citrus. Tissue culturing of Rauwolfia, Eucalyptus & Jerbera, Swertia,
Dalbergia etc
Godawari Pioneer Tissue Culture Lab research & development; > 100 protocols for plant tissue
culture so far In situ and ex situ conservation of germplasm of improtant
medicinal plants
National Agricultural Research Council
Potato tissue culture lab producing 200,000 virus free pre-basic potato seeds/year
Agricultural Botany Division has initiated anther culture of rice and wheat & also germplasm conservation and diagnostic facilities using PCR technology
Dhankuta & Lumle Agriculture Stations also have tissue culture lab facilities
Horticulture Development Project of Department of Agriculture, Kirtipur
very good facilities for plant tissue culture work (Japanese Grant), once produced in vitro plantlets of apple rootstocks
Institute of Agriculture & Animal Sciences, Rampur
plant tissue culture lab facilities (Rockfeller Foundation) but is limited to MSc thesis work only
PRIVATE SECTORS
Botanical Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., Godawari
Nepal Biotech Nursery, Bhainsepati
Research Laboratory for Agriculture Biotechnology & Biochemistry (RLABB), Balkhu
Microplants, Kamal Pokhari
Green Research & Technology (GREAT), New Baneshwor
Himalayan Botanical Research Centre (HIMBORCE), Baneshwor
BIOFERTILIZERS
Division of Soil Science & Agriculture Chemistry, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Khumaltar: Commercial production of microbial inoculants like rhizobia, Azotobacter.
Royal Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (RONAST), Khumaltar: Research on microbial inoculants like rhizobia, Azotobacter, Endo & Ectomycorrhiza, composting, vermicomposting
MUSHROOM PRODUCTION Nepal Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Plant
Pathology Division, Khumaltar: spawn for button mushroom, research to develop better substrate for better mushroom production and providing training on mushroom cultivation
Agriculture Technology Centre, Gwarko producing spawn for Agaricus bisporus, Sitake (Lentinus edodes), Gyanoderma
Many unregistered private companies producing mushrooms and spawn
RONAST: study of mushroom diversity in Sagarmatha National Park (CNR)
DPR: Collection and identification of Nepalese mushrooms around Godawari
BIOLOGICAL CONTROLRONAST has been doing research on BIOPESTICIDES
specially of plant origin (Eupatorium adenoforum, Lantana camara, Acorus calamus & Ageratum conyzoides) in collaboration with Department of Agriculture against Aphids
BIOINSECTICIDES indigenious strains of Bacillus thuriengensis
BIOFUNGICIDEScompost & vermicompost tea solution on Foot rot disease of rice and use of above pesticidal plants against club root disease of cauliflower
RONAST has been doing bioprospecting of Himalayan conifers, Cordyceps sinensis (Yarchagumba) and Taxus bacatta for their antitumor compounds.
DPR: phytochemical screening of 12 plant spp. & their antifertility and antihelminthic potential and toxicity test on mice
TU Chemistry Division: MSc research work Simhadurbar Baidhya Khana: Crude form of
bioprospecting for ayurvedic medicine
BIOPROSPECTING
ADVANCED MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY
RONAST
MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS (HLB CITRUS DISEASES)
MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATIONS OF:• Bacillus thuriengensis• Medicinal plants like Swertia• Tea clones• GMOs
NARC Genetic diversity analysis of isoenzymes in rice,
barley, buckwheat, pigeon pea, taro, cucumber, Sweria, Citrus.
Application of molecular markers towards development of varities and hybrid in maize
RECAST Selection of genotypes of Mulberry &
exploitation of genetic yield potential of common Buckwheat ecotypes.
ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
Central Veterinary Laboratory, Tripureshwor producing vaccine against P.P.R (Pestes des petites Ruminant) disease using tissue culture, rabies vaccine with Japanese grant also exporting to other countries, poultry vaccine, PCR used in disease diagnostic.
NARC has been doing animal breeding, embryo transfer and artificial insemination in cattles.
MEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
The Leprosy Mission, Nepal: determination of cytokines by ELISA for blood immune response studies in leprosy patients & DNA diagnosis of Mycobacterium leprae by PCR
Everest Biotech Pvt. Ltd.: production of specific antibody required for Human Genome Project, England.
TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj: had used PCR for TB bacteria research work
TU Teaching Hospital: 3 PCRs mainly used for detecting respiratory viruses for the research purpose only
Kathmandu University Medical School: Korean visiting scientist once tried to identify AIDS
virus by using RT PCR but because of the problem in water the project could not be initiated.
EXISTING MANPOWERInstitutions Manpower PhD
RONAST 12 2
NARC 13 4
DPR 15
DoA 4
Teaching Institutions
(Kathmandu University
Tribhuvan University etc.) 23 5
Private Co. (GREAT, LIIBIRD) 6 1
Forensic Lab. 3
RECAST 4 2
Vetirenary Institute 10 4
Total 100 18
MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT
Bachelors level (BSc) : Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu University and many private campuses have been delivering BSc courses in Biotechnology.
Masters level (MSc) : Tribhuvan University is going to open MSc courses in Biotechnology from middle of 2006
NOTE : National Planning Commision has provided $ 2,00,000 to KU for BSc & $ 70,000 to TU for MSc programmes.
BUDGET (RONAST)
Fiscal year Total S & T budget
Biotechnology budget
2002/2003 $120,000
(INRA-$21,000; SETS - $70,000)
$26,000
2003/2004 $31,000 $6,000
2004/2005 $44,000 $ 23,000
(CNR & allowances)
2005/2006 $28,000 $ 12,000
BUDGET OF OTHER INSTITUTIONS
Institutions Budget per year
Division of Agriculture Botany, NARC, Khumaltar $15,000
Biotechnology Laboratory of Department of Plant Resources, Thapathali and Godawari $10,000
Phytochemical and microbial screening at DPR
$10,000
POTENTIALS OF MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGIES
Genetic material of one sp. can be inserted into another, crossing natural barriers that were previously impossible.
BETTER CROPS
RESISTANT TO INSECTS
RESISTANT TO DISEASES
EVEN TO NATURAL CALAMITIES LIKE DROUGHT
SOLUTIONS TO THE THREAT OF HUNGER BY HELPING TO INCREASE FOOD PRODUCTION & MALNUTRITION BY
CREATING RICE THAT PROVIDES VITAMIN A & IRON
MAKING AGRICULTURE MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE THROUGH PEST RESISTANT CROPS
BIOPROSPECTING Research for new chemicals in living things that will have
some medical or commercial use a high risk area for investors but can have massive returns Of the world's 25 top-selling pharmaceuticals, 10
originally sourced from animals, plants or micro-organisms (in 1995, these accounted for nearly $US14 billion in global sales )
Pharmaceutical companies and agribusiness use indigenous knowledge as a precursor to screening, and this is happening with little regard for the protection of indigenous intellectual property and with no equitable sharing of profits
CHALLENGES OF MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY
HEALTH RISKS POISED BY GMO CROPS
POTENTIAL ENVIRONMETAL IMPACTS OF THE RELEASE OF GMOS LEADING TO SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR THE BIODIVERSITY THAT MANY COMMUNITIES RELY ON FOR THEIR FOOD, LIVELIHOODS AND CULTURAL SURVIVAL
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOSAFETY POLICIES
Ministry of Environment, Science & Technology had submitted a Biotechnology Policy to the cabinet four years ago for the Govt approval but has not yet been approved.
The Ministry of Forest & Soil Conservation aims to develop & formulate the Biosafety Policy, legal & administrative framework to safeguard the biological diversity, human health and environment from the adverse effects of GMOs & their products in accord with the CBD CPB.
PROBLEMS LACK OF QUALIFIED MANPOWER & BRAIN
DRAIN
LACK OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES, RULES & REGULATIONS
LACK OF ADEQUATE FUNDINGS
LACK OF PROPER INFRASTRUCTURES
FAILURE TO IMPLIMENT RECOMMENDATIONS PROPOSED BY VARIOUS TASK FORCES
LACK OF INVOLVEMENT OF PRIVATE SECTOR AND TEACHING INSTITUTIONS
THE APPLICATION OF GENETIC ENGINEERING TECHNIQUES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW DRUGS AND VACCINES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRY LIKE OURS IS AN EXPENSIVE AND LONG TERM INVESTMENT
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
STRENGTHENING OF EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURES AT DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS
MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
VOTE OF THANKS
RECAST & AUDIENCE