Name: Latha Rangan

My Area of Interest: Functional Genomics

My Favourite Quote: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”

I am a:Assistant Professor

Short Profile:

I am an Assistant Professor at Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (http://www.iitg.ernet.in/biotech/faculty.htm) since November, 2004.

I received my doctoral degree from University of Madras in Plant Sciences and later finished post doctoral fellowship from Norman Borlaug Institute of Plant Sciences Research, United Kingdom.

I had a key role in Plant Biotechnology and Sustainable Development in thrust areas of energy security (biofuels and bienergy), food security (genetic engineering of important crops and functional genomics), climate change etc. The frontiers of science technology and great humanitarian significance of these projects have been recognized by awards from funding agencies like Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Council of Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Biotechnology, (DBT) India that supports my ongoing research.

I have also been responsible for the delivery of scientific outcomes involving the construction of cloning vectors for plant growth genes, transformation of elite rice cultivars (including New Plant Type, Ey-105 and IR72), allele mining for abiotic stress genes and bioresources protection and barcoding of useful economic plants of NE India. The work has been recognized by Maharashtra Association for Cultivation of Sciences (MACS) by conferring Dr R. B Ekbote Prize in field agriculture and sustainable development.

Currently I have a key-coordinating role in Biodiesel Network to create elite genotypes of biof uel crops. I also played a vital role in the research and extension programme at IIT Guwahati and has diverse interest.

I was among very first few to raise issues on IPR and Biosafety. Her strong inclination towards the area enabled her to get grant from MHRD to conduct a Regional workshop on IPR, first of its kind at IITG. Currently I have been empanelled as Academic counselor for IGNOU distance learning programme on IPR.

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
We are in the midst of accelerated progress in science and technology. Today, the spectrum of accumulated knowledge in biology is immense and far more extensive than any individual can assimilate. The discovery of DNA has been such an important one that it has opened uncommon opportunities for progress in the fields of medicine, agriculture, environment and industry. Work is progressing rapidly to sequence the DNA from different organisms. A comprehensive understanding of genetic codes would be possible with the sequence information from different organisms, their protein complements and their function. The discovery of Watson and Crick has made new technologies like genetic engineering, gene therapy and bioinformatics possible, with some of them attracting controversies. Any technology must take into consideration, its likely impact on humanity and the biosphere as a whole.

This is where I would like to take proactive role in DNA based barcoding and biodiversity inventory with special reference to Northeast India as it is the Biogeographical Gateway to India’s rich biodiversity wealth.

Accurate identification of species is fundamental to both basic and applied research and forms the foundation for all biology. Taxonomic identification is still a major hurdle. It is here, genomics approach will be significant especially towards protection and utilization of bioresources from Northeast India (Rangan et al 2008a). With almost 22 genera and 178 species, the family Zingiberaceae has immense medicinal value and finds extensive use in the indigenous system of medicine and many are endemic to this region. However, work on this family is regularly constrained by difficulties in species identification. DNA barcodes have been developed which provides unambiguous identification of species especially of those in which biologically important properties or molecules with IPR potential have been identified (Sumit et al 2008).

The work has important implication in germplasm utilization and conservation.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
It is very true that the pace of progress in the evolution of new technologies is much faster than the evolution of societal understanding of their implications. This mismatch between technological progress and societal understanding of change is at the heart of the ongoing conflict between the “do” and “doom” environmentalists (Swaminathan 2004). This can be resolved only through dialogue, transparency in research objectives and outputs, and mutual learning and respect.

The current technology being used in my group is high throughput tool of DNA Based Barcoding for biodiversity inventory in plants. DNAB is an identification method using short orthologous DNA sequences from any unidentified sample to previously identified samples through comparison of sequence divergence (Hebert et al., 2003). The idea is that a short stretch of genetic code from a reference gene is unique enough to one species to distinguish it from every other species, and that comparison of sequence variations in that stretch of gene can reveal evolutionary relationships among species (Kress et al., 2005; Hajibabaei et al., 2006).

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
Today biologists believes that DNA barcode is a high throughput tool that can rapidly an d accurately identify both individuals of a species and entirely new species and has produced noticeable success in terms of scientific citation and media coverage (Smith, 2005). Contrary to other DNA-based methods with taxonomic purposes (Vogler & Monaghan, 2006), identification through DNAB is becoming widely popular and acceptable tool to many scientists.

Initially referred to as DNA typing or profiling, the DNAB initiative has taken a huge leap forward direct applications includes;

i. make the outputs of systematic available to the largest possible community of end-users by providing standardized and high-tech identification tools, e.g. agriculture (pests), environmental assays and customs (trade in endangered species);

ii. relieve the enormous burden of identifications from taxonomist, so they can focus on more pertinent duties such as delimiting taxa, resolving their relationships and discovering and describing new species;

iii. pair up various life stages of the same species (e.g. seedlings);

iv. provide a bio-literacy too for the general public

v. facilitate basic biodiversity inventories

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
My vision of Genomics 2020 overlaps with that of Ocimum biosolution that is empowerment of all stakeholders including grassroots level to foster improved Academia-Industry collaboration to support global biotech pursuit for bringing improved, affordable healthcare and therapeutics.