We Provide Alternative Solutions Through Technology: Rakhi Chaturvedi

Meha Mathur Sep 14, 2022

How would you describe your field?

It’s about the application of engineering and technology to biology. When we, the faculty members, were graduating or doing PhD, there was no distinct branch like biotechnology. We were in pure science departments like botany, zoology and microbiology and there our thesis was related to technology and engineering. A point came when it was realised that technology is also needed in biology to address the limitations of basic sciences.

To give the example of a plant, each and every plant system has its own function, and that’s the limit. It is what is available in nature, or conventionally. That is where technology enters, as humans want a little more. If technology can be applied to these biological systems, our requirements can also be addressed. It could be by way of cell tissue culture of a plant or an animal.

It’s about engineering the cell. And for that, we need to know what technology is to be applied.

By delving deep, we get an idea of how a single cell also functions – the physiology and the anatomy of the cell. Otherwise, a plant, or human system, unlike a bacteria, is very intact, and it’s very difficult to understand the mechanism. The moment we understand the mechanism, we know where the required input can be given. Like a child, when it grows, you know at every stage how the requirement is changing.

Can you tell us some uses of biotechnology? How has society benefited due to biotechnology?

Being a plant expert, I can cite examples from my area of expertise. Of the drugs that you find in the market, 80 per cent of these are plant-based. A large population of the country is vegetarian, and there is a reluctance to consume non-veg foods on certain days of the week.

The climate and weather also impact the production of medicinal compounds. This is where the role of technology comes in, to ensure that there is a constant production of these compounds. We started engineering the cell to fine-tune it so that it can best fit what exists in nature. This is how we are trying to improve production. The benefit is, that we are not destroying nature. We have the technology to engineer the plant under controlled conditions and we don’t need to pluck plants from fields each time we need the medicinal compound. We provide alternative solutions so that nature doesn’t become a limitation.

You mentioned that it will be beneficial to nature, but to cite the example of its application in agriculture, there has been controversy about BT.

Somehow, before science comes into picture, rumours travel faster. And people suspect, whenever something is introduced. In the case of BT brinjal, they used the genome of bacteria and tested it before applying it. It grows in a certain PF level so it’s not at all harmful. But people started believing that something has been added to brinjal and it would not be good for us. On the other hand, the natural brinjal has germs, which is more harmful and if we eat it without proper cooking, they can enter our blood circulation as well.

I will give an example – when you plant a mango sapling, they say you are planting it for the next generation, as it’s a very slow growing tree. Now, if a farmer wants to improve his yield, he still has to wait for several years. And for a particular trait to become stable, it takes perhaps 30 to 40 years, before we can say that a new variety has come up. By the time a person would forget what he set out to do.

My own work is on tea and neem. Pure breed lines is very important for the farmer whereas what you see in the tea gardens, not a single plant is pure breed line. In the case of tea, we develop the plant in pots and make pure breed lines in a single generation, in just one-and-a-half year. That is the time taken for research. Once the protocol is established, we can produce the plant much faster, we don’t have to wait for 35-40 years. So, some of the conventional limitations are also being resolved through biotechnology.

Here I am talking about plants. Animal system is even more difficult. Getting a sample is difficult as one has to go through regulations and take permits. Otherwise, both plant and animals are similar; their senses are the same. Plants also communicate through chemical stimulus. It’s called cross-talk.

What is the kind of work that your students are doing after passing out from here?

Only 10 to 15 per cent of students take up jobs after BTech, in bio-based companies. Many of them are also qualified for software companies. This is because of the course component of the institute, with provision for an open elective. So, students opt for computer science as part of that option.

Students of BTech in bio-sciences may not get the same package as in pure engineering, but they have more options to get a job at a higher position once they do further degrees. Companies look at highly qualified persons to train their manpower.

This is the reason why a majority of BTech students don’t go for placement; rather, they go for higher studies – MTech or PhD. We get a lot of applications for PhD in our department for limited seats, and admission is very tough. Many of them also apply for further studies at IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IISc Bengaluru, or in universities abroad.