Persisting infections could be linked to cancer

Around 21% of cancers worldwide caused by infections

Department of Genetic Engineering of SRM University recently organised ‘Indian Genetics Congress’. Prof. Harald zur Hausen delivered a special lecture at the event. Prof. Hausen is Nobel laureate of medicine in 2008 and presently is with the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, Germany.

“Around 21 per cent of global cancer incidence is caused by infections by parasites and bacteria and this could be substantially reduced by vaccination and one way of preventing cancer is by treating persisting infections,” Dr Hausen said. “Perinatally vaccinated children reveal a 70 per cent reduced risk of liver cancer. As far as cervical cancer is concerned, secondary prevention resulted in a decrease of this cancer by 70 per cent to 80 per cent”, the Nobel Laureate remarked.

The three day Congress has the participation of nearly 800 delegates from across India. Speaking on Genomics and the Zero Hunger Challenge, Prof. MS Swaminathan, the UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology at the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation told the distinguished gathering that there are three major dimensions of hunger—calorie deprivation, protein deficiency and micronutrient deficiency; and one of the ways of overcoming protein hunger is through the ‘Pulses Revolution’ with the ‘Pulses Panchayat’ being a central theme of the International Year of Pulses in 2016.

Expressing the hope that the Genetics Conference would come up with a Charter for the Government of India to formulate a policy for Genetic Engineering in India, the President of SRM University, Dr P Sathyanarayanan called on the Government of India to substantially enhance funding for Research and Development. Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Director, CRRI, Cuttack received the Lifetime Achievement Award with Dr Swarup Parida and Dr Amit Mitra of the National Institute of Plant Genome Research received the Young Genetics Researchers Award.