Hadn't seen anything in nepali newspapers about science/technology in a long time:


Biotechnology for the future
BIGYAN R. BISTA
2011-02-16 9:36 PM

All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of experience and personal heredity” — just as true now in Nepal as in Mark Twain’s America of the 19th century!

The political paralysis is not only gripping our nation at present but also casting gloom over its future. But, are we as eternally hopeless as the New Yorkers who find New Jersey at the end of their tunnel? The answer is probably ‘No’, if we can get even a handful of our ‘leaders’ and policy makers to heed the globalization of science and technology research and take a few steps in the right direction.

Every prosperous country in today’s world shares one thing in common: innovative spirit coupled with cognizance of the vitality of knowledge-intensive economy. It generates employment opportunities, fuels economic growth and boosts competitiveness as well as global standing. Realization of this fact has led numerous developing countries to shift their national priorities in recent years.

Research and Development (R&D) expenditures in Science and Engineering (S&E) worldwide have increased from around $525 billion in 1996 to $1.10 trillion in 2006, the most dramatic growth being exhibited by our neighbors China, India and other Asian countries like Singapore. Sadly, World Bank (WB) figures on R&D spending as a percentage of GDP put Nepal behind Burundi, which has the lowest per capita GDP of any nation in the world. This is our reality, and thanks to our long tradition of incompetence at every level of governance, it does not even come as shocking.

According to the recent reports from National Science Foundation (NSF) in the US, if we order all foreign countries by number of students currently enrolled in S&E areas in American colleges and universities, Nepal ranks 5th (3,860 students) at the Undergraduate Level, 5th (1,300) at the Master’s Level and 10th at the Doctorate (920) Level studies.

These are noteworthy numbers! One could be dismissive of them and invoke the perennial favorite ‘brain-drain’ to enhance pessimism. I am a little more optimistic, because I see a highly skilled and professional pool in the making that can be tapped for R&D in Nepal. Based on my conversations with a large number of aforementioned students, I can affirmatively say that a lot of them will spring into action if provided with hospitable atmosphere, where they can apply their knowledge in productive endeavors.

Several such ventures can be envisioned, and I will like to highlight one of them. Our agro-economy can greatly benefit from promoting Biotechnology, where Nepali scientists, home and abroad, can collaborate on projects to use biological materials for industrial purposes whether it be for self-sufficiency in food production, animal production, agriculture or medicine, without falling into the hands of predatory multinationals. The scope of beneficial effects of such program not only addresses the demands of a growing population but also decreases the long-running dependency on our southern neighbor for almost everything.

Since Nepal will not be launching rockets anytime soon, a well laid-out long-term plan for Biotechnology in the country is the closest thing achievable from a national security point of view; but with leaders whose vision for Nepal’s future is as clear as a bad cataract, I share the mistrust in government, in its judgment of setting national priorities. Fortunately, there is still a silver lining.

Of almost all the foreign countries that have been spending the most money in R&D, whether it is the US or the UK, the respective governments are not the primary players. In fact, the majority of science funding comes from the private industry sector and charity organizations.

My sincerest hope is that at least some of the savvy business tycoons of Nepal will be interested and willing to fund novel ideas. Investment in Biotechnology today has the potential to produce the biggest return tomorrow. A Biotechnology Park with an ultimate goal of a self-sufficient Nepal in areas I mentioned earlier need not be solely “R”-focused and always dependent on funding from government or private organizations. There are ways to make such enterprise sustainable by advancing the “D”. Life sciences research has exploded in the last couple of decades across the globe. We can take advantage of this boom by establishing research plants that produce and export vaccines, antibodies, chemicals and generic drugs among other reagents routinely used in the laboratories and sold in the markets abroad,

I may just have painted a very rosy picture of the future with Biotechnology but in all honesty, there are Nepali scientists all over the world whose energy waits to be harnessed for Nepal’s progress. A little enthusiasm from the private sector and a little support from the government can actually go the distance in making it a

reality.

Bista is a doctoral candidate in Biology, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, USA bigyan.bista@gmail.com
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