The number of people dying of cervical cancer in the world is now more than ever before, and health agencies should advise adolescent boys and girls to go in for proper vaccination to prevent them from contracting the disease, said Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen.
While delivering a lecture on prevention of cancers linked to infections at the Indian Genetics Congress organised by the department of genetic engineering at SRM University, Kattankulathur, on Wednesday, he said, in cervical cancer, prevention had caused a significant decrease in the number of infections.
In his address, M.S. Swaminathan, founder of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, said there are three major dimensions of hunger — calorie deprivation, protein deficiency and micronutrient deficiency.
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One way to overcome protein hunger is through a ‘pulses revolution,’ he said.
P. Sathyanarayanan, president of SRM University, called on the Centre to enhance funding for research and development in genetic engineering.
Trilochan Mohapatra, director, Central Rice Research Institute, Bhubaneswar, received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Swarup K. Parida and Amit Mitra of the National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, received the young genetics researchers’ award.
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Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen wants health agencies to advise youngsters to go for it