Top microbiologist moots edible vaccine to contain rabies

Lucknow, Aug 18 (UNI) A leading microbiologist has suggested edible rabies vaccine for containing the scourge, that claims several thousands lives every year in India and other developing countries.

Prof K P Gopinathan, Microbiology Department, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore said since rabies had its genesis in the wild, the most viable method against the disease was edible vaccine.

''It is possible to vaccinate domesticated animals with syringe against rabies. However, this method is not practical in case of wild animals, whose bite transmits the disease in pet animals and in turn poses danger to human beings,'' he said talking to UNI.

Prof Gopinathan suggested that the silkworm could be genetically engineered and manipulated to develop meaty edible portions instead of silk fibre to attract predators and also produce rabies virus antigens.

''This manipulated variety can be cultivated in forest and on areas forming the fringes of human settlements, so that the antigens enter the animals' body and develop immunity against rabies,'' he explained.

The microbiologist maintained that silkwork provided an unlimited opportunity to exploit its genetic makeup for varied applications for human benefit.

Prof Gopinathan was here recently to deliver a lecture on 'The Silky Path to Biotechnology' organised by the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow.

Conferred with the J C Bose Award in Life Sciences (UGC) in 1992, he is a leading light in genetic research on silkworm.

''Application of biotech for the improvement in silk production is of great interest to India, since our country is the second largest producer of silk in the world,'' he claimed.

The IISc professor added sericulture, being an agro-based cottage industry, can be located in the countryside. It is less-power intensive, making an ideal candidate for biotech in India.

''Since, the silkworm possess an enormous capacity to synthesize large quantities of proteins (silk fibre), one can exploit it as 'natural bioreacters' to produce biologically important molecules other than silk,'' he claimed.

Prof Gopinathan informed that spider silk, which produced toughest silk filament, was another species, that called for sustained research by scientists for application in textiles and medicine industries.

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