Indian bio-reserves mapped, 24 genes identified

Friday, 03 January 2003, 20:30 IST
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BANGALORE: India's first step towards making an inventory of its bio-reserves has led to the identification of 24 new genes. The first phase of the "biodiversity atlas and database of India," released at the 90th Indian Science Congress here, has covered two of the richest "hotspots" in the country -- the northeast and Kerala and the Western Ghat region. "Nobody can now say that this is our Basmati as it happened in the Texamati case. But for security reasons I cannot reveal the names of the plants or species because we have filed for patents. They are really worth millions and millions of rupees," said Manju Sharma, India's secretary for biotechnology. "The characterisation has been done using genetic profiling and molecular markers," she added. India, with 2.4 percent of the world's area, has eight percent of the total biodiversity. It is one of the 12 mega diversity "hotspot" regions in the world. The findings are the result of a unique study taken up by the department of space and the department of biotechnology, using remote sensing, to generate "biome maps" to prevent "our genes from being taken away". The maps of the hotspots provide information on habitat, habitat quality, and bio-diversity riches at macro level. "We have covered 27 endemic species. Any state government can use the knowledge database. The applications are enormous," she said on the sidelines of the science congress. For instance, stress and cold resistant genes have been identified in the Himalayan region that could lead to more research and applications. "Stress tolerant genes have been isolated from species of the cold desert and the mangroves of the coastal region. "A number of bioactive molecules and enzymes have also been isolated which are being taken forward for product development," she added.
Source: IANS
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