30-Jul-2021: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh releases “Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today released “Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines” developed by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology. On the occasion, Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary Department of Biotechnology, other senior Officials from Government and researchers from various Institutions were also present. The Minister also launched the website of Indian Biological Data Centre, IBDC.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that in a large population of over 135 crore and heterogeneous character of the country, India needs its own exclusive database for Indian Research and Solutions. He said, there is no dearth of talent in the country and the indigenous database will have huge enabling mechanism for exchange and adoption of data by young scientists and researchers for the benefit of Indian Citizens.
The Minister said that in the last 6-7 Years, Modi Government has given huge impetus and priority to Science and Technology and particularly in the Space Technology, where the world is looking up to India for win-win cooperation and collaboration.
Describing the release of Biotech-PRIDE as 1st of its kind by the DBT, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India ranks number 4 amongst the top 20 countries contributing biological databases1. The Government invests a large amount of public funds to generate data in various sectors, including in the biosciences for knowledge generation, to gain deep insights into intricate biological mechanisms and other processes and for translation, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, advances in DNA sequencing and other high-throughput technologies along with a steep drop in DNA sequencing cost have enabled government agencies to fund research towards generation of large volumes of biological data in various sectors of Biosciences. He said, sharing a wide range of large scale data advances the understanding of the molecular and biological processes that will contribute to human health on agriculture, animal husbandry, fundamental research and thus will extend to societal benefits.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, initially, these Guidelines will be implemented through Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC) at Regional Centre for Biotechnology supported by Department of Biotechnology. Other existing datasets/ data centres will be bridged to this IBDC which will be called Bio-Grid. This Bio-Grid will be a National Repository for biological knowledge, information and data and will be responsible for enabling its exchange, developing measures for safety, standards and quality for datasets and establishing detailed modalities for accessing data, the Minister added.
The Biotech PRIDE Guidelines will facilitate this and enable exchange of information to promote research and innovation in different research groups across the country. The Biotech-PRIDE (Biotech Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) guidelines aim at providing a well-defined framework and guiding principle to facilitate and enable sharing and exchange of biological knowledge, information and data and is specifically applicable to high-throughput, high-volume data generated by research groups across the country. These guidelines do not deal with generation of biological data per se but is an enabling mechanism to share and exchange information and knowledge generated as per the existing laws, rules, regulations and guidelines of the country. These guidelines will ensure data sharing benefits viz. maximizing use, avoiding duplication, maximized integration, ownership information, better decision-making and equity of access. These guidelines are the enabling mechanism for sharing the data publicly and within a reasonable period of time after data-generation, thus the utility of the data will be maximal. Resultantly, accrual of benefit of public investment for data generation will not be compromised.
The PRIDE Guidelines will be helpful to harmonize, synergize and encourage the data sharing for research and analysis in the country and to promote scientific work and foster progress by building on previous work. These guidelines will also be advantageous in avoiding duplication and wasteful expenditure of resources on research. Initially, these Guidelines will be implemented through Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC) at Regional Centre for Biotechnology supported by Department of Biotechnology. On the occasion, Hon’ble Minister also launched the web-portal for submission of Biological data to IBDC. Other existing datasets/ data centres will be bridged to this IBDC which will be called Bio-Grid. This Bio-Grid will be a National Repository for biological knowledge, information and data and will be responsible for enabling its exchange, developing measures for safety, standards and quality for datasets and establishing detailed modalities for accessing data.
30-Jul-2021: DST INSPIRE Faculty Fellow uncovers regulatory role of proteins in neuronal development, paving way for modifying treatment protocols
Priyanka Dutta, Inspire Faculty Fellow, has recently uncovered the mechanism by which a protein called Formin-2 disrupts neural connectivity and could result in developmental defects associated with intellectual disability and deficits in learning and memory.
Establishment of a functional neuronal circuit is essential for proper functioning of the nervous system. To understand the neuronal coordination of an organism, it is important to comprehend how the underlying cytoskeleton or the complex network of interlinking protein filaments in the cytoplasm of cells assemble and function assisted by its regulatory proteins. The errors in neuronal connectivity are central to genetic mutations of these proteins, which lead to detrimental developmental defects.
Dr. Dutta from the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, a recipient of the INSPIRE Faculty fellowship instituted by the Department of Science & Technology, GoI, focuses on understanding the mechanical function of the cytoskeletal proteins involved in neuro-developmental disorder. This understanding of neurobiological mechanism of the disorder can help to modify the treatment protocol to minimise the symptoms of the disease.
Her recent study has tracked the role of Formin-2 in regulating how the microtubules or actin filaments in the cytoskeleton that are responsible for cellular reorganization and chromosome separation dynamically organize themselves. The team has identified that Formin-2 cross-links actin-microtubule to form polymers in neurons with the help of its C-terminal FSI tail. This mechanism might have important implications for understanding underlying neuro-developmental conditions, such as intellectual disability, that have been linked to mutations in Formin-2. This research has been published in the ‘Journal of Cell Science’.
Priyanka Dutta explained that her proposed project as an INSPIRE Faculty fellow involves understanding the regulatory roles of Formin-2 in neuronal development. The output from this project will be a bedrock for prospective research which will explore how cytoskeleton regulators communicate with other signaling molecules along with actin and microtubule to distinguish between the normal and abnormal states before the onset of neuronal diseases.
14-Jul-2021: Inter-Ministerial Cooperation for Promotion and Facilitation of Marine Resources in the field of Polar biology
A (Memorandum of Understanding (MoU has been signed here today between Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of Earth Sciences by Secretary, DBT and Secretary, MoES in the presence of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon'ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space. Prof K. Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. of India and other Secretaries of Scientific Ministries/Departments were also present on the occasion. POLAR region encompassing the Antarctic, Arctic, Southern Ocean and the Himalayas being a unique ecosystem offers a huge amount of interest due to its extreme climate compare to the rest of the world. Although researchers across the globe have contributed to different areas of research, the POLAR region is yet known as an unexplored ecosystem.
The MoU envisages mutual collaboration to explore the possibility of cooperation, convergence and synergy to bring out expertise and services of both the organizations under one roof and work hand-in-hand for addressing relevant questions in the field of polar biology. Particularly, biotechnological applications of polar microbes could be the centre point of this collaboration between both the Ministry of Earth Sciences and DBT.
The MoU will be implemented with the aim to collaborate with in mutually agreed-upon thrust areas of research in the area of POLAR sciences.
Initially these efforts would be taken up through collaborative proposal by the researchers at MOES institutes making use of the presently available set ups of MOES at Polar Regions. In order to strengthen this association and expedite the research in the polar region joint laboratories will be set up at MOES stations. This will allow researchers to carry out the experiments on the site without the need for transporting the samples in the parent laboratories in India and will generate valuable information and novel products from these unique environments.
This flagship synergistic approach would be taken-up in mission mode through networking with the elite institutions in the country.