KARACHI: Harry Potter’s disappearing cloak is no more a work of fantasy. Now there are materials available that can bend the rays of light and make an object disappear. This and quite a few of other interesting developments in the field of science were discussed by distinguished science laureate Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman in his lecture on the subject of ‘Knowledge as an engine for socioeconomic development’ organised by the faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi, at the arts auditorium on Thursday afternoon.

Dr Rahman said for the past few decades the importance of natural resources had diminished and knowledge had emerged as the key factor in development. He mentioned the death of physical distance as all countries were now connected (via the Internet). He touched upon the Triple Helix concept, the changing interplay of three factors — government policies, the role of research institutes and the private sector — which led to knowledge economy.

Dr Rahman said many countries (China, Singapore, Korea) had now realised the importance of high value technology. He said there was a direct link between quality higher education and the percentage of students opting for higher education. To back up his point he gave the example of one institution, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He said MIT graduates had founded 11,000 companies, employing 1.1 million people with annual sales of $2,000 billion.

On the role of governments, Dr Rahman said, of all the Islamic countries Malaysia exported 87 per cent of high technology. He said Singapore had a population of only five million with no natural resources, but since it invested in education and innovation its exports were worth $518 billion, whereas Pakistan’s was $23 billion. “It’s a wakeup call for us,” he warned, adding that knowledge was the key driver of socioeconomic development, something that leaders in developing countries did not realise.

“High technology is the name of the game,” he remarked. He said such was the pace of technological development that truth had become stranger than fiction, which was why innovation had become a daily necessity.

Giving snapshots of some of the amazing things science had been able to do, Dr Rahman first spoke on biotechnology/genomics. He said in the 1950s the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was announced — a long necklace with three million beads in it, a sequence in which molecules were arranged which determined an individual’s height, limits on intelligence, etc — he elucidated for the students who were in the lecture hall. He said in 2003 US president Bill Clinton announced the structuring of the entire human genome. He said the institution he works for, the Hussain Ebrahim Jamal Research Institute of Chemistry (HEJ), had state-of-the-art facility for genome sequencing carried out within a week. In the near future, he said, it could be done in 15 minutes. Further discussing genomics, he said today gene therapy was being used against breast cancer. Similarly, he said, malaria could be tackled by genetically modified mosquitoes. Obesity gene had also been identified, he said.

Dr Rahman said exciting developments had been made in understanding and reversing of the ageing process. The process, he said, could be slowed down. He said genomics was used for tailoring new plant species. He said now there was also a possibility of the blind seeing through their tongue. He mentioned an ‘electronic lollipop’ which would allow the blind to see with their tongue, partially restoring their eyesight. He said there were cyber beetles used by the US army which fitted with cameras, operated by CIA agents.

Shedding light on new materials, Dr Rahman said Harry Potter’s cloak which allowed him to disappear was a possibility. There were materials, he said, that could bend the rays of light and make an object disappear. There was a decent list of other materials that he gave, such as graphene (which was 200 times stronger than steel), 3D printed cars, e-textiles (in which pressing a button could change the colour of a dress from green to red), etc.

Shifting his focus on energy Dr Rahman spoke about a few things, including gravity bulbs, scramjet hypersonic aircraft and fuel-efficient electric cars. One interesting picture that he showed was of a man flying in the air with an engine tied to his back. He commented if you were stuck in (road) traffic, you could fly over it.

The last part of Dr Rahman’s talk was on Pakistan. He said there was an exciting beginning in Pakistan, where there was a considerable increase in development budget of science. He informed the audience about the time when he worked with Gen Pervez Musharraf and the achievements that he made in the field of science and technology, so much so that, he said, there was a time when an Indian newspaper published an article about Pakistan being a threat to Indian science. In the end, however, he said we lived in the darkness of ignorance, as Islamic countries hadn’t produced a single Nobel laureate for work done in their countries, whereas 90 faculty members of Cambridge University were Nobel laureates. After the lecture, the floor was opened for a question-and-answer session.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2016