The Hindu Business Line : `Biotech dept developing new modules in genomics'

THE Department of Biotechnology is developing a programme using the Param computer for developing new modules of proteomics (proteomes are the proteins that genes help to make) and genomics studies, including computational biology.

Delivering the 12th S.S. Bhatnagar Memorial Lecture at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology here recently, Dr Manju Sharma, Advisor to Union Minister for Science and Technology, said the department was joining hands with information technology companies in this regard.

She was speaking on the topic `Towards a sustainable biofuture - a synergy between interdisciplinary research, entrepreneurship and commercialisation in biotechnology.'

Giving an overview of the world of biotechnology, she said the tools and techniques available through basic research in modern biology, it was possible to make or modify products and improve plants or animals or develop micro-organisms for specific use.

It had been realised that the present century would depend on medicines from plant-based systems.

Some other emerging topics in biology for basic research were viral vectors in gene therapy, expression genetics, development of site-specific drug delivery systems for proteins and peptide biopharmaceuticals.

The interaction and synergy between cell biology studies and information technology helped scientists generate a lot more data than what was possible in the last century.

The fusion was great in opening up enormous possibilities. "Biological molecules may be made to work as computer switches because their atoms are mobile and change position in a predictable manner," Dr Sharma said.