BioVoice News April 2017 Issue 11 Volume 1 | Page 22

cover story

that suit our needs . If India has to become a biotech hub , India has to utilize technologies such as CRISPR . Also , the IT based solutions in agriculture must be fast utilized .”
Being realistic suits us best !
The Minister of State for Science and Technology , Mr Y S Chowdary , appreciates the way policymaking has improved over the period of years . He conceded at the BIRAC forum that the
policymaking wouldn ’ t have been easy for those sitting at the helm of government agencies earlier . He appreciated the way Dr Renu Swarup has driven the BIRAC and her extraordinary delivery of projects . “ The cooperation and coordination are always better than confrontation . It must have been difficult for even former bureaucrats to work under difficult circumstances when the sector wasn ’ t of much importance to higher ups in government ,” the minister said pointing towards Dr M K Bhan who he said must have faced hurdles in establishing the bio-clusters . “ We have to improve and the growth has to be horizontal with proper channelization of funds ,” added the Minister .
So , the realism is finally defining the way we are gearing up to achieve our target . Being confident , innovative and yet realistic is the need of the day . The areas where we need the maximum solutions include agriculture and healthcare . Experts agree that the potential of ‘ Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats ’ technology or CRISPR must be explored to revolutionize research and that the strength of IT based system too need to be built upon .
Indians are always known for two things : optimistically wait for things to settle down and the survival instinct despite heavy odds . So , this is what the case with the Indian bioscience sector is ! If one must
22 BioVoiceNews | April 2017