Directions (1-5): Read the following passage and answer the following questions based on the given passage.
India is among the first countries to set up a specialized agency for the development of research and human resources in the biotechnology sector. More than three decades later, it is imperative to ask: has the biotechnology sector lived up to its promise? Or was it all faux optimism? More importantly, is the sector poised to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with, if not beat, the IT sector in creating jobs for the future? One needs to go beyond the traditional indicators such as the numbers of institutions formed, students and scientists, trained, and the number of patents filed to judge the sector’s performance, and its impact on the economy and society as a whole.
Modern biotechnological research is expensive. It requires a highly trained and skilled workforce and access to expensive instruments. So far, most of the high-quality research output has come from a handful of institutions with better scientific infrastructure. The rest, which forms the bulk of the research publications, is of mediocre quality. This is primarily due to a “publish or perish” culture that incentivizes numbers over quality. Over the years, the focus of research has slowly shifted from fundamental to applied research. Why has India not produced another Jagadish Chandra Bose or G.N. Ramachandran despite the biotechnology research budget growing several folds? The fruits of applied research will only come when we start investing in basic research without asking for quick returns. While continuing and increasing the share of funding in basic research, the government should encourage and incentivize the private sector to invest substantially in applied research. Compared to the developed economies (the United States), biotechnology research in India is mainly funded by the public exchequer. Unless the private sector starts supporting applied research and engages with academic institutions, the innovation in applied and translational biotechnology will be minimal.
Let us look at the creation of human resources and jobs in the biotechnology sector. In India, unlike the IT sector, a large pool of the English-speaking workforce, low wages of scientists (compared to the developed economies) and a sizeable institutional research base have not helped create more jobs in biotechnology. There may be several possible reasons. Biotechnology research often requires access to laboratories with high-end scientific infrastructure, the supply of expensive chemicals and reagents with minimum shipping time between the supplier and the user, and a disciplined work culture and documentation practice due to regulatory and intellectual property filing requirement. Additionally, unlike the products and solutions from the IT industry, biotechnology products and solutions often require ethical and regulatory clearance, making the process long, expensive and cumbersome.
As the nature of the work in the biotechnology sector is specialized, most jobs are filled with experienced and skilled scientists leaving the demand for young and inexperienced ones low. In a global marketplace, having a large number of young professionals hungry to work at meagre wage coupled with the need of large corporations in the West to get work done cheaper created some of the large IT companies in India.
Q1. As per the given passage, which of the following should not be the basis to check whether biotechnology has lived up to its promise or not?
(a) Number of institutions established and trained students and scientists
(b) Number of patents filed and its impact on economy as well as society.
(c) Status of researchers and people linked to this sector
(d) both (a) and (b)
(e) None of these
Q2. In what terms, the phrase ‘publish or perish’ is used in the given passage?
(a) A saying to describe pressure on institutions to succeed thus resulting into mediocre quality research publications in bulk.
(b) Formation of large infrastructure irrespective of the economic constraints.
(c) Shifting of focused research from fundamental to applied method.
(d) Growth of biotechnology budget for research in manifold ways.
(e) None of these
Q3. According to the author of the given passage, how applied research will become fruitful?
(a) Investment in right direction for a right amount of time.
(b) Investing on basic research without hoping for quick returns.
(c) Focusing on fundamental research instead of applied research.
(d) Both (b) and (c)
(e) None of these
Q4. Which of the following strategy should be employed to attract investment in applied research?
(a) Encouragement and incentivization of private sector along with constant and share of funding in the direction of basic research.
(b) Employing latest technologies and boosting research methods.
(c) Not expecting quick returns and investing blind-folded.
(d) Both (a) and (c)
(e) None of these.
Q5. How shrinking of innovation in applied and translational biotechnology can be minimized?
(a) Through funding bio-technology sector by the public exchequer.
(b) Private sector begins to support applied research and engaging with academic institutions at the same time.
(c) Enhancing public sector reach through manifold schemes.
(d) Both (a) and (b)
(e) None of these
Solutions:
S1. Ans. (d)
Sol. Referring to the introductory paragraph of the given passage, the right answer can be inferred from the lines, ‘One needs to go beyond the traditional indicators such as the numbers of institutions formed, students and scientists, trained, and the number of patents filed to judge the sector’s performance, and its impact on the economy and society as a whole.’
S2. Ans. (a)
Sol. Referring to the second paragraph of the given passage, the right answer can be inferred from the lines, ‘Modern biotechnological research is expensive. It requires a highly trained and skilled workforce and access to expensive instruments. So far, most of the high-quality research output has come from a handful of institutions with better scientific infrastructure. The rest, which forms the bulk of the research publications, is of mediocre quality. This is primarily due to a “publish or perish” culture that incentivizes numbers over quality.’ Basically, the literal meaning of ‘publish or perish’ is that ‘an alliterative saying describing the pressure to publish academic work in order to succeed in an academic career’
S3. Ans. (b)
Sol. Referring to the second paragraph of the given passage, the right answer can be inferred from the lines, ‘The fruits of applied research will only come when we start investing in basic research without asking for quick returns.’.
S4. Ans. (a)
Sol. Referring to the second paragraph of the given passage, the right answer can be inferred from the lines, ‘While continuing and increasing the share of funding in basic research, the government should encourage and incentivize the private sector to invest substantially in applied research.’
S5. Ans. (b)
Sol. Referring to the second paragraph of the given passage, the right answer can be inferred from the lines, ‘Unless the private sector starts supporting applied research and engages with academic institutions, the innovation in applied and translational biotechnology will be minimal.’
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