Richard J Roberts, who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovery of introns in eukaryotic DNA and the mechanism of gene-splicing in 1993 was in Bangalore on Friday to open a plenary session at the 9th Bangalore Bio 2009 conference.

Roberts indicated the huge potential of research in biotechnology.

He said, "Opt for biotech research if you want to be a Nobel laureate because it is still an unexplored field. Recession is the right time for this because there are no competitors. The early bird always gets the worm."

During his lecture, Roberts shared the experience of his own company New England Biolabs, which started as a small research firm in a basement and today is among the largest source for recombinant and native enzymes for DNA technology.

Roberts motivated for research in GM foods, bio-energy, stem cell research, synthetic biology and personalised medicine through his lecture.