He was taking part in a discussion on behavioral ecology, at Manasagangotri in Mysore on Thursday. Sleep disorders, asthmatic attacks and blood pressure are the area where the study on biological clocks would be of use, he added.

On the applications of the science, Chandrashekar pointed out that extensive studies on the behaviour of bats has proved that the waking hours of these mammals are influenced by the biological blocks.

These might be influenced by external cues like the waking of other birds and others. ``There was a marked change in the behaviour of a lone bat in an alien place,'' he pointed out while presenting a paper. Referring to the movement of these mammals with the aid of sound waves, he said the same methods could be used for the aid ofblind.

The method, which works on the principle of registering the echo could be of great help for people who are blind. Stating that sonar detection of enemy by armed forces also follows the same principle, he said it could be improvised to match that of the bats, he added.

Later, addressing the gathering Prof R Gadagkar, of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, pointed out that Zoology was a neglected discipline. Stress has been laid on molecular biology and cellular biology and more students have taken up these discipline at the cost of zoology.

While molecular and cellular biology needs more funding, zoology is inexpensive, he said and added that there was very few Indian scientists working in this field.

Most of the scientists working in this discipline in India were from foreign countries and the students who take up studies in this field are forced to look at the works of foreign authors.

Referring to the importance of behavioral ecology, Gadagkar said the inputs fromresearch on behavioral science could be adopted for biological control. Pest management could be monitored by the study of biological agents and their behaviour in alien terrains.