The North East Region is organizing an International Conference on Biotechnology involving over 700 International and National delegates representing over 35 countries.

The International Bio-resource Conclave is being held from February 24-26, 2023, in Imphal, Manipur with the theme "Reimagine Ethnopharmacology: Globalisation of Traditional Medicine".

The conference is being organized by the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) in collaboration with Society for Ethno-pharmacology, India and International Society for Ethno-pharmacology, Switzerland. The 22nd Congress of the International Society for Ethno-pharmacology and the 10th Congress of Society for Ethno-pharmacology (ISE SFEC-2023) will also be held during the conference.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, The conference is aimed at the development of bio-resources and traditional healer's practices of the Northeast region for societal benefit and livelihood generation. The conference is expected to facilitate the globalisation of traditional medicine, leading to better healthcare outcomes.

He announced the organization of Industry-Connect (I-Connect) events in several states to develop collaboration between industries and institutes. The program encourages entrepreneurs to promote unique bio-resources and traditional knowledge of the Northeast region.

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Therapeutic Areas:

IBSD focuses on antiviral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, insect repellents, anti-diabetic, anti-arthritis, bronchial asthma, gastro-protectives, and immuno-modulation research. IBSD performs metabolomics studies of medicinal plants to establish their mechanism of action with network pharmacology and synergistic study. The research aims to develop products, processes, and technologies with local bio-resources and traditional knowledge-based therapeutic agents.

Research Areas

IBSD synergizes all research areas to catalyze the bio-economy of the region, including:

  1. Plant resources
  2. Microbial resources, including traditional foods
  3. Phyto-pharmaceutical mission, ethno-pharmacology, and drug development
  4. Animal resources
  5. Eco-restoration, water quality management, and surveillance.

India has developed four indigenous vaccines in just two years, including ZyCoV-D, CORBEVAXTM, GEMCOVAC™-19, and iNCOVACC.

IBSD's microbial culture collection center has a huge collection of microbes from NER, which can play a potential lead for new drug development and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) study. IBSD is working on quality evaluation, validation of fermented foods of NER for developing products, processes, and technologies.

India has traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda, Siddha, and Part of Unani, and there is a need to develop good collection, storage, and manufacturing practices with standardization of Traditional Pharmacology.

Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD)

  • IBSD was established in the year 2001 in Imphal under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India.
  • IBSD has three different other entities including its Regional Centre at Gangtok in Sikkim and Research Nodes at Shillong in Meghalaya and at Aizawl in Mizoram.
  • IBSD's mission is for "Bioresources development and their sustainable use through biotechnological interventions for the socio-economic growth of the North Eastern Region".
  • IBSD established linkages between traditional healers and scientific communities for benefit sharing and promotion of start-ups with Ethno Entrepreneurships.
  • IBSD established a Science Museum at Maha Union Govt. Higher Secondary School, Chandel, an Aspirational district of Manipur, and is organizing many activities to promote scientific thinking about local bioresources of the region.
  • IBSD has established a Bioresource Park at Hararaou, Imphal, for germplasm collection of bioresources of NER.