Source: Business Standard

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), along with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Directorate of Rice Research (DRR), is field-testing a new variety of rice that is disease-resistant.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of ‘Open Day’ celebrations of CCMB, Lalji Singh, director of CCMB, said that the results of the test would be known by next year.

"Around 15 per cent of the rice crop is lost due to various diseases. With the help of molecular breeding, we have transferred disease-resistant genes into the seeds and this is currently being tested in various regions across the country," Singh said.

He said that transgenics were not required wherever the molecular breeding technique was useful.

He also said that the centre was conducting tests on five different types of diseases that were being reported for the first time in the world.

"In one of the cases, we found that ladies in a particular family did not have fingers/ toes, except the thumb. We have collected the blood samples of these and other people suffering from other peculiar diseases to identify the genes that are responsible for these diseases," he said.

On the expansion of CCMB's facilities, he said that the Lab for Conservation of Endangered Animals would be completed by January or February, and the work on the medical biotechnology lab, which would be used for tissue engineering, has just began.

Singh also said that he, along with four other scientists, would be starting a Genome Foundation.

"The idea is to have testing labs across the country to conduct tests and also to provide a link between research institutes and hospitals," he said.