Address During The Presentation Of Ranbaxy Research Awards For The Year 2002 And 2003

Emerging Areas in Medical Research

I am indeed delighted to participate in the presentation of Ranbaxy Research Awards for the years 2002 and 2003. My greetings to the organizers, members of the Ranbaxy Science Foundation, scientists, researchers, chemists, educationists, industrialists and distinguished guests. My congratulations to all the award winners for their important contributions in the area of medical research. It is observed that Ranbaxy Research Foundation is one of the busiest research foundations and has been regularly conducting scientific meets and conferences in front line areas of research and current problems of public health. These conferences would have provided research direction for the scientists and enabled the pharmaceutical industries to provide cost effective drugs to the needy. The research thrust and original drug formulations are very important in view of WTO norms coming into effect by the year 2005. I visualize our medical research teams in India will take up the challenge of developing molecules to drug leading to value added production and marketing.

Research in Gene Chip

Indian population is highly susceptible for coronary heart diseases that too at a relatively young age irrespective of where they live. As you are aware, Gene Chip arrays have tremendous potential to reach goals from identifying genetic variations associated with heart disease for discovering new drug targets.

Recently, I was in Chennai at Dr. Cherian?s Medical Centre. It is known as, International Centre for Biomedical Sciences and Technology (Research & Applications). There I interacted with Dr. Emmanuel, who is working in the area of Gene Chip. He says the Gene Chip can be used for finding the existence of genetic diseases including coronary artery diseases in the baby during a certain stage of pregnancy itself.

As many as 50 different mutated genes are identified as responsible for heart problems in Indian population. If a person is not having any of these harmful mutated genes, then he may not suffer from heart ailments. The Gene Chip is one which on contacting with the blood, immediately identifies the mutated genes in the person. Based on this information, proper guidance can be given to the patients and parents. The chip could also be modified to suggest to the patient?s system to develop those chemicals which in turn will help the patient recover from the present situation.

It is reported that gene differences between humans and most animals are very nominal. More than 90% of our DNA is similar. This property is a boon to researchers since animal models can be subsequently used for curing human diseases based on trial data. It has also been found that Gene Chips can be used for early diagnosis of tumors and their treatment. Integrating molecular biology, cytogenetics and bio-chemistry, bio-chip technology is regarded as one of the greatest inventions in the research of gene functions. It is far superior to molecular biological technology in terms of speed and accuracy. I would recommend the medical researchers to progress further in this area for finding the application of Gene Chip as a diagnostic tool and as a treatment regime for many diseases.

Sickle Cell Disease: A challenge to medical community

When I visited Chhatisgarh recently, I was informed by the various authorities that sickle cell anemia disease is widely prevalent in tribal areas there and even in the adjoining States. I understand over 25 lakh population suffers from this disease. Life expectancy of this population is quite low and it is reported that this disease is a silent killer.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited condition. Two genes for the sickle hemoglobin must be inherited from one's parents in order to have the disease. A person who receives a gene for sickle cell disease from one parent and a normal gene from the other has a condition called sickle cell trait. Sickle cell trait produces no symptoms or problems for most people. Sickle cell disease can neither be contracted nor passed on to another person. The severity of sickle cell disease varies tremendously. Some people with sickle cell disease lead lives that are nearly normal. Others are less fortunate, and can suffer from a variety of complications. The available treatment strategies can be divided into anti-sickling agents, vasoactive drugs bone marrow transplantation and gene therapy. Recently I came across in the internet, Dr. Eric Kmiec, an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Thomas Jefferson University had shown that the new gene repair technology may hold promise as a treatment for sickle cell anemia and other diseases by correcting the DNA mutation from which they arise. I would recommend to the medical scientists to apply their mind collectively to find a preventive and post-occurrence cost effective treatment for this dreaded disease. I would even suggest to Ranbaxy Medical Research group to get in touch with Thomas Jefferson University for finding a fast, cost effective diagnostic method and treatment for this disease.

Research challenges for recovering mentally challenged

When I was a Professor at Anna University in Chennai before taking up this present assignment, apart from my teaching activities on various societal transformation missions, I was guiding a doctoral research project. My student?s name is Rev. Father George A. The research was aimed to find integrated solution using a software, hardware application to achieve a near normal functioning of the brain of mentally challenged children. When I saw some of the mentally challenged children performing certain activities like singing, painting in Central Institute of Mental Retardation, Thiruvananthapuram, I got convinced that one day convergence of information and communication technology, medical electronics, bio-technology and mathematical simulation can find a solution for their problem. We have been studying the mentally challenged children in various research institutions, homes for mentally retarded and hospitals. We are confident that it will be possible to transform the functions of the damaged portion of the brain say left hemisphere to the normal portion right hemisphere of the brain by some triggering mechanism, or by implanting a bio-chip to carry-out those functions. This is a complex problem which needs an integrated approach involving medical scientists and technologists for a targeted permanent solution which can help children afflicted with this mental disability.

A newer input has come to us recently through which the genes responsible for determining the chemical ingredient which create the mentally challenged state in the children could be identified. Then the Gene Chip can identify the responsible genes present in the parents and the children. Taking a blood sample, the chip should also suggest that the production of such and such chemical should be beneficial to the patient. The chip could enable, which signals, if sent would induce the brain to synthesize the required chemicals. Such signals should then be sent by the external fittings like a cell phone apparatus, to the brain. The required signals can be tested out on a culture of neuron. The signals sent by the chip or advised by the chip, should help the brain to make those chemical ingredients to make these goal achieved. When we started our research, it looked as if for solving the problem we were nowhere. But today, we have many methods of solutions coming from many researchers. Now we have to synthesize a solution leading to non-invasive treatment regime.

Stem Cell Research

The recent identification and characterization of progenitors with stem cell properties has opened up new avenues that may be useful for treating functional impairments caused by the death of specific cell population. The stem cell may help restore functioning of certain defective organs, by repopulating or rescuing the damaged cells from further degeneration. There will be a revolution in the medical treatment for heart care, cancer, visually impaired and mentally challenged. It is essential to launch an integrated national stem cell research program.

During my visit to various laboratories, I happened to see the beginning of stem cell research for different purposes including brain research. I would like to share with you two very important stem cell research applications in the field of cardiology and visual impairment. When I met Dr. P. Venugopal, a famous cardiac surgeon, he told me about his experiences. He said in one of the cardiac diseases, where conventional, medical and surgical treatment were ineffective because of the affliction of the heart muscle, use of autologous bone marrow stem cells implantation into the diseased heart muscles had been applied in order to improve the function of heart muscle. This kind of application of this procedure is the latest and very few cases have been done in the world, the first time in India. This is expected to open new frontiers in the treatment of patients for regeneration of heart muscles, there by giving new hope for the patients suffering from end stage heart disease. The stem cells are being tried in other diseases like diabetes in order to offer cure for the patients suffering from long term and intractable diabetes. This is being applied by injecting the stem cells into the patient's artery supplying the pancreas. The results are still awaited. The New Scientist (dated 25th September) has reported another remarkable recovery of a heart patient at the Johnn Wolfgong Goethe University at Frankfurt. Of course for the first time, I have come across a warning, stating that risk is very high. Against stem cell solution for every aspect of human disease, it is reported that large amount of tests on animals is needed before applying it on humans.

The Stem Cell technology is at the cutting edge, practiced by no more than three or four centres across the globe. It involves the harvesting of stem cells from the limbus of the eye and explant - culturing them such that the resultant material can be used to reconstruct the damaged outer surface of the eye, thus enabling it to better accept a corneal graft. The L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, has succeeded in translating this technology from the Petri dish to the patient?s eye. Such advanced technologies need to be effectively deployed to provide critical eye care to the majority of the population. When I recently visited LV Prasad Eye Institute, Prof. Taraprasad Das showed me the results of vision recovery of about 150 patients affected by fire accidents. Here I would like to suggest to medical researchers in India to take up a mission mode stem cell research taking into all aspects.

Conclusion

As we have discussed, Gene Chip, Stem Cell research for many diseases relevant to India, we have to recognize another potential area of research of nano-science has already entered into diagnosis and treatment, particularly diseases relating to brain and cancer. It is predicted that nano-robots will carry diagnostic probe and treatment solutions. Finally the robots will get digested in the human system. Sometimes I feel the world may declare early phase of twenty-first century, as a century of nano-science research and technology leading to revolution in human life enrichment.

My best wishes to you all. May God bless you.