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Dr. Channapatna S. Prakash
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Dr. C. S. Prakash teaches biotechnology and plant biology courses, and oversees the research on food crops of importance to developing countries and training of scientists and students in plant biotechnology at Tuskegee University, Alabama, USA. He has also been actively involved in enhancing the societal awareness of food biotechnology issues around the world. His Internet website AgBioWorld has become an important portal disseminating information and promoting discussion on this subject among stakeholders such as scientists, policy makers, activists and journalists. He has earlier served on the USDA's Agricultural Biotechnology Advisory Committee for Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and on the advisory committee for the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Dr. Prakash has actively worked to promote biotechnology research and policy in developing countries of Asia and Africa through training of students and scholars, research collaboration, lectures and his website AfricaBiotech.com. He has been successful in impacting decision makers, the media and consumers in creating awareness of agbiotech issues especially on technology development and biosafety issues. He has been instrumental in catalyzing the scientific community in many countries to be more proactive in the biotechnology debate. |
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His outreach activities include writing commentaries, delivering public lectures, providing media interviews, and moderating a daily Internet discussion group and newsletter, 'AgBioView,' which is read by more than 5,000 experts in 65 countries. AgBioView is widely recognized as a premier news outlet on agbiotech issues because of its broad focus on technical, societal and ethical issues.
Dr. Prakash's contribution to agricultural biotechnology has been well recognized:
Dr. Prakash has a bachelor's degree in agriculture and a masters in genetics, and obtained his Ph.D. in forestry/genetics from the Australian National University, Canberra. His research interests include development and analysis of transgenic plants, gene expression, tissue culture and plant genomics. Dr. Prakash's group at TU led the development of transgenic sweetpotato plants, identification of DNA markers in peanut and the development of a genetic map of cultivated peanut.
A notable research achievement from his group is the development of crops with enhanced protein content by using genetic modification. He has received funding for his research from the United States Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Agency for International Development and UNESCO. Recently, he served as the principal investigator of a USAID funded project to promote biotechnology awareness in Africa and improve the biosafety infrastructure in this region. He has more than fifty scientific publications in refereed journals and has presented more than 100 papers. He teaches two courses in plant biotechnology and one in plant biology at TU.
Dr. Prakash is the founder of AgBioWorld Foundation, which aims to provide science-based information on agbiotech issues to various stakeholders across the world. A declaration on agbiotech on its website has received endorsements from over 3,500 scientists from across the world, including 25 Nobel Laureates such as Dr. Norman Borlaug , Dr. James Watson, Dr. Arthur Korenberg, Dr. Marshall Nirenberg, Dr. Peter Doherty, Dr. Paul Berg, Mr. Oscar Arias and Dr. John Boyer.
Dr. Prakash has spoken at dozens of institutions across the world on various continents. He has also met with policy makers, journalists, scientists and other stakeholders to provide information on scientific issues related to bioengineered crops. His speaking venues include the United Nations, Vatican, US Congress, World Food Prize event, Global Ministerial Meeting on AgBiotech and the World Agricultural Forum. He is an active writer and has written dozens of commentaries in national and international papers including the Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Atlanta Journal Constitution, San Diego Union Tribune, The Telegraph and Financial Express. Dr. Prakash's interviews and comments have appeared in various media, including Time, the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, BBC Radio, Science, Wall Street Journal, Technology Review, Focus (Germany), MSNBC.Com, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Village Voice, and several overseas newspapers and radio stations. He has also been interviewed by TV Stations in many countries including Spain, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Jamacia, England, Thailand and India.
Dr. Prakash serves on the scientific advisory board of the American Council on Science and Health (NY), BioScience Policy Institute (New Zealand), Norman Bolaug Institute of Plant Sciences (UK), Institute for Trade, Standards and Sustainable Development, Lifeboat Foundation and Policy Network (UK). He also serves on the editorial board of AgBiotechNet, AgBioForum, the Journal of New Seeds, Indian Journal of Biotechnology, Food Biotechnology, and the Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology.
C. S. Prakash, Ph.D.
Professor, Plant Molecular Genetics,
College of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Sciences,
Milbank Hall, Tuskegee University
Tuskegee, AL 36088.USA
prakash(at)tuskegee.edu
Phone (334) 727-8023
Cell (334) 444-7884
Fax (334) 727-8067
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