‘Kauravas from test tubes’ has science community in disbelief

Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Phagwara, January 5

A day after an ‘preposterous’ (as top scientists claim) address by the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University, G Nageshwar Rao, at the 106th Indian Science Congress here, an outraged scientific community is shaking its head in disbelief.

One of the US-based cancer-biologists--visiting the Congress with a history in genetics, said, “If I told my reproductive biology colleagues this back at the university, they would throw me out of the room.”

Rao had said yesterday that Kauravas were born due to stem cell and test tube technology and India also possessed knowledge about guided missiles thousands of years ago.

Dr Manoj Chakrabarti, general president of the Indian Science Congress, said, “What he (Rao) said is unfortunate. This shouldn’t have been said. We will enquire what he said and on what basis he made the claims. And definitely ensure he shouldn’t be invited to the Science Congress again. We only allow scientific statements that are backed by expertise.”

Chakrabarti said while top brains were being called for plenary sessions, Rao spoke at the Children’s Congress where they did not get abstracts (a summary of what the speaker will talk about). “So, we had no idea what he would say… that too in front of impressionable children. Such unfounded comments should not be highlighted.”

Prof Srikant Anant, cancer biologist at Kansas University, US, said, “We are shocked, this man’s statements are preposterous. IVF is merely 20 years old. I too have read scriptures but nowhere does Mahabharata mention what he said.”