Tech breakthroughs can’t beat nature: Padma Shri Ajai Sonkar

New Delhi

Even the very best of human-developed applied sciences can not match nature, says marine biologist and Padma Shri recipient Ajai Kumar Sonkar, whose experiments present that oysters cultivated in a scientifically superior, but managed setting struggled to outlive, in comparison with these grown in a pure one.

Two species of pearl oysters — Pinctada margaritifera and Pteria penguin — have been obtained from the Andaman islands. One group was cultivated in a managed, synthetic setting — developed utilizing scientific applied sciences — and the opposite in a pure sea setting, the marine biologist defined in an article printed within the May subject of the fisheries journal ‘INFOFISH International’.

Sonkar discovered that within the first group, simply over half survived, and a lot of the pearls harvested have been irregular, blemished, and structurally weak.

However, of these cultivated within the pure sea setting — wealthy with native microorganisms and useful bacteriophages — nearly all of the oysters survived, with practically three in each 5 of the 119 pearls harvested being of the very best high quality.

In a telephonic interview with PTI, Sonkar stated, “Even the best technology developed by humans cannot match the normal processes of nature.”

Contrasting the environments by which the oyster species have been grown, the biologist stated the managed setting featured exact biofiltration, a mechanical water circulate, together with regulated alkalinity and temperature, and a restricted contact with microbes.

Further, the oysters have been fed with microalgae cultivated in Walne medium — extensively used for rising marine algae, Sonkar stated.

The pure seawater, nevertheless, supplied a self-regulating, immune-boosting, and biologically clever ecosystem, comprising microbial variety, invisible phages, reside phytoplankton, and a refined biogeochemical stability, the 58-year-old stated.

The oysters additionally acquired repeatedly flowing unfiltered seawater drawn from pure depths.

Sonkar stated, “No laboratory, no simulation, however advanced, can replicate the holistic intelligence of nature,” Sonkar stated, describing the completely different outcomes from the experiments as a “deep revelation”.

He added, “Where we filtered, nature added diversity. Where we controlled, nature adapted. Where we sterilised everything, nature built immunity.”

The scientist was recognised with the civilian award ‘Padma Shri’ in March 2022 for his contributions to the sphere of aquaculture, particularly in creating pearl-making strategies utilizing tissue tradition.

Learnings from the experiments aren’t confined to pearl tradition alone — they problem the worldwide scientific strategy itself, Sonkar stated.

“(The discovery) forces us to reconsider how far we’ve drifted from nature, be it in soilless agriculture, cities disconnected from natural cues, or children raised in sanitised digital bubbles,” the biologist stated.

Sonkar graduated from Kakatiya University, Warangal, in 1990-91. He went on to amass information on-line throughout scientific fields, together with genetics, vitamin and most cancers, from Rice University and Harvard Medical School within the US, amongst others in Japan and The Netherlands.

About the experiment outcomes, Sonkar continued, “What my oysters showed is what we must now remember: Nature is not our assistant. It is our origin. It is our greatest engineer.”

The naturally current bacteriophages which the second group of oysters was uncovered to are the identical microscopic guardians that keep microbial stability, he stated.

“These phages do not cause disease. They are precise tools of life, invisible, yet indispensable,” he harassed.

“Despite being provided with the most scientifically advanced controlled environment, in the absence of natural challenge, diversity, and complexity, the first group of oysters could not fully develop,” Sonkar stated.

He hopes the research to not be seen as a mere technical success, however a “philosophical awakening” — one reminding us to revere the unrivaled knowledge of nature, which is at the moment’s most pressing scientific want.

READ MORE: 10 Muslim personalities who formed Indian movie business

“Because when nature is not restrained, it performs at its best — and it surpasses us all,” Sonkar stated.