Our planet earth has enormous varieties of biodiversity that resides in various types of water,soil,and air in different geographical.regions.They play multiple role .Hierarchical linkages occur in biodiversity that belong to various food chains characteristic of ecological systems present on our planet.Biodiversity is so submicroscopic that it can be seen only through various types of electron microscopes~e.g .Viruses,bacteria.Increasingly large sized forms are present which display unique,structure,form and functions.Their body physiology shows unimaginable variety of metabolic pathways that incorporate unique genomes,synthetic and catabolic mechanisms.Each relates to other in the form of support,sustenance.Men is at the top of the food chain and has through ages studied forms of life to exploit and harvest them as items of food,source of pharma drugs and medicine,fibre,wood,.Biodiversity protects water resources, ensures soil formation .It stores complex varieties of nutrients that can be recycled.Forest cover ,greenery is responsible for maintenance of climate and seasonal activity.
Harvesting Biodiversity through evolved technologies can facilitate solving problems of food,water,drugs,medicine,fuels,etc.We have been able to understand the breeding strategies of numerous plants and animals which are vital to our economic well being and sustenance.Genomic researches and nanobiotechnology is finding ways to harvest clean products from plants and animals.Each village ,town and city can form linkage to use the harvested plant and animal species for meeting the demands of industry.We have ,however ,made limited progress.We now need to think in terms of making every home a production ,hub,every village a supply center ,and every city a processor to produce finished products that will enhance our trade and commerce,make our weaker section strong,financially independent.Proper management and marketing will bring qualitative changes in the life of people.This article deals with areas where linkage between Industry,Biodiversity and Ecosystem can bring about astonishing alterations in the life of people.
1. Food:~Researches in biotechnology has already assisted in enhanced production of quality crops,fruits,seeds .Cattle industry in every village can cause changes and so can fish,prawn,shrimps,crab,and mollusc production.Medicinal plants farms can become the conduit for supplying raw material to pharma industry.We also need to work on harvesting and processing Sea food.We have paid little attention to this sector of resource.
Our agriculture,horticulture and veterinary are still awaiting greater use of modern Biotechnology.
2.Gene based products:~Genomic studies have helped in isolating segments of genes that code for proteins,steroid hormones,lipids,carbohydrates,pharma products.Such specific genes have become parts of international trade and commerce.Pure insulin corticosteroid,enzymes of diverse quality and function are now available.
As a first step to meeting the emerging challenges of requirements of growing population in India and in the rest of the world,our school~university~collegiate and research has to recast itself fundamentally.The syllabi need to stress on skills.Nearly 50 percent of the syllabi should be constructed to train youth in areas of agriculture,horticulture,veterinary,fisheries science with greater emphasis on entrepreneurship.Our medical and Engineering students should learn the art and craft of genetic engineering,Stem cell applications.,nano sensors,particles and their use in Biomedical science,Military strategies,etc.Here ,an example of Israeli biologist is worth noticing.He discovered that the tensile strength of Spider web is far greater than steel.A chemical called Resilin was extracted from spider web,it’s synthetic pathway studied and this led to production of bullet proof jackets which has global market.we need such innovative harvesting of biodiversity and link it wit industry,economic empowerment and maintenance of ecosystem.
We also need to understand that genetic diversity can prevent the chances of extinction of species in nature.Interbreeding is the biggest source of expression of defective genes in all forms of life including humans.Genetic mixing is the pivot of healthy biodiversity that can maintain itself in the ecosystem.
Humans need to display greater Managerial and Marketing strategies to harvest biodiversity from terrestrial,aquatic and even aerial system to ensure Green cover,forest cover and abundance of plant and animal base products to ensure a thriving economy that keeps on raisin the bar of quality of life.Never forget,that from evolutionary point of view Men has been a Predator.A predator is always a good Manager who utilise a certain percent of his choicest and desired food.It allows the healthy food to grow,recycle and reestablish itself and occupy it’s right place in the food chain and Ecosystem.These new strategies must became a part of our curricula,thinking and action.
