BENGALURU: Acknowledging the rapid pace of discoveries in bio-sciences in the past few years, Joachim Frank, joint winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017, raised concerns on ‘frightening’ bio-tech that could have catastrophic effects.
Speaking to Express along the sidelines of a talk held at International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), he said regulation of such technologies was essential. He added that he was watching technologies such as ‘nanomachines that can walk around in our body’ and gene editing tools like CRISPR with alarm. “If it gets to the wrong hands, it can have catastrophic effects,” he said, responding to a question on the future of biotech and allied sciences.By introducing technologies such as CRISPR, he said, “inter-dependence of species is being interfered upon.” Having a safety net against such possibilities is necessary, he said.
To a question, he said that there has been an amplification effect in terms of research in bio-sciences. “It is like a tipping point. From a certain point on, all different pegs are falling in place,” he said.
Earlier, in a talk titled ‘Deciphering the workings of molecules, building blocks of life with the Electron Microscope’ he detailed the development of the Cryo-Electron Microscope (CEM) - which won him the Nobel along with Jacques Dubochet and Richard Henderson. The technique helped in bringing out detailed 3D models of organelles such as ribosomes and their role in cell biology. He also detailed how CEM was developed to overcome the limitations of conventional mapping techniques of bio-molecules, such as X-Ray Crystallography, Electron Microscopes and Transmission Electron Microscopes.
Extraordinary foresight
Beginning his talk, he recalled that ICTS had invited him for a lecture in May - even before the Nobel Prize was announced.”I must congratulate the organisers for the extraordinary foresight,” he quipped. Explaining the uncertainties in scientific discovery, he said, “you can’t predict them. You have to walk around and keep your eyes open for these coincidences,” he said.