| Tuesday, August 12, 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| With this, structural molecular biology as a discipline of research took firm roots in the country. And leading scientists in the country say that this remarkable development was also the beginning of modern biotechnology in India. After spending nearly 20 years in Chennai, Prof Ramachandran moved to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and set up the Molecular Biophysics Unit. India’s biotechnology sector has not looked back since then. From Chennai and Bangalore, biotechnology activities have moved to many corners of the country. Now the activities are fairly widespread. The North, South and the Western regions of the country have seen the rise of varied biotech infrastructure— companies, educational insitutions, research centers, repositories of national biotech wealth and of course policy makers who chart the growth of this industry.West Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Bhavnagar Craving for the Biotech Edge After missing the information technology train in the 1990s, Gujarat is aiming for a slot in the biotech segment, banking on its strengths in chemicals, pharmaceuticals and dairying. The state government has identified healthcare and pharmaceuticals, agricultural biotechnology, industrial enzymes, bioinformatics, contract research, marine and environmental biotechnology as the thrust areas in biotechnology. Arvind Kushwah, research executive, Indus Biotheraputics, a leading company in Ahmedabad said, "Looking at the opportunity and available resources in the state we see good growth for biotechnology. Although the industry in the state is still in a nascent stage, it will pick up as many institutions are offering biotechnology courses. The government is also considering setting up of Biotech Park." Added Rajesh Kishore, secretary, department of science and technology, government of Gujarat, " We are still working on the policy. Once it is ready other things will follow." The government has appointed a committee to prepare a draft biotech policy which the industry is interested in and is expected to place its report before the industry in a couple of months for its suggestion and comments. Institutional support Besides the leading universities in the state, the CSIR-run Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) in Bhavnagar is the anchor for the biotech research activities in Gujarat. The state is keen to develop expertise in marine biotechnology in a big way with CSMCRI’s help. The institute, established in 1954 , is currently working on R & D activities focusing on areas such as inorganic chemicals, catalysis and new materials, membrane science and separation technology and biosalinity. Kishore informed BioSpectrum that, "the government is discussing with CSMCRI for setting up a center of excellence in marine biotechnology at the institute. The government is also eager to give matching grant for setting up the center." Besides universities like Gujarat Agricultural University, MS University, Sardar Patel University and Saurashtra University are also providing the basic scientific knowledge in biotechnology to the student community. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the world’s largest dairy development program, based in Anand near Vadodara, is carrying out extensive research and development activities in biotechnology. It aims to develop formulations and technologies useful for improving the productivity of milch animals. In 1979, the Dairy Board set up an animal disease diagnostic laboratory at Anand to undertake scientific research activities. NDDB has expanded its research activities to include animal genetics, animal health and animal nutrition for supporting its productivity enhancement program for dairy cooperatives. NDDB also offers consultancy services and training programs to breeding organizations, cattle feed plants, disease diagnostic laboratories, vaccine manufacturing units as well as to national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations. Training is offered in the areas of cytogenetics, molecular genetics, embryo transfer, animal feed formulations, clinical diagnosis, control of parasitic diseases and other related areas of biotechnology. Industry leaders Gujarat is home to many leading drug companies like Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Cipla, Zydus Cadila, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Torrent Biotech, Sarabhai -Piramal, Maps India, Gujarat Life Sciences, Gujarat State Fertilizers Cooperation, Sun Agri and Gujarat Narmada Fertilizer Corporation to name a few. Most of these companies have set up biotechnology divisions to develop biopharma drugs. These companies are based in and around Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Sarabhai Piramal Pharmaceuticals Private Ltd., a joint venture between Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Ltd and Nicholas Piramal India Ltd has been gathering rapid momentum within a short span of time. The focus of this venture is the search for newer molecules. Gujarat Life Sciences Pvt Ltd (GLS), a company based at Vadodara is also actively involved in biotechnology. Its focus is on agricultural and environmental biotechnology, biofertilizers, biocomposting, effluent treatment using bio-towers technology. It has entered into a joint association with the Gujarat Agriculture University whereby the research work carried out at the university will be transferred to GLS for development and subsequent commercialization. Maps is another key biotechnology company in Gujarat. From its humble beginning in 1975, it has become a respected and dynamic pillar of the enzyme industry. Today it is one of the Top 1000 national private business groups in India. It supplies high-quality industrial enzymes to a profuse variety of industries in India and abroad. Mumbai-Pune Aiming for the Bio-Future The nation’s commercial hub is aiming to consolidate its position in the ‘bio-future’ with emphasis on biotechnology in a big way. The state derives its confidence to be a leader in biotechnology based on its diverse strengths. These strengths include its human resource, the excellence of its private and public institutions, the infrastructure and a conducive business environment as well as the inherent strength of its industry. The state’s history of biotechnology engagement goes back to the 19th century when The Haffkine Institute was set up in 1899 in Mumbai. In 2003, the state has 4,100 registered pharmaceutical manufacturers out of the total of 20,053 in India and contributes about 40 percent of the sector’s total turn over. Many international companies have shown their preference to the state. The list includes GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott, Aventis, Knoll. India’s top biotech venture capital company, ICICI Ventures is also based in Mumbai. Major Indian companies such as Reliance Life Sciences, Wockhardt, Cipla, Lupin, Nicholas Piramal, SIRO Clinpharm are also marching forward into the frontline areas of biotechnology such as stem cells, new drug discovery, clinical trails, novel technologies and recombinant biotechnology. Wockhardt has entered biopharmaceuticals. Whereas Lupin and Nicholas Piramal are moving in a major way in innovative drug research, Reliance Life Sciences has made forays into stem cell research. SIRO Clinpharm has taken up clinical trial studies for multinational clients. Modern biomedical research requires a chain of hospitals and clinics ot establish clinical research organizations. Some of the best hospitals in India are located in Maharashtra, giving that extra support and impetus for conducting clinical trials of global standards. "Maharashtra is the first state to look at the clinical trials. The state has vast infrastructure facility in public health sector with over 1.2 lakh patients visiting the civil hospitals on daily basis. We are working with the health department and pharmaceutical companies to take up clinical trials in a big way," said Vishwas S Dhumal, principal secretary, industries, Government of Maharashtra. The state has an excellent intellectual infrastructure. Through nearly 1000 institutions, it produces around 163,000 trained technical personnel each year. The state has already set up specialized parks for different sections including IT and is working on to set up BT parks at Hinjawadi near Pune and Jalna near Aurangabad. The bio-industrial enterprises cannot sustain themselves unless they are backed up by a highly trained and skilled human resource. Some of the centers of excellence in India that are present in Maharashtra do precisely that. These include the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Indian Institute of Technology, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, University Department of Chemical Technology of Mumbai University, Cancer Research Institute and Kelkar’s Education Trust’s Scientific Research Center . Pune In 1954, Pune created a landmark in biotechnology by becoming the first Indian city to have a company producing penicillin, the Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. The plant was then the largest producer of penicillin in Asia. The vaccines produced by Serum Institute of India Ltd, the foremost and the largest manufacturer of vaccines, sera and biologicals in India, reach every one out of four children in the world. The Venkateshwara Hatcheries group is the largest producer of poultry vaccines in India. Apart from these, Pune has also housed firms like Alfa Laval India, Praj Industries, SciNova Informatics and Persistent Systems which are major suppliers to the biotechnology industry.
The state government has signed up with Kolkata-based The Chatterjee Group to develop, promote and market the Hinjawadi pharma biotech park, Pune. The group will focus on facilities required for start-ups and companies which plan to manufacturing efficiencies of their product lines. Emcure has already commenced the formulation process while Shreya Life Sciences has taken up land at the park. "We want to leverage on IT potential with the BT to create platform for bioinformatics sector at Pune. Like biopharma the scope and opportunity for bioinformatics is also huge," said Dhumal. Tata Consultancy Services, which has a unit in IT park in Pune is strongly looking at setting up their bioinformatics section in the state. Aditya P Sethi, senior manager, marketing, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation informed that other IT majors that have presence in Pune IT park like Infosys and Wipro are also considering setting up of bioinformatics units at BT park in Pune. To provide support and to meet the industry needs the government has established University of Pune as the center of excellence in biotechnology. Other life science and biotechnology institutes which are based in Pune, include the National Center for Cell Science, National Institute of Virology, National Chemical Laboratory, National Aids Research Institute, Agharkar Research Institute, Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Institute of Environment Education & Research and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Information Technology & Biotechnology, Vasant Dada Sugar Institute and University of Pune. The Animal Diseases Investigations Laboratory, Pune involved in diagnosis and research of animal diseases, especially in four states of the western region of the country, has been recognized as a reference laboratory by the central government . New forward-looking initiatives in providing specialized education in biotechnology, such as by the Vidya Pratisthan’s School in biotechnology, have already begun to emerge. India’s seed capital - Aurangabad Bio-agriculture has strengthened its roots in the state through one of the largest seed producing companies, Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco) that produces and markets a broad range of quality seeds developed with biotechnology. Currently, it is engaged in conducting field trials of transgenic seeds in collaboration with a multinational company, Monsanto. "We see great scope in agri biotechnology, as Maharashtra is known for its horticulture sector. To promote agri biotechnology at Jalna in Aurangabad - the seed capital of India - we have appointed Mahyco, the first company to launch Bt cotton in India," added Dhumal. Mahyco is talking to Indian as well as foreign agriculture universities to up grade the knowledge and research activities in the state and to get the right support the industry is looking at in the areas of bio fertilizer, bio pesticides, veterinary health and herbicides. "In the Jalna-Aurangabad belt companies like Syngenta, Seminis, Monsanto, Mahendra Hybrid Seeds, Nath Seeds and Ajeet Seeds Ltd have already set up their units in bioagricutlure sector," informed Sethi. Components of biotechnology in the form of tissue culture, bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides have already gained popularity in the state. As many as 21 tissue culture laboratories have been set up in the Maharashtra. The state’s agriculture universities have made considerable headway in the field. The development of molecular techniques has been initiated. Various research projects are in progress and biotechnology forms a part of the curriculum at all levels of study in state agriculture universities. Chhattisgarh - The Genome State The three-year-old Chhattisgharh state in central India is positioning itself as the "Genome State." The state hopes to contribute five percent of the national biotech output by 2012 and is concentrating on sectors such as bioagriculture, bioinformatics, health care including diagnostics, therapeutics and pharmacogenomics, industrial and environmental biotechnology. A Rs 30-crore Biotechnology Development Fund is being set up to assist the emerging industry. Based in the state capital of Raipur, CHIPS (the Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society) is the state’s biotech implementation agency. "Biotechnology offers hope for farmers, who are perpetually wrestling with the challenge to reduce input costs, minimize crop failure and eliminate damage to health and environment. BT offers promise of greater yields, newer vaccines, and several other benefits intimate to livelihoods. Through bio-remedies we can secure our pristine heritage, one of the richest and least spoilt biospheres in the world, while ensuring industrial growth. The age-old wisdom of our traditional healing and other knowledge systems and nutritional habits can reach a larger number of our people more effectively, said the Chief Minister Ajit Jogi. Chhattisgarh, particularly the Bastar region, is one of the three richest biospheres in India. The state is endowed with about 22 varied forest types. Chhattisgarh state is extremely rich in aromatic plants used in herbal medicine. The state has thousands of square kilometers of virgin biosphere reserves where primordial tribes flourish. The local communities have established traditional knowledge systems of self-healing, nutrition and bio-produce based on bio-wealth. CHIPS is working on setting up a network of Bio Parks in Chhattisgarh. leveraging on the natural resource endowments. Additional CEO of CHIPS, Amit Kumar said, "High quality infrastructure would be provided at competitive rates along with relevant integrated services to biotech manufacturing units in biotech parks. Joint venture and wholly private initiatives in investments are welcome in Chhattisgarh. Several public good services such as databases on human resources availability, networking with academic centres of research and industry, one-stop services would be provided by the government." The state is also planning to prepare a database of its entire biodiversity and bio-practices in all the 20,000 odd villages in 2003 and turn it into a GIS-supported database and Decision Support System. It also plans to set up Centers of Excellence in Biotechnology at all the universities.South Hyderabad- The Genome Valley The pharma capital of South India, Hyderabad, has extended its presence strongly into biotechnology in recent years. The city is leveraging its inherent strengths in the pharma and thanks to the presence of some of the country’s leading biotechnology research centers, Hyderabad is all set to become the Genome Valley of the country. In fact, in the suburbs of Hyderabad, India’s first exclusive Genome Valley, housing leading biotechnology companies, has come up. Hyderabad has yet another feather in its cap. The nation’s first exclusive biotech venture fund ( APIDC-VCL) with an initial corpus of Rs 40 crore has been launched in May 2003 by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation. "The big picture of biotechnology is emerging. Things are falling into place now," said Andhra Pradesh government’s secretary, industry, B P Acharya. Hyderabad’s core strength is the presence of some of the nation’s top pharmaceutical companies like Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Gland Pharma and Natco Pharma. The country’s top two hepatitis B vaccine makers, Shantha Biotechnics and Bharat Biotech were founded in the city in the late 1990s. Ocimum Biosolutions, Biogenus, Medgene Biotech, Microbax, Disha Biotech, Indian Immunologicals, Transgene Bioteck are among the other fast growing biotech companies which have started operations in the state capital in recent years. Hyderabad boasts of some of the country’s top biotech research centers. These are the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) and Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), both part of the CSIR chain of laboratories. The School of Life Science of the University of Hyderabad is another globally known institution which is working in cutting edge areas of genetics. L V Prasad Eye Research Institute and the Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics are acclaimed research centers in the city. Apollo Hospitals is taking up clinical trials of drugs in a big way. The other leading research institutions in Hyderabad are the Bhagwan Mahavir Medical Research Center, Center for Liver Research and Diagnostics,
Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, department of microbiology of Osmania University, Institute of Genetics. The southern chapter of the All India Biotech Association is also based in Hyderabad. ICICI Knowledge Park in the Genome Valley is a pride of Hyderabad and the center piece of the Genome Valley. The Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park is also coming up next to it and is attracting a large number of biotech companies. A Rs 30-crore incubator with all the infrastructure facilities and sophisticated instruments required for biotech research will also come up in the park. To facilitate cutting edge research, the Indian Council of Medical Research is setting up an Animal Test Facility as part of the National Bio Resources Research Institute. " It will be the city’s USP for biotech companies," added Acharya. Chennai - The Bio Valley Chennai has been an early adopter of biotechnology. Chennai’s biotech showpiece, the Rs 62.5 crore Ticel Bio Park Limited, in collaboration with Cornell University, was inaugurated last April. Its wet labs are equipped with the latest equipment to facilitate top quality research in fermentation & microbiology, molecular biology, plant tissue culture, downstream processing and analysis. Besides the park will also feature - Customized Lab Facility, Greenhouse Facility and Training Center. The Park is expected to become operational by January 2004. While inaugurating the Ticel (TIDCO Center for Life Sciences) park, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said that her Government would soon set up a Marine Biotechnology Park at Mamallapuram with an investment of Rs 50 crore, to offer unique incubating facilities for commercial exploitation in pharmaceuticals, food supplements and cosmetics. The Golden Jublee Biotech Park for Women Society set up on the outskirts of Chennai is the first Park in India exclusively for women entrepreneurs in biotechnology. The park, which was commercialized in May 2001 offers centralized support services to a series of biotechnology, based activities by women. "The biotech enterprises are more in the lower end of the
spectrum with project sizes from a few lakh to a couple of crore. We are enterprises in the area of cosmetics, bio fertilizers, herbal spices, aqua ornamentals, food research etc. Our future plan includes a bio-informatics center and incubation center," said Dr Sucharita Kumar, CEO, Biotech Park for Women. Promoted by the DBT and the state government,the technical support is being extended by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. Besides the Marine Biotechnology Park, the state plans to start centers like Medicinal Plants Biotechnology Park and the Bioinformatics and Genomics Centre (BGC). MSSRF- the magnet for biotech Chennai can boast of yet another organization - MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, which was established at a time when human kind started facing serious ecological and social problems. The foundation was started by world famous geneticist M S Swaminathan. MSSRF has accorded the highest priority to the application of frontier technologies for enhancing food and livelihood security of the coastal farming and fishing communities. The biotechnology program at the MSSRF focuses on conservation, sustainable utilization and enhancement of the vital bio-resources in the coastal region. MSSRF was the first to propose the concept that mangroves can be invaluable donors of breeding crop genotypes adapted to coastal salinity through recombinant DNA technology. Efforts for identification of unique genes in mangroves have also been undertaken using large-scale genome sequencing and differential expression analysis. As many as 2000 partial gene sequences from mangroves have been deposited in worldwide databases. The Center for Biotechnology (CBT) at Anna University, established in 1987 is a pride of Tamil Nadu by being the first of its kind institutes being set up in India. The B-Tech(Industrial Biotechnology) program evolved in 1991 is again the first of its kind in India. The R&D facility established here is to the tune of Rs 15 crore and has high-end infrastructure to cater to the industrial needs, said Prof Arun Balakrishnan, Director - Center for Biotechnology, Anna University. The center has facilities to conduct research in bioprocess technology, mMolecular biology, cell biology and immunology."In future we plan to convert CBT into a Contract Research Organization (CRO) with GMP for product development. Further we intend to span its collaborative activities with industry to convert basic research into technology and attract more and more young entrepreneur’s to use facility for business incubation," said Balakrishnan. The deparment of biotechnology at Madurai Kamaraj Univeristy in the southern city of Madurai is a nationally acclaimed research centers. It is among the handful of universities which has been running an M.Tech( biotech) program for over a decade. The bioinformatics candidates from this institution are lapped by the industry in a big way. CLRI (Central Leather Research Institute), run by the CSIR, has been in the forefront in the development of technologies for leather sector. Headquartered in Chennai, CLRI caters to the leather industry in the pre-tanning and post-tanning areas. "In biotechnology, research work is carried out on the use of microbial enzyme technology. In the leather industry, the major problem is caused because of the use of sodium sulphide and lime in the pre-tanning operations. Sodium sulphide is highly toxic and causes major problem to workers in this industry. Use of slime creates sludge problem. To obviate these problems efforts are underway to develop enzymatic products from microbes to fully replace sodium sulphide and lime," said Dr R Puvanakrishnan, deputy director & head, department of Biotechnology, CLRI. There is a bunch of private players in Tamil Nadu who too are tapping the bio-resources of the State. Shantha Marine has notched up a turnover of Rs 6 crore in its first year of operations and on the basis of its current orders "and we hope to achieve around Rs 15 crore during the current year. "With our planned foray into the international markets this is expected to double," said KO Isaac, MD, Shantha Marine Biotech. Working with microbial metabolites sourced from the oceans is its focus area. This involves constantly isolating new strains from various coastal environments, coral reefs, mangroves and the ocean floor in pursuit of better producers of targeted metabolites. "Considering that these strains are wild, these need to be changed so that culture, growth and metabolite characteristics conform to requirements of a commercial scale production cycle and feasibility. This is much like attempting to start a dairy farm with a wild cow," added Isaac. In addition, the company also works with the concept of creating ‘biological reactors’ with its organisms whereby genetic material for the production of an altogether new ‘metabolite’ is inserted into the organisms so that it can produce the targeted metabolite at a significantly cheaper cost. Amrutanjan, based out of Chennai is making a strong impact in the biotechnology space. In biotechnology the company is focusing in the cloning and expression of recombinant therapeutic protein. As part of the expansion into biotech research, it is constructing a biotech R&D unit. The unit will have a facility for protein downstream processing, work related to molecular biology, tissue culture, mammalian cell culture etc. UK-based Amersham Biosciences, a world leader in developing systems and solutions for disease research, drug discovery, drug development, and drug manufacture has its Indian head office in Chennai. Similarly there are players like EID Parry, JK Pharmachem, Mediclone Biotech Ltd, Malladi Research Center, SPIC, Brainwave, Eppendorf, Micro Devices Metrohm, to name a few , making a mark in biotechnology. Nisha Kurien (CNS) Bangalore - The Biotech-friendly City The nation’s largest bio-cluster is located in Bangalore, the Silicon City. With nearly 80 companies and 8,000 biotechnology professionals, the Garden City is one of the leaders n biotech. The city is the home to the country’s largest biotech company, Biocon, several research centers run by multinational companies and some of the country’s top biotech research institutions.
The industry has been attracted to the city mainly due to the availability of talented human resources. Over 32,000 students are pursuing biotech related courses in over 400 colleges affiliated to Bangalore University. The other magnets are the presence of the Indian Institute of Science ( IISc), one of the most prestigious research centers in the country. The National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS) of the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was set up in 1991 in the Garden City. And it is yet another attraction for biotech professionals. Two other research centers, the University of Agricultural Sciences and the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research are home to some of the country’s leading biotech researchers. Other institutions like the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Center for Human Genetics, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education and the Central Food Technology Research Institute in Mysore ( 130 km from Bangalore) contribute a lot to the city’s biotech profile AstraZeneca’s $ 40 million ( Rs 185-crore) research center based in the city has the mandate to conduct research on cutting edge areas in biotechnology, especially in the health sector. The world’s second largest seed company, Monsanto’s research center in India is based in the IISc campus. So is the research center of another top seed company, Nunhems Seeds, which is developing a number of transgenic vegetable seeds. After Biocon, which was set up in 1979, a large number of biotech companies have come up in the city, especially in the last five years. The leading organizations are: Gangagen, Strand Genomics, Bigtec, Kshema , CDC, Linux, Molecular Connections, Avesthagen, Metahelix, Advanta, Syngene, Aurigene, Genotypic Technology, Bangalore Genei, Animal Biotech, Lotus Labs, Millipore, Wipro Life Sciences, ClinTec. Since 2001, the state’s Vision Group on Biotechnology has organized an annual event , Bangalore Bio 2003, which is currently the nation’s largest biotechnology show. A biotechnology park is coming up in the city adjoining the Electronics City. Kerala - The Herbal Valley 1The God’s Own Country, buoyed by the global attention as a tourist hot spot, is making a splash into the biotech arena on the back of its strengths in the traditional medicine system Ayurveda and its rich biodiversity. Kerala is one of the 12 designated global biodiversity hotspots. The tropical climate is conducive for the proliferation of a wide spectrum of bio-resources. Over 700 species of flora and fauna can be found per sq km, and a wide variety of aquatic species can be found in the State’s territorial waters. The state is the clear leader in traditional Ayurvedic medicine and in the application of medicinal and aromatic plants/ spices. Institutions such as the Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, in addition to several other venerable institutions, represent a unique competitive advantage to Kerala in terms of the repository of knowledge, clinical practice, manufacturing practice and presence of a distributed supply chain mechanism for inputs as well as outputs relating to the medicinal plants sector. The largest number of training institutions for Ayurveda, the largest number of Ayurvedic doctors amongst states, the largest number of Ayurvedic clinics/hospitals, etc. are in Kerala An Agricultural Export Zone focussed exclusively on the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants is proposed to be created around 7 districts of central Kerala. A Herbal Biovalley has been notified extending between the Silent Valley Bio-reserve and Wayanad Hill Range. Some 54 percent of the world’s volume of spice exports comes from India and the majority share is from Kerala. In addition, premier research institutions such as the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI), Regional Research Laboratory (RRL), Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Indian Institute of Spice Research (IISR) are involved in cutting edge areas of medical and agro-based biotechnology research. Further, premier institutions such as the Central Marine Fisheries Institute (CMFRI) and Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) are premier national institutes that shall support marine BT based industry. Academic institutions like Kerala Agricultural University, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Calicut University bring out trained and specialized manpower in the areas of agriculture, medicine and biotechnology. The state has also increased the number of professional colleges and allowed private participation in professional education. Companies like Synthetic Chemicals, Marico and Arjun Extract, Nagarjuna Extracts, etc are some of the leading names in the biotech sector. The annual turnover of the Ayurveda clinics are estimated in the region of Rs 500 crore. The spices exports from the state is around Rs 600 crore.
Kerala has the highest ratio of Ph.Ds to total population of the region, in the entire world, as well as the highest density of S&T personnel in the country. The Future "Kerala is positioning itself for leadership in the phytopharmaceutical space, as well as the functional foods, functional supplements space," informed Rajiv Vasudevan, Officer on Special Duty for biotechnology in the state government. The state is devising a long term plan that focuses on creating a unique enabling environment for BT industry in the areas of offshore/contract research and offshore/contract manufacture of synthetic drugs as well biopharmaceuticals. This is predicated upon the quality of its knowledge workers, scientists, as well as general population. Vasudevan said an ‘Office for Technology Transfer’ has been set up to facilitate and promote industry-research institution collaboration. Further, a unique incubator-led strategy is expected to be implemented within the next two months to allow biotech companies to have a minimum cost of entry and thereby minimise their risk. The incubator will proovide technical consultancy, technology incubation as well as business incubation services. Separate incubators are envisaged for the phytopharma space as well as that for the mainstream biotechnology space.
This industry is growing in the same manner as that of its counterparts in other parts of the world. Scientific laboratories have concentrated on tackling the fundamental questions and develop applications, entrepreneurs taking over at this stage and take these products and services to the commercialization stage with government support and funds from private and corporate investors. And most of these developments have taken place in clusters with one or two leading institutions acting as the core. In the US, where the biotech biotech industry is the most advanced in the world, bulk of the activities take place in seven clusters. In the last two decades, biotech industry has taken firm roots in at least 17 other clusters worldwide. The first global listing of global bio clusters does not include the efforts in India as the size has yet to reach a critical mass. Where is the action in biotechnology in India? A few hundred research centers and neary 200 companies form the core of the biotech segment in India. BioSpectrum has compiled a list of India’s leading bio clusters. There are 10 clusters where India’s biotechnology activities are concentrated. Which are they? Read on. North National Capital Region The National Capital Region is a 1,000-sq.km territory comprising the Capital city of New Delhi, the industrial suburbs of Gurgaon in the southwest in the state of Haryana, the NOIDA region in the south east in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in the Ministry of Science and Technology is the center of the biotech universe not only in the North but the whole country as it formulates the policies and strategies for the development of this sector. The Rajiv Gandhi government set up DBT in 1986 as the world’s first government ministry dedicated exclusively to the biotechnology sector. DBT channelizes the funds, provides scientific inputs for poicy formulations, handles some of the key regulatory agencies in the sector and interacts with the government agencies abroad.
New Delhi is also home to four other key government departments—the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment and Forests—which are involved closely with the development of biotechnology. Two other important government agencies—the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) which runs a chain of 39 laboratories out of which 12 are dominant players in biotech and the Indian Council of Agricutlural Research (ICAR) with its 91 laboratories out of which at least 20 do top end research in biotech, are also headquartered in the Capital. New Delhi is also home to a large number of national and international research centers. At the top of the heap is the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biology (ICGEB). This UN funded institution has major research activities in genetics based out of New Delhi. ICGEB has another wing in Trieste, Italy. It was set up in 1995 and is supported with funds by 26 countries. An Indian version of ICGEB is the Institute of Genetics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), a laboratory under the CSIR . It is also located in North Delhi adjoining the Delhi University campus along with ICGEB. The National Institute of Immunology (NII) funded by the DBT and set up in 1987 in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in South West Delhi is another top research center. The JNU also conducts research on developing genetically modified (GM) food products and is a major teaching center for biotechnology. Besides, JNU coordinates the national entrance examination to select students for post graduate programs in biotechnology in nearly two dozen top institutions in the country. Supported by DBT, this rigorous selction process is similar to that of the one conducted to enrol students for the graduate engineering programs in the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The National Research Center DNA Finger Printing is the latest research center in the Capital region. BioAgriculture research activities are also concentrated in the Capital. India’s premier farm research center, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), is located in the heart of Central Delhi. IARI’s research teams are developing at least half-a-dozen GM food products and is also the home of some of the nation’s top agriculture experts. IARI was shifted to New Delhi from Pusa in Bihar in the 1920s. The National Bureau of Plant Genetics Resources (NBPGR) on the IARI campus is the home to the germplasm collections of all the crop varieties in India and abroad. In the 1990s, the National Research Center of Plant Biology under ICAR was set up the Capital. Business too blooms Of course, NCR is not just dominated by the government sector. Nearly 50 biotech companies operate in the NCR. The leader is the global giant The first biotech industry association, the All India Biotech Association (AIBA) operates out of New Delhi. Two leading industry associations, the Confederation of India Industry (CII) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), based in the Capital , have been promoting biotech in a big way in the last five years. CII has started ot organize an annul biotech show and ASSOCHAM has been organizing a Biotechnology Millennium Summit for three years. Both the organizations have been taking up the problems of the biotech industry strongly with the government. The Noida region is being developed as a "biotechnology corridor" by the Uttar Pradesh government. A large number of bioinformatics companies have started operations in this region. Many of these, like the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Bioinformatics Institute of India etc are also offering bioinformatics courses to hundreds of students every year. Uttaranchal The Biotech Valley? The picturesque Uttaranchal nestling in the lap of Himalayas in developing as the Biotech Valley. The 27th state of India created in 2000 is banking on its rich diversity of flora and fauna, rare species of plants and animals and other natural resources to spur the biotechnology industry. The state has engaged its leading research institution, the G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Rabo India Finance and the Infrastructure Development Finance Company to chalk out a biotech strategy. There are also plans to set up an Institute of Biotechnology in the state.
Right now the G B Pant University in Pantnagar is the fulcrum of Uttaranchal’s biotech activities. As the nation’s first full fledged agriculture university, it has invested heavily in research in areas like microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, etc, since it’s inception. These efforts have made significant strides in plant breeding, plant pathology, horticulture, process engineering and food technology. Currently, the university is working on various projects in biotechnology in the areas of crop biotechnology, biological control, biofertilizers, process engineering, funded by the DBT besides its own efforts in the areas of vaccine development, immunodiagnostics, embryo transfer technology and plant tissue culture. The Bioinformatics Center set up recently in the university has fulfilled the long-standing need to improve the communication facility in this remote area. It facilitates access to relevant biotechnology information by the scientific community, researchers and students of the University as well as others from nearby institutions. "The field of biotech is an emerging field. This field offers scope for a lot more technology gdevelopments. We are very much focussed on joining the main stream and work according to the requirements of industry. That is why, bioinformatics is our core area of focus." said Dr Anil Kumar, handling the bioinformatics center in the university. Punjab The Biotech Destination Long before biotechnology became a fashionable sector, the CSIR set up the Institute for Microbial Technology (IMTECH) in Chandigarh to take up research in microbial bio-processing in 1984. The Central Scientific and Industrial Organization (CSIO) too has been developing a number of biotech based diagnostic kits. These two centers form the nucleus of the biotech research center in the region. Being a predominantly agriculture-based economy, Punjab has been trying to use biotech inputs in agriculture. Now the state is developing a Biotechnology Park in the suburbs of Chandigarh to nurture commercially viable leads through companies. The first cluster would comprise of 10-15 industrial units in agri-biotech and health care sectors. " We are engaging Beckons Industries Limited to develop the first cluster. Subsequently, additional clusters will be established to expand the park," said S S Marwaha,, director (Biotechnology), Punjab State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST), the nodal agency to handle biotech developments in the state. The PSCST plans to facilitate the sourcing of technological know-how and Beckons would market the products to be generated by the biotech industry in the first cluster. ‘Punjab Biotechnology Park Limited’, is a public-private partnership company has been registered to look after the developmental activities of this cluster. About 20 industrial houses/entrepreneurs have already approached the company to enter into agreement for setting up of first biotech units within the park. A Biotech Incubator is proposed to be an integral component of this park. The incubator facility would offer enterprise development support for biotech companies across the development spectrum thereby playing a significant role in accelerating biotechnology commercially. The state also plans to develop the infrastructure for R&D, data validation, ommercialization and public awareness in the area of biotechnology. "About 100 postgraduates including masters and doctorates and more than 200 graduates in different fields of biotechnology/bioengineering are being produced every year from these institutions. In this way the state is producing technical work force for the biotech industry," added Dr Marwaha Punjab has also announced a state-level biotech policy on February 28 in 2003. The salient features of the policy are:
A series of fiscal incentives and a liberal regulatory regime too have been announced to facilitate the growth of the segment in the state. A Punjab Biotechnology Promotion Board (PBPB) with the chief minister as its chairman and members from the planning & development departments of the state, biotech industry, biotech consultants and financial institutions as well as some progressive farmers and NGOs too has been set up.
Lucknow The Biotech City When you embark on a tour of Lucknow city, you will find a fair number of big, beautiful buildings. These are not just architectural wonders. They are some of the modern temples where pioneering research work is going on. There are in fact four research centers run by the CSIR. These are NBRI ( National Botanical Research Center), CIMAP ( Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants), ITRC ( Industrial Technology Research Center)and the famous historical Chattar Manzil of CDRI (Central Drug Research Institute). Together these centers represent the core of the emergence of Lucknow as a Biotech City. Dr PK Seth,the former director of Indian Toxicology Research Centre and Co-ordinator of the Biotech-Park project has some promising expectations with the project. "The strength of Lucknow in this field has been acknowledged by the scientific community. Before we actually started working on this project, we had analyzed that the city has around 20 institutions which are working in the field of biotech. Apart from these four CSIR labs, some of the major strengths of Lucknow in biotech area include three ICAR labs, Chattarpati Shahuji Maharaj Medical College (formerly known as KGMC), Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences. Low cost of R&D facilities of 26 scientific institutions is an attraction for outsourcing research to Lucknow or its neighboring cities. Another source of attraction to the industry is it’s trained manpower. The city has over 400 scientists, technicians and 500 research students." The Central and state governments are pulling out all stops to ensure that Lucknow becomes the "Biotech City." Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, who represents the Lucknow parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha, set the ball rolling in January 2002 to announce the city’s biotech campaign. Various state and central government agencies are involved in this campaign. A biotech park will come up on an 8-acre campus on the city outskirts. The Park will also establish a network between all scientific institutes in Lucknow and other cities. A website www.biotechcitylucknow.org has also been been set up. A number of top biotech industries such as Dabur Research Foundation, Shantha Biotechnics and Bharat Biotech may set up operations at the park soon. A special biofertilizer unit will be established there and tissue culture facility will also be set up in the park. The project cost has been estimated at Rs 18.7 crore. All the eminent scientists of Lucknow are involved in the project. Dr P Pushpangadan, director NBRI, is also very enthusiastic about the project and said, "This park will certainly bring good employment opportunity and value for the Lucknow scientists. As far as the participation of NBRI is concerned, the entire scientific community here is eager to explore the biotech market through this park. Exposure for not only local but also, all north Indian scientific community will gain high momentum at the Biotech Park. It is also good that it will be linked with other biotech parks of the country." There are other biotech activities too in the city. A Bioinformatics Center, supported by the DBT and CSIR has been set up at ITRC as a networking site. This center has established links with various biotechnology institutions. Another biotech park will soon be set up in the campus of the Remote Sensing Application Center of the Department of Space. It will have industrial modules and bio-business center and training laboratories. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Bio Active India - The 10 hot spots
the hindu reference
Karnataka - Bangalore 
Agri-biotech set to boom, says UAS Vice-Chancellor
| It is expected to become a $5-billion dollar industry by 2010 |
Bt cotton is already a success story:
Dr. Chengappa
Agriculture sector is poised to meet future needs with transgenic crops
BANGALORE: The biotechnology industry is advancing at a fast pace in India and is expected to become a $5 billion industry by 2010, and the agriculture sector, in particular, is likely to benefit the most from advances in biotechnology, said P.G. Chengappa, Vice-Chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, here on Tuesday.
ConferenceDelivering the keynote address at the national conference of “Impact of Biotechnology in India”, organised by SRN Adarsh College,
Dr. Chengappa said the agriculture sector being the largest employer, besides having to produce food for the nation and the farmers themselves, is poised to meet these needs with its transgenic crops.
Bigger scope“Bt cotton is already a success story. Other transgenic crops like rice, cabbage, tomato and brinjal are in field trials. This market is estimated to touch $ 400 million by 2008. There is scope for development of varieties resistant to pest, disease and drought,” he said.
The total consumption of biotech products in India (including human and animal healthcare products, agricultural products including seeds, industrial products, and other products was estimated to be $ 2,186 million, and was likely to touch $ 4,270 million.
Investment areasThe thrust areas of investment in India are vaccines, diagnostics, bioactive therapeutic proteins, seeds, bio-pesticides, bio-fertilisers, amino acids and speciality bio-chemicals and plastics, Dr. Chengappa said. A. Nagaratna, Principal, SRN Adarsh College, said the objective of the conference was to bridge the gap between industry and academia so that a body of trained personnel could be built to be absorbed into the industry.
Hiring normsMany biotech firms were reluctant to hire graduates trained in colleges here because they did not meet the requirements of the companies, said the principal.
New projectsThe college laboratories are awaiting recognition from the Bangalore University, since many interesting projects are underway that could be taken up by the biotech industry, said the principal.
FAQ about bioinformatics
- What is Bioinformatics & why it is needed?
- Is Bioinformatics industry is really Potential?
- What type of people did bioinformatics require?
- What type of work available in Bioinformatics?
- What type of career opportunities available in Bioinformatics?
- Name some specific areas that fall within the scope of Bioinformatics?
- What skills should a Bioinformatician have?
- How much salary did Bioinformatician get?
- What are the real industry requirements?
- Is it easier to move from biology to computers or the reverse?
- How to become a bioinformatics expert?
- What is Bioinformatics & why it is needed?
Biotech research generates such massive volumes of information, so quickly that we need newer and swifter ways of crunching the deluge of data (much of it hopelessly jumbled) churned out by the research labs. Mining, digitising and indexing this enormous quantum of data requires high-end computational technology and sophisticated software solutions.
- Is Bioinformatics industry is really Potential?
Representing a marriage of IT and biotechnology, bioinformatics is poised to be one of the most prodigious growth areas in the next two decades. Currently valued at around $ 1 billion, the industry is expected to grow exponentially over the next 10 years stretching the very boundaries of biotechnology �transforming an essentially lab-based science into an information science yielding rare biological insights and hastening the discovery of new drugs.Globally, the biotech computing sector is estimated to touch a whopping $30 billion by 2003 and $ 60 billion in 2005. This in turn will create a corresponding boom in job opportunities.
- What type of people did bioinformatics require?
Companies need cross-functional manpower at all levels � biologists with IT skills, or IT professionals with a serious interest in biology (just one of the skills is not enough) who can offer complete cost-effective database solutions to pharma and genome-based biotech companies all over the world.
- What type of work available in Bioinformatics?
There is no such thing as a typical career path in this field. Bioinformaticians need to perform two critical roles: develop IT tools embodying novel algorithms and analytical techniques, and apply existing tools to achieve new insights into molecular biology. However, you must remember that although powerful and highly specialised in itself, bioinformatics is only a part of biotechnology. Getting a DNA sequence coding for a new protein does not automatically make it useful. Unless this information is converted into useful processes and products, it serves no purpose. You can not, for instance, have a virtual drug or a virtual vaccine. We need real products. And we need to develop our own new molecules (particularly if we have to survive in the new IPR regime).
- What type of career opportunities available in Bioinformatics?
There are different types of career opportunities available for different stream students,
Life Sciences:
Scientific Curator, Gene Analyst, Protein Analyst, Phylogenitist, Research Scientist / Associate.
Computer Science / Engineering:
Data base programmer, Bio-informtics software developer, Computational biologist, Network Administrator / Analyst.
Applied Science:
Structural analyst, Molecular Modeler, Bio-statistician, Bio-mechanics, Database programmer.
Pharmaceutial Science:
Cheminformatician, Pharmacogenetician, Pharmacogenomics, Research Scientist / Associate.
- Name some specific areas that fall within the scope of Bioinformatics?
Here are some specific areas that fall within the scope of Bioinformatics:
Sequence assembly : The genome of an organism is assembled from thousands of fragments which must be correctly �stitched� together. This process, which requires the use of sophisticated computer-based methods, is carried out by a specialist in Bioinformatics.
Database design and maintenance: Many pharmaceutical companies maintain private data banks of gene sequences and other biological and chemical information. These repositories must be continually updated with data generated internally and from outside sources. This is a challenging task, and the design and maintenance of these complex databases has become an important part of Bioinformatics.
Sequence (gene) analysis: Once the DNA sequence of a fragment of the genome has been determined, the work has just begun; one must next understand what the function of the gene is. This involves locating regions of the gene that code for a protein product that are involved in regulation and control and also finding those sections of the gene (introns) that are clipped out and discarded. The gene may be compared against databases of known genes with well-understood function, to find clues to its role in health or disease. All of these analyses are carried out using powerful computers and specialized software, and many would consider this activity the most important area of focus within Bioinformatics.
Proteomics: A relatively new area, proteomics studies not the entire genome, but rather the portion of the genome that is expressed in particular cells. This often involves cutting-edge technology, such as the use of micro arrays (�DNA-on-a-chip�) which allows the expression level of thousands of genes in a cell sample to be quickly determined. Once a large and diverse database of expression data has been collected, the next step is to identify connections between the patterns of expression of genes and a particular disease state. In this way, likely targets for drug and/or gene therapy can be located. Bioinformatics specialists work closely with bench scientists to accomplish the �data mining� that lies behind this next wave of the pharmaceutical industry.
Drug discovery: It's not easy to design drugs that choose their targets this efficiently. In fact, it's so difficult that drug companies have hardly ever tried. They have relied instead on trial and error, testing hundreds of potential drugs in animals to find a few that actually cure without killing. But these molecular crapshoots are terribly wasteful, which is why drug designers are today turning to a fast-growing new area of computer science known as bioinformatics to fuel their endless quest for newer drugs and better targets.
Bioinformatics specialists must acquire an unusual background, an eclectic blend of molecular biology, chemistry, and computer science. They work in close collaboration with bench scientists, helping them to plan and organize experiments and data collection so as to maximize the production of reliable and useful information. They are found in academic, government and industrial research labs.
- What skills should a Bioinformatician have?
According to the scientist working at companies such as Celera Genomics and Eli Lilly, the following "core requirements" for bioinformaticians:
>> Fairly deep background in some aspect of molecular biology. It can be biochemistry, molecular biology, molecular biophysics, or even molecular modeling, but without a core of knowledge of molecular biology is like, "run into brick walls too often."
>> Understanding the central dogma of molecualr biology, how and why DNA sequence is transcribed into RNA and translated into protein is vital.
>> Should have substantial experience with atleast one or two major molecular biology software packages, either for sequence anlaysis or molecualr modeling. The experience of learning one of these packages makes it much easier to learn to use other software quickly.
>> Should be comfortable working in a command-line computing environment. Working in Linux or Unix will provide this experience.
>> Should have experience with programming in a computer language such as Java, Unix, C, C++, RDBMS such as Oracle and Sybase, CORBA, Perl or Python, CGI and web scripting. Source: Extracted from the book "Developing Bioinformatics Computer Skills" by Cynthia Gibbs & Per Jambeck, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc
- How much salary did Bioinformatician get?
India:
Starting with a package of Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000, you can expect Rs 20,000 with a couple of years of experience under your belt. In fact, the acute shortage of experts in the field has given rise to active poaching of scientists from premier research institutions. The going price for bioinformaticians with a year's experience is upwards of Rs 50,000 per month.
Source: www.tribuneindia.com
Abroad Countries:
Starting salaries in the USA range between $60,000 and $ 90,000 for professionals with a couple of years of experience.
Average salaries in biotech and pharmaceutical companies are as follows:
Clinical Research
* Associate: $51,500
*Senior associate: $65,000
*Manager: $85,000
*Clinical research physician: $90,000200,000
*Senior laboratory technician: $34,000
*Junior laboratory technician: $21,715
Biostatistics
*MS entry-level: $74,500
*PhD entry-level: $110,000
Regulatory Affairs
*Associate: $52,000
*Senior associate: $76,000
Quality Assurance
* Specialist: $54,500
*Engineer: $58,000
*President/General manager: $94,000$400,000
In 1999, average earnings of scientists employed by the federal government were:
*General biologists: $56,000
*Microbiologists: $62,600
*Physiologists: $71,300
*Geneticists: $68,200
Average salary offers in 1999 for those with degrees in biological science were:
*BS: $29,000
*MS: $34,450
*PhD: $45,700
Median earnings in industries employing the greatest number of biological and medical scientists in 1997 were:
*Federal government: $48,600
*Pharmaceuticals: $46,300
*Research and testing services: $40,800
*State government: $38,000
Sources: Stax Research (1999), Abbott, Langer & Associates (1999), and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- What are the real industry requirements?
There are distinct categories of professionals that the industry needs:
1. Computer Programmers, Mathematicians and people trained in Physics, Statistics etc. who develop software tools and applications for biotechnology and life science companies. They are cross trained in life sciences, such as molecular biology, DNA sequence analysis and in addition that they would need skills in writing algorithms and codes for developing such programs. A very specific training is required for such professionals to meet the need of life sciences companies.
2. People with a background in life sciences who are the end users of such programs and packages and they use these tools to translate the information into tangible products such as new molecules, drugs, enzymes etc. They can conduct their R&D program more effectively if they are cross-trained in computing skills. They can also be Business Analysts for life science companies.
Source: www.ocimumbio.com
- Is it easier to move from biology to computers or the reverse?
The answer depends on whether you are talking to a computer scientist who �does' biology or a molecular biologist who �does' computing. Most of what you will read in the popular press is that the importance of interdisciplinary scientists cannot be over-stressed and that the young people getting the top jobs in the next few years will be those graduating from truly interdisciplinary programs.
However, there are many types of bioinformatics jobs available, so no one background is ideal for all of them. The fact is that many of the jobs available currently involve the design and implementation of programs and systems for the storage, management and analysis of vast amounts of DNA sequence data. Such positions require in-depth programming and relational database skills which very few biologists possess and so it is largely the computational specialists who are filling these roles.
This is not to say the computer-savvy biologist doesn't play an important role. As the bioinformatics field matures there will be a huge demand for outreach to the biological community as well as the need for individuals with the in-depth biological background necessary to sift through gigabases of genomic sequence in search of novel targets. It will be in these areas that biologists with the necessary computational skills will find their niche.
Source: www.biospectrumindia.com
- How to become a bioinformatics expert?
Bioinformatics combines the tools and techniques of mathematics, computer science and biology in order to understand the biological significance of a variety of data. So if you like to get into this new scientific field you should be fond of these �classic' disciplines. Because the field is so new, almost everyone in it did something else before. Some biologist went into bioinformatics by picking up programming but others entered via the reverse route.
Source: www.biospectrumindia
Bioinformatics: wave of the future
Bioinformatics: wave of the future
Everyone is now talking about bioinformatics. This is the new segment created by the merger of two hot areas: information technology and biotechnology. So this has become one of the most promising field for job hunters. What are the opportunities available in this field?
Bioinformatics is the application of computer technology to the management of biological information. It combines computer science with biology and genetics with a good-sized dollop of mathematics, statistics and other medical specialties thrown into the mix. Computers are used to gather, store, analyze and integrate biological and genetic information which can then be applied to gene-based drug discovery and development. Bioinformatics is not just a useful tool in biological research or drug development. It is an indispensable ally of researchers.
"The technology is versatile and can be applied whenever gene, protein and cell research are used for the discovery of a new drug or a new herbicide/herbicide-resistant crop combination. Drug toxicology, pharmacogenetics and clinical trial studies can also benefit from this technology which can even be used to genetically engineer crops and livestock that have enhanced nutritional qualities and the ability to produce pharmaceuticals," said Anuradha Acharya, CEO, Ocimum Biosolutions, Hyderabad.
Recent years have seen an explosive growth in biological data. It should be managed and stored for various purposes. Also the managed data should be in tune with the current times. Here comes the relevance of bioinformatics. Large sequencing projects are producing increasing quantities of nucleotide sequences. The contents of nucleotide databases are doubling in size approximately every 14 months.
Without bioinformatics, new research in most fields of medicine and biology would come to a standstill. The explosion of publicly available genomic information resulting from the Human Genome Project has precipitated the need for bioinformatics capabilities. The enormous growth of biological data led to the development of several things. First, all these data need to be stored. The second requirement is the need for radical new methods for analyzing these huge databases. Thirdly, powerful hardware is required to carry out the task of analyzing these databases. For instance, IBM is giving away free Web services technology to help scientists to track down DNA as the company continues its push itself into the promising life sciences arena.
The latest release of GenBank (V.102) exceeded one billion base pairs. Not only the size of sequence data is rapidly increasing but also the number of characterized genes from many organisms and protein structures doubles every two years. To cope with this great quantity of data, a new scientific discipline has emerged: bioinformatics, biocomputing or computational
biology.
How to become a bioinformatics expert?
Bioinformatics combines the tools and techniques of mathematics, computer science and biology in order to understand the biological significance of a variety of data. So if you like to get into this new scientific field you should be fond of these ‘classic’ disciplines. Because the field is so new, almost everyone in it did something else before. Some biologist went into bioinformatics by picking up programming but others entered via the reverse route.
Eligibility: B.Sc/M.Sc (Microbiology/Biochem/biotechnology/Agriculture/Horticulture/Seri/Food Technology/Organic Chemistry/botany/zoology/statistics/bio science & other divisions of life sciences, BE/B.Tech/B.VSc/M.VSc/B.Pharma, MBBS/BDS. ·
| National biotech institutes | |
| Chandigarh | The Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh |
| New Delhi | The National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi IGIB, New Delhi |
| Hyderabad | The Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad Centre for DNA Fingerprinti- ng Technology, Hyderabad |
| Bangalore | The National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore The Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore |
As a biologist, what skills do I need to make the
transition?
In addition the extensive knowledge of the run-of-the mill molecular biology packages (GCG, BLAST etc.), you will need to learn web and programming skills including HTML, Perl, JAVA and C++ and be familiar with a variety of operating systems (especially UNIX). Relational database skills are very much sought after. So knowledge of SQL and a major database application such as Sybase or Oracle will be highly advantageous. One area of bioinformatics that is set to expand is the determination of relationships between structures and sequence. If you wish to enter this field, you will need to learn all you can about structural biology and modeling, mathematical optimization, computer graphics theory and linear algebra.
Is it easier to move from biology to computers or the reverse?
The answer depends on whether you are talking to a computer scientist who ‘does’ biology or a molecular biologist who ‘does’ computing. Most of what you will read in the popular press is that the importance of interdisciplinary scientists cannot be over-stressed and that the young people getting the top jobs in the next few years will be those graduating from truly interdisciplinary programs.
However, there are many types of bioinformatics jobs available, so no one background is ideal for all of them. The fact is that many of the jobs available currently involve the design and implementation of programs and systems for the storage, management and analysis of vast amounts of DNA sequence data. Such positions require in-depth programming and relational database skills which very few biologists possess and so it is largely the computational specialists who are filling these roles.
This is not to say the computer-savvy biologist doesn’t play an important role. As the bioinformatics field matures there will be a huge demand for outreach to the biological community as well as the need for individuals with the in-depth biological background necessary to sift through gigabases of genomic sequence in search of novel targets. It will be in these areas that biologists with the necessary computational skills will find their niche.
| Companies which are into Bioinformatics |
| GVK BioSciences Pvt. Ltd Hyderabad Strand Genomics Bangalore AstraZeneca Bangalore Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Hyderabad Ingenovis (division of I labs) Hyderabad Jubilant Biosys (subsidiary from Landsky Solutions Secunderabad Molecular Connections Bangalore Ocimum Biosolutions Hyderabad PrayogNET Computing Chennai Questar Bioinformatics Hyderabad Satyam Computers Hyderabad Spectramind Services New Delhi Total Consultancy Services Hyderabad
|
The Scope
As geneticists, microbiologists and other researchers continue to gather huge amounts of new information about the human genome and biological molecules, there is a growing need for sophisticated, computerized approaches for compiling and analyzing that data. The process by which that is done is called bioinformatics. Every major university in the world is trying to get its share in this field.
There is a great scope for Bioinformatics in India. Companies have to work hard to gain respect and credibility. Bioinformatics hasn’t and cannot create a million jobs like IT as it is only a subset of IT. The numbers will increase but in small percentages.
"I wouldn’t advice everyone to jump into this field as it would only dilute the market with excess supply of professionals. On the other hand, it might be good for companies as it would give us enough people to choose from", said Ocimum’s Anuradha.
Another observation was that for a Bioinformatics company which hires 100 people, about 70 percent are people with core knowledge with some understanding of bioinformatics. The number of people with bioinformatics resumes have increased rapidly but the quality of these "professionals" hasn’t.
"Companies like us are always looking for good people but it takes us, on an average, 100 shortlisted resumes to finally pick one qualified person," she added
According to Rajendran, Sr. Executive - Business Development, BrainWave Bioinformatics Ltd, a lot of universities and institutes are into bioinformatics. Almost every university in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka offer a diploma in Bioinformatics. The prominent ones are the University of Hyderabad, Osmania University, IICT, IIIT.
Many private institutions which started during the hype have shut down. There are very good universities like the University of Pune, Madurai Kamaraj, Bose Institute and Jawaharlal Nehru University. The IIT’s at Kharagpur and Delhi also have a very good biotechnology department.
A lot of IT companies like TCS and Infosys have ventured in to this area but most of them do not have very large teams. Many large companies and research institutions are hiring hundreds of bioinformatics professionals.
"Bioinformatics as a career is very lucrative and has a great future. Requirement from an individual is the ability to contribute either in life sciences or in IT when working in a team comprising of professionals from both fields. Typical qualifications would be Masters and Ph.D. The salaries are benchmarked against industry standards and would be comparable with any other industry including IT. The sector is growing at an impressive rate and companies which understand the ‘real issues’ of the industry will only survive in the long run. Working with such companies will result in overall development for professionals in this sector," says Sowmya Narayan of Strand Genomics.
According to Dr GPS Raghava, Scientist & Co-ordinator of Bioinformatics Centre, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, there is a big gap between the demand and expertise available. The gap is not only in India but in the US also. Despite the hype and the presence of large number of bioinformatics training centers in India our contribution is too limited.
Other useful areas
Bioinformatics is today seen as primarily applied to speeding up new drug discovery. But the other area that assumes increasingly higher significance is the application of IT to the entire life sciences sector- for the same purpose it is done in other industrial sectors- improving efficiency, reducing costs, wider access, etc. For example bio-diversity data management is an area that requires application of the best database design techniques and planning for data warehousing and data-mining. Knowledge management as applied to corporations will also become relevant in the scientific context to ensure that Indian scientists get relevant and timely information related to their research to help them network and collaborate to create new intellectual property.
"There may be around 200-300 employed in this sector every year. There are a lot of private institutions getting into the foray, but then quality is indeterminate," said Rajiv Vasudevan, who is an expert both in IT and biotechnology.
Bioinformatics in India is at an early stage of development. But at 4 to 5 centers in the country, one sees mature understanding of the needs of this sector and world class development of tools and applications. These centers will ensure that India’s traditional strengths in IT are leveraged to place us on par with the developed countries.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
CAT fever
Verbal ability and reasoning for CAT
Verbal Ability & ReasoningVerbal ability and reasoning section contains 25 to 30 marks questions in the verbal section and the reamining 20 to 25 marks questions are Reading comprehension questions.
In CAT 2004 there were 0.5, 1 and 2 marks questions in the verbal section and in CAT 2005 there were 1 mark and 2 marks questions in the verbal section.
The questions that typically appear in the verbal section can be classified in one of the following types
Vocabulary BasedQuestions that appear on vocabulary could be plain vanilla "synonym - antonym" questions as it appeared in CAT 2001, CAT 2002. Alternatively, the questions on vocabulary may appear as fill in the blank with the appropriate word as it appeared in the 0.5 marks section of CAT 2004 or as part of the 2 marks section in CAT 2005.
There have been interesting variations to this question as in CAT 2001 and CAT 2002 where a simple word was given. Four alternate usages for the word was given and four different shades of meaning for the word was given. One had to match the usage with the appropriate meaning. A sample of such a question is given if you follow the link at the bottom of the page.
However, please note that the emphasis on vocabulary has been on the decline and the need to memorize meanings of words such as "pleonasm" or "pterodactyl" is not essential to crack such questions in CAT.
English Usage / GrammarSentence correction or Grammar based questions appear in different flavours in the CAT verbal section. It could be questions where you are asked to spot the section of a sentence that is gramatically incorrect or it could be questions where a part of a sentence in underlined and you are provided with four alternative choices to correct the underlined part.
More recently in CAT 2005, questions on grammar included those where a set of 4 sentences were given and you had to find out how many out of the 4 sentences were gramatically correct.
A good understanding of the basics of English grammar coupled with adequate exercises on the different types of common errors that appear in CAT will help you sail through these kinds of questions.
Verbal ReasoningThese questions could take multiple forms. The most common one is that of rearranging sentences of a paragraph. It could also include paraphrasing what has been said in a paragraph. In some CAT papers questions similar to the ones that appear in the Critical Reasoning section of GMAT have been tested
Verbal Ability & ReasoningVerbal ability and reasoning section contains 25 to 30 marks questions in the verbal section and the reamining 20 to 25 marks questions are Reading comprehension questions.
In CAT 2004 there were 0.5, 1 and 2 marks questions in the verbal section and in CAT 2005 there were 1 mark and 2 marks questions in the verbal section.
The questions that typically appear in the verbal section can be classified in one of the following types
Vocabulary BasedQuestions that appear on vocabulary could be plain vanilla "synonym - antonym" questions as it appeared in CAT 2001, CAT 2002. Alternatively, the questions on vocabulary may appear as fill in the blank with the appropriate word as it appeared in the 0.5 marks section of CAT 2004 or as part of the 2 marks section in CAT 2005.
There have been interesting variations to this question as in CAT 2001 and CAT 2002 where a simple word was given. Four alternate usages for the word was given and four different shades of meaning for the word was given. One had to match the usage with the appropriate meaning. A sample of such a question is given if you follow the link at the bottom of the page.
However, please note that the emphasis on vocabulary has been on the decline and the need to memorize meanings of words such as "pleonasm" or "pterodactyl" is not essential to crack such questions in CAT.
English Usage / GrammarSentence correction or Grammar based questions appear in different flavours in the CAT verbal section. It could be questions where you are asked to spot the section of a sentence that is gramatically incorrect or it could be questions where a part of a sentence in underlined and you are provided with four alternative choices to correct the underlined part.
More recently in CAT 2005, questions on grammar included those where a set of 4 sentences were given and you had to find out how many out of the 4 sentences were gramatically correct.
A good understanding of the basics of English grammar coupled with adequate exercises on the different types of common errors that appear in CAT will help you sail through these kinds of questions.
Verbal ReasoningThese questions could take multiple forms. The most common one is that of rearranging sentences of a paragraph. It could also include paraphrasing what has been said in a paragraph. In some CAT papers questions similar to the ones that appear in the Critical Reasoning section of GMAT have been tested
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