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Biology, biotechnology in particular, is witnessing an
explosion in the amount of information being generated and this
has necessitated the development of a totally new area called
'Bioinformatics' for use and processing of this information. In
fact, the symbiosis between information technology and
biotechnology today is as intricately entwined as the two
strands of the genetic material that make up the DNA helix.
The Human Genome Project and other genome projects, such as
sequencing of bacterial and yeast genomes, etc. have produced
enormous amounts of DNA sequence data. The rate of growth of the
biological data is estimated to be more than 200 million base
pairs per year. Nucleotide and protein sequences are not the
only data that are accumulating rapidly. The number of
characterised genes from a variety of organisms and the number
of solved protein structures are also doubling every two years.
This enormous growth of biological data and its availability in
the major international databases is serving as a source of
knowledge to the life scientists.
In the face of the challenges imposed by the growing size and
complexity of the biological data, a new discipline of science,
known as 'Bioinformatics', had emerged in the recent past.
"The science of Bioinformatics not just deals with
sequencing techniques but is also essential to the use of
genetic information in understanding human diseases and in the
identification of new molecular targets for drug delivery",
says Prof. A. K. Thakur, the Pro VC of Jadavpur University.
Bioinformatics may, therefore, be defined as a scientific
discipline that encompasses all the aspects of biological
information, viz., acquisition, processing, storage,
distribution, analysis and interpretation, that combines the
tools and techniques of mathematics, computer science, and
biology with the aim of understanding the biological
significance of a variety of data.
In the next few decades, it is expected that the biological
research will have a strong impact on conceptions of the
microscopic and macroscopic characters of genomes, the relation
between individual and species, and the interplay between man
and the evolutionary process. Accordingly, it became necessary
to develop manpower in this specialized area with training in
information technology, computation techniques and its
application in biotechnology and modern biology.
Bioinformatics as a result, came out to be an emerging
discipline having application in frontline areas of
biotechnology like drug design, gene therapy, diagnostics, crop
improvement, biochemical process and so on.
At present, four universities offer one-year (two semester)
advanced postgraduate diploma in Bioinformatics under the
sponsorship of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government
of India. Many other universities are planning to implement
courses in Bioinformatics.
Universities
offering advanced postgraduate diploma in
Bioinformatics:
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Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi - 1100 067
Madurai
Kamraj University, Madurai - 625 021
University
of Calcutta, Kolkata - 700 009
University
of Pune, Pune - 411 007
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For most of the courses in Bioinformatics, the eligibility
criteria are a postgraduate degree in any science subject, MBBS,
BE, or BTech with at least 55% marks or equivalent. Mathematics
upto 10th standard is desirable. Some universities may require
higher cut-off percentage of marks.
The admission to the advanced (postgraduate) diploma
programme is based on entrance tests followed by a viva voce
examination. The entrance exams generally take place during the
month of May-June every year.
"At present there are seven intakes each year",
says Dr. Sudip Kundu, Bioinformatics lecturer in Calcutta
University, "and having a good infrastructure, we hope to
increase the intake".
Prof. Thakur, who is also one of the masterminds behind
setting up of the Bioinformatics course at Calcutta University,
feels that the subject has acquired great importance due to its
application in the Genome projects. The target of decoding the
three billion base pairs of the human DNA has become achievable
only through the use of various innovative techniques and
methods evolved by the Bioinformatics scientists. Bioinformatics
has become an essential component of biotechnology based product
and process development. The process of drug design and
development is expensive and time-consuming. The application of
the tools and techniques of Bioinformatics has resulted in the
reduction in cost and the development cycle of the drugs. This
aspect has a tremendous impact on the society. If a newly
discovered drug is a life-saving one, then the resulting gains
are not only in terms of financial savings but also in saving
the lives of several million people. Major pharmaceutical and
Biotechnology companies have set up large R&D groups in
Bioinformatics.
Anindita Banerjee, who has completed her Bioinformatics
course from Calcutta University, has confide in the huge
prospects of Bioinformatics as several commercial organisations
like AstroZeneca, Monsanto, ChemBiotech, etc. have shown special
interest in employing Bioinformatics students.
"There will be an urgent need for development of
software tools for data-mining, analysis and modelling, and down
stream processing. Security of data, data transfer and data
compression, auto checks on data accuracy and correctness will
also be major research areas of Bioinformatics" says Dr. T.
C. Ghosh of Bioinformatics Centre at Bose Institute, Kolkata.
The centre works as the backbone of research and development
activities in various fields, like genetic engineering,
biocrystallography, biocomputing, molecular modeling, etc.
Bioinformatics have already been included in the M.Tech.
(Biotech) course of Jadavpur University and Prof. A. R. Thakur,
the Pro VC of JU says they have plans of opening an independent
course in Bioinformatics. Looking at the immense expectations
from the developments in Bioinformatics in our fundamental
understanding of living systems, numerous students fascinate the
subject .
It has now been universally recognised that Bioinformatics is
the key to the new grand data-intensive molecular biology that
will take us into the posterity.
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Bhaskar Dutta, M.Sc. (Biotech.), BHU, Varanasi;
M.Tech. (Biotech.), JU, Kolkata; Presently, Research Associate
in Bioinformatics, BE College, Shibpur, WB; Freelance Writer in
5 leading English dailies and a National Magazine