As a Plant Biotechnologist my primary research goal is to ensure security of food and fibre for mankind.
M. K. Bhan Fellow (DBT, GoI), Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
Founder, Bioingene.com (an initiative to promote international plant science research)
Co-founder, Bioingene.com/PSJ (an open access, peer-reviewed, international, online Plant Science Journal)
Three inventions-Dolly, Superbug and Golden Rice were highly fascinating to me and they could be the reason for me choosing Biotechnology. Gradually I got more interested in plants, maybe because I am a farmer at heart like my grandfather. Taking up Plant Biotechnology helped me understand the plant genome and gave me incredible power to edit it, if and when required, to make a better version. In the last few years I have been practicing it on JUTE, FLAX and RICE; raising a generation of warrior crops who could defend themselves against insect pests, fungi, and chemical herbicides.
Creating something new and useful, which is not yet present, but could become greatly in demand, is what I call ‘contributing responsibly to science’. It is a gift and I am lucky to have done a PhD in Biotechnology. In the coming decade I want to focus primarily on two aspects- “food, nutrition & fiber security” and “plant based renewable energy”. As I said, I find the concept of Golden Rice extremely fascinating and I wonder why is it still not available in the supermarket? The process of finding the answer drew my attention and interest towards “International Agriculture and Policies”.
Other than my research, I love drawing, watching movies and hanging out with my old friends. I am a fan of the famous director Satyajit Ray and his creations.
I have been told that I am quite a diplomat in my ways, but I keep away from politics.
To know more about me click on other tabs.