NIIST head’s mission gets a Tata boost

Winning an award is a great honour for any scientist, especially when it comes with a cash prize that is the largest of its kind. However, Dr C Anandharamakrishnan, who recently won the Tata Transformation Prize worth 2 crore (20 million) rupees, views it differently.

“This money is not for personal use; it is intended for a project that aims to address a serious health issue – anaemia among children in India – and to combat a growing global problem: diabetes,” says the director of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) in Trivandrum. “It is an honour for me and NIIST, as it highlights the kind of work we undertake here. But more than that, it reinforces our focus on the project.”

With the award funds, Anandharamakrishnan hopes to achieve his mission within 18 months, developing a variety of rice that not only provides essential nutrients to those in need but also offers relief to diabetics due to its low glycaemic index (GI).

The other two scientists who won the Tata Award this year are Amartya Mukhopadhyay of IIT Bombay (Sustainability) and Raghavan Varadarajan of IISc, Bangalore (Healthcare).

The awards, jointly presented by Tata and the New York Academy of Sciences, highlighted the transformative potential of Anandharamakrishnan’s work. The announcement noted that his research could lead to “significant improvements in both nutrition and health conditions, with the potential to benefit not only India but also the 2 billion people worldwide who suffer from malnutrition.

Global Menace

India is currently grappling with a major public health crisis, as anaemia affects a staggering portion of its population. The condition impacts more than half of the country’s women and children and over a third of the male population. In response to this challenge, the Government of India introduced fortified rice into the public distribution system in 2009.

Dr Anandharamakrishnan, who began his academic journey with a BTech from Anna University in 1994, explains that fortified rice is not a new concept. Over the past several decades, more than fifty countries, including the United States, have successfully implemented rice fortification programmes.

“In India, our carb-oriented diet is not fully balanced, and we need to supplement nutrients externally. Anaemia is a major problem, with 60 percent of children suffering from it. That is unacceptable, and we must address it urgently,” he says.

While the government’s fortified rice scheme began by adding iron to combat anaemia, Anandharamakrishnan’s research has expanded its scope by incorporating additional nutrients and transforming it into a low GI product. The reconstituted rice is produced using powder made from broken rice – a byproduct of the grain milling process that is treated as waste.

Anandharamakrishnan’s research team employs advanced food technology, such as a three-fluid nozzle spray drying process (one of his own innovations), to efficiently encapsulate and deliver nutrients through the reconstituted rice.

Tackling Diabetes

Addressing the rising cases of diabetes also became a focus of his work. Anandharamakrishnan, the NIIST Trivandrum chief, notes that the glycaemic index of regular rice ranges from 60 to 80 – almost as high as sugarcane, which is around 70 to 75.

“In the southern part of India, the diabetes ratio is approximately one in ten, largely due to high rice consumption. Blood sugar levels spike after eating rice, so our aim was to bring the glycaemic index down to at least 60-65,” he explains.

To validate their innovations, the Coimbatore-native developed a sophisticated artificial human digestive system, considered Asia’s first. This gastrointestinal system enables the prediction of the glycaemic index (GI) of different rice formulations and allows researchers to study how combinations with various food items, such as meat, lentils, or curd, affect glucose release.

Anandharamakrishnan published details of his innovation in research journals, hoping that food technologists requiring such analyses would adopt the freely available model, given that only a few companies worldwide provide similar services. Although his work was recognised globally – he was listed among the world’s leading food technology scientists in 2020 by a Dutch academic publisher and Stanford University – it failed to attract the expected interest.

Despite the potential for the innovative tool developed at NIIST to be applied in fields such as medical research and pharmaceuticals, there were very few enquiries about it.

This experience has shifted Anandharamakrishnan’s perspective on such innovations. NIIST now plans to develop a commercial version of his new innovation, which is currently in progress – an entire food digestion process that uses AI to analyse the results.

Anandharamakrishnan believes that making the model market-ready and partnering with a private company might be the best approach. “They can then develop it as a product and handle all the marketing. More people will likely use it once it’s available as a tool even if they have to pay for it,” he says.

Wasted Effort

The inability of research institutes to enter the commercial market is a significant obstacle, often depriving society of much-needed solutions. A good example of this is the challenge of medical waste disposal.

Recently, Kerala authorities were left red-faced when it was discovered that medical waste from the state had been illegally dumped in landfills in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. As per regulations, such toxic waste should be incinerated at designated centres.

At a time when even incineration is considered unscientific, authorities have yet to adopt the technology developed by NIIST, which allows for the safe disposal of medical waste directly at hospitals.

NIIST transferred the technology to a private company last year, but the process of obtaining necessary clearances from regulatory bodies has been slow, leaving incineration as the only available method for medical waste disposal.

Anandharamakrishnan reveals that following the medical waste scandal, a meeting of top health officials in New Delhi decided to deploy NIIST’s technology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the capital to validate the method.

Red Tape Hurdles

He acknowledges that completely replacing incinerators will be a time-consuming process due to their widespread use in medical waste disposal. However, he is optimistic that the adoption of NIIST’s technology will progress more swiftly now, and that scientists will no longer have to chase bureaucratic approvals.

For scientists like Anandharamakrishnan, time is precious, as his administrative duties as the head of NIIST, alongside his ongoing research, can be a tricky balancing act. Yet, the scientist, who was awarded the Rashtriya Vigyan Shri Puraskar in August 2024, relishes the challenge and believes his record will show that his projects thrived after he assumed the top position.

“I believe that as the head of NIIST, I must set an example for my fellow scientists by undertaking more research projects. It will motivate others, which is why I’ve set the bar a bit higher for myself.”

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