There is little doubt that it is a very prestigious award, and some of its winners have been Nobel Laureates, and some others have been big names in science internationally. Some science writers have even called it the ‘Nobel’ of science communication. Be that as it may, the prize money it carries, i.e. one thousand pounds sterling (UK 1000), in this day and age, is worse than a pittance. There is an urgent need to enhance its monetary content very substantially!

It is often said that for an award, it is the credibility and the prestige it carries, rather than its monetary content, that matter! That is only partially true! If the statement had universal validity, there would have been no need to include big cash content in many of the world’s most prestigious awards in different fields. Also, one is not very sure if the same awards would have become as prestigious as they are now, had they been instituted with no, or only a small, token, cash content! Not only that, if the cash content in Nobel Prizes, say, were to be withdrawn, it is difficult to imagine how long these prizes would be able to sustain or retain the prestige presently associated with them. No one can tell! But one thing is certain: Minus the big cash component, the Nobels wouldn’t be the same, and it would only be a matter of time before they lose their sheen and their slide down the prestige-cum-popularity graph begins.

While money is not everything and, by istself, cannot lend credibility or prestige to an award, it is really necessary at the time of its institution and very helpful in the early period during which the credibility and prestige of an award get built up. An award gathers credibility every time it is given to an individual who is more than deserving in the eyes of everyone in that field and who, by accepting it, honours the award more than the award honours the awardee. If this happens each time the award is given, it grows in prestige and credibility and becomes more and more coveted and sought after, with time!

Actually, the entire procedure and process of selection – from calling for and receipt of nominations to the final selection, announcement and giving away of an award to the awardee – come in for media scrutiny. The degree and extent of media interest in an award, which in turn determines how much public attention it receives, are dependent on the prestige of the award. And the prestige of an award – in the true "chicken-egg-chicken" style – depends on how much importance and coverage are given to it by the media.

Returning to the Kalinga Prize, I distinctly recall that during a UNESCO general assembly meeting in Paris in 1990, an item on the agenda in one of the sessions was to discuss ways and means of ensuring that the press and other media around the world give adequate coverage to the Kalinga Prize for Popularisation of Science. Obviously, nothing much has resulted from that discussion.

I propose that the monetary content of the Kalinga Prize be enhanced to US $100,000, by adding an appropriate amount to the the donation originally made by Shri Biju Patnaik (of the Kalinga Foundation Trust). The amount required to accomplish this could be raised/found from Indian source(s) and this be done in such a way that the word ‘Kalinga’ is retained in the name of the prize. The scope and method of selection may be reviewed in consultation with UNESCO, for changes/modifications, if any.

If this can be acomplished – and I am sure it can be, if we try – and the announcement is handled properly as an event of worldwide media interest, the prestige of this prize can be enhanced manifold, and the competition for this prize would become much keener. Moreover, this would be in consonance with the fact that India is fast emerging as a super power in this area.

- N.K.S.

A Significant Advance

There has been a very significant scientific advancerecently. Yes, you guessed it right! We are referring here to the human genome (HG) project. For once, some of the hype in the mass media, associated with the completion of this project, appears to be justified. What we now have, for the first time, is an enormous biological data-base - a detailed picture of the human DNA in the form of a draft sequence of some 3 billion (300 crore) entries! Though this data base, despite its mammoth size, does not itself offer any cures or relief from dreaded diseases like cancer, aids or the like, its great significance lies in the promise and potential it holds for the future. To the extent that the promise and potential can be realised, the hype in the media was certainly justified. For, prior to completion of the HG project, some things now thought possible could not even be envisaged earlier! But few among those active in the field will dispute the fact that dramatic new cures or gains from this project, if at all, could still be far away in the future. All talk about eternal youth, increasing life expectancy to 150 or 1500 years, and the like, can only be termed as journalistic hype.

All of us who have been involved in basic research know from experience that everytime we seem to answer a basic question in science, the answer we come up with leads to newer and even more fundamental questions. Perhaps, nature by design is such that we will never get to the stage where no questions will remain unanswered!

With the human genome, we now have the key to zeroing in on every human gene. (Estimates of the total number of genes in the human genome vary from some 30,000 to well over 1,00,000 depending on the method used for estimation.) This could mean discovery of the causes of so many diseases, especially those which are thought to be genetic or hereditary in nature _ and hopefully their cures!

While real benefits to suffering humans may actually materialise sometime in the future, research and work on potential applications in genomic sciences is all set to explode and will definitely have a very major impact on research in life sciences and on potential applications, such as molecular medicine, microbial genomics, agricu-lture, livestock breeding, assessment of risk caused by radiation exposure, or exposure to chemicals and carcinogenic toxins, anth-ropology, evolution, bio archaeology and so on; the list is almost endless!

One of the key assump-tions underlying the human genome project has been that once we have a complete database on all the human genes,it would then become possible to track down, or zero in on, the defective gene(s) responsible for hereditary or genetic diseases or disorders - to be followed by discovery of cures through gene therapy, i.e. repairs or replacements of those genes. How good does this assumption prove to be in actual practice remains to be seen. Morever, the human being is an integral whole and tinkering with one or more genes in his/her DNA, while treating one disorder could very well give rise to fresh ailments or disorders worse than the one being treated. But then, all advances in science are like that. All said and done, despite the uncertainties and apprehe-nsions - and fears of misuse through patenting - the completion of the human genome project is a very significant advance. Here is hoping that it would be put to use for the good of humanity as a whole.

- N.K.S.

WHAT IS HUMAN GENOME ALL ABOUT?

A human being is made up of trillions and trillions (one trillion = 1000 billion and one billion = 1000 million) of cells. The structure and activities of each of these cells during the entire lifetime of the human being are controlled by a set of instructions found in the nucleus of each of the cells. The complete set of such instructions for a human cell is called the human genome. This genome is comprised of intertwined threads of DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) and related protein molecules in the form of organised structures known as chromosomes.

The nuclei of most cells in a human being have in them two separate sets of 23 chromosomes, one from each parent. (Of these 22 are called autosomes and the remaining one is the X or Y sex chromosome which determines the gender _ a pair of XX chrmosomes for the female and an XY pair for the male).

Chromosomes are made up of DNA and proteins, almost in equal proportion. Human DNA molecules are made up of two intertwined strands in the shape of ladders - the sides of the ladder are made up of molecules of sugar and phosphates and the connecting steps are nitrogenous chemicals called bases. As of now DNA is among the largest known molecules and DNA in chromosomes has on an average 15 crore ( 1 crore = 10 million) nitrogenous chemicals called bases. (Incidentally, chromosomes can be seen with a light microscope.)

Each DNA strand is a linear sequence of repeating units known as nucleotides, each made up of one sugar, one phosphate and a nitrogenous base. Adenine (A), thymine (T), Cytosine (C) and Guanine (G) are four different bases found in DNA. The particular order in which these bases appear along the sugar phosphate backbone is called the DNA sequence. The specific set of genetic instructions needed for the creation of a particular organism with its own unique traits is contained in this DNA sequence.

The two strands in the DNA stay together held by rather weak bonds between pairs of bases on each strand. The human genome contains some three bilion (300 crore) base pairs - and this is the number which refers to the genome size.

- N.K.S.