Lakhasly

such as drug design and development and toxicological and pharmacological trials of drugs.In the agricultural sector, biotech products, particularly the edible materials, have to compete with the products from the conventional sources that people prefer.The emergence of these protein and DNA chips has changed the proteomics and genomic researches and new fields such as pharmaco genomics and toxico genomics have emerged.But in the case of life-saving medicines--vaccines, alcohol, pesticides, weedcides etc.-- the products of conventional methods have been taken over by the biotech products.For example, there is no evidence yet to show that the rDNA product (a protein) has the correct folding of polypeptide chain to form the threedimensional structure by the posttranslational modifications as it happens in the actual system.The excitement and optimism about biotechnology has encouraged both public and private sectors to make huge investments in research and technology developments.Biotech industries, started as university supported private enterprises, have undergone many changes.

such as drug design and development and toxicological and pharmacological trials of drugs. Similarly, there are protein chips where protein molecules are immobilized on microscopic chips. The emergence of these protein and DNA chips has changed the proteomics and genomic researches and new fields such as pharmaco genomics and toxico genomics have emerged. The excitement and optimism about biotechnology has encouraged both public and private sectors to make huge investments in research and technology developments. Biotech industries, started as university supported private enterprises, have undergone many changes. Many small industries have closed or merged with bigger pharmaceutical or chemical companies. But the market response to biotechnology products was not encouraging in the beginning. The main reason was the regulatory policies of the concerned governments and the negative approach of the public toward genetically-engineered products. Several other factors also hindered the growth of biotechnology industries. In the agricultural sector, biotech products, particularly the edible materials, have to compete with the products from the conventional sources that people prefer. But in the case of life-saving medicines—vaccines, alcohol, pesticides, weedcides etc.— the products of conventional methods have been taken over by the biotech products. The biotech industries also have the potential to replace several polluting industries, using environment-friendly manufacturing processes. The vaccines produced by genetic engineering are supposed to be safer than the vaccines made from conventional methods. The vaccine produced conventionally carries the inactive virus, which may become active at any time. However, the optimism about biotechnology products has to be supported by hard scientific evidences. Only hard scientific proofs can boost the morale of the public and industry. For example, there is no evidence yet to show that the rDNA product (a protein) has the correct folding of polypeptide chain to form the threedimensional structure by the posttranslational modifications as it happens in the actual system. Today, most of the drugs that are coming to the market or those