This document provides an overview of bioinformatics education in India. It discusses how bioinformatics education has evolved from short workshops to formal degree programs over time. A key development was the establishment of the Biotechnology Information System network in the 1980s by the Department of Biotechnology, which helped develop bioinformatics infrastructure and training programs in India. The document then describes the current landscape of bioinformatics education in India, including a case study of the master's program in bioinformatics at the University of Pune. It concludes by noting that many universities and institutions now offer bioinformatics education at various levels to train students for careers in this growing field.
Biotechnology information system in india (btis net)KAUSHAL SAHU
Introduction to Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics in India
Biotechnology Information System Network
Objective
Structure of BTISnet in India
Apex centre
Centre of excellence
Research activities proposed to be undertaken by the CoEs
Distributed information centers(DICs)
Sub-Distribution
Sub-DIC National Institute of Technology, Raipur
BIF for Biology Teaching Through Bioinformatics (BTBI)
EMBnet India Node
Future planning
Conclusion
Reference
To adjust oneself in modern scientific world, and to understand an environment in which industrial technology and science play an ever more important role, man needs a solid grounding in science. The initial scientific knowledge he has given in the course of regular schooling is no longer enough. From the point of view both of knowledge and of methods, the education must continue throughout his working life. Education is a lifelong process. The growing need for scientific knowledge and training, due to the evaluation of the modern world and the rapid spread of education, has been analysed and is now widely recognized. In face of that need, it would seem logical to give emphasis on the most modern educational technologies, and in particular, to make a wide spread mass use of television techniques, internet, multimedia etc. This study investigated the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on Achievement of Students in Chemistry at Secondary Level. For the purpose, a list of secondary school of CBSE and U.P. Board are prepared and four institutions were selected with the help of lottery method. The selected samples of four schools were randomly divided into two groups Experimental groups and Controlled groups. The required data was collected at two stages as pre-test and post test scores from the achievement test in chemistry. Data was analysed quantitatively employing statistical techniques of mean, S.D. and t-test.
Design of a virtual laboratory for analyzing nanoscale magnetic materialsijma
As the advance of technology, the manufacturing process of materials has moved forward from the scale of
micrometer to sub-micrometer and nanometer. Combining nanotechnology and traditional magnetic
materials, nanoscale magnetic materials can be created for applications in biomedical examination and
therapy as well as data recording to increase the storage space of a computer. The topic of using the
magnetic force microscope (MFM) to exam a material’s magnetic field distribution can often be found in
nanotechnology courses. Due to the cost of equipment and difficulty of its operation, the teacher can only
teach students with an instructional video most of the time instead of using a real MFM to conduct
experiments. As a result, students may not fully understand its principle and operating procedure. In this
study, a virtual MFM laboratory was designed as an app for execution on tablet computers to increase
students’ learning interest and motivation. Without using expensive equipment, they can understand the
magnetic field distribution of materials by using the virtual MFM to examine different samples provided in
the virtual laboratory. A teaching experiment was also conducted to compare the learning effectiveness of
using an instructional video and the virtual MFM laboratory. The experimental results showed that using
the virtual MFM laboratory was more effective than using the instructional video; the questionnaire results
also revealed that most students had positive attitudes toward the virtual MFM laboratory and they thought
it could enhance their learning interest and motivation.
Bioinformatics Course at Indian Biosciences and Research Instituteajay vishwakrma
Bioinformatics is the study of the inherent structure of biological information and biological systems. It brings together the avalanche of systematic biological data (e.g. genomes) with the analytic theory and practical tools of mathematics and computer science. Bioinformatics is a rapidly evolving and developing field both in terms of breadth of scope of useful applications and in terms of depth of what can be accomplished with the mission providing the training and knowledge in Bioinformatics IBRI has introduced the courses in Bioinformatics.
What constitutes structural bioinformatics and 2 example areas from our own work - studying evolution using structure and what really happens when we take a drug. Presented to UCSD medical students in years 1-3
Biotechnology information system in india (btis net)KAUSHAL SAHU
Introduction to Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics in India
Biotechnology Information System Network
Objective
Structure of BTISnet in India
Apex centre
Centre of excellence
Research activities proposed to be undertaken by the CoEs
Distributed information centers(DICs)
Sub-Distribution
Sub-DIC National Institute of Technology, Raipur
BIF for Biology Teaching Through Bioinformatics (BTBI)
EMBnet India Node
Future planning
Conclusion
Reference
To adjust oneself in modern scientific world, and to understand an environment in which industrial technology and science play an ever more important role, man needs a solid grounding in science. The initial scientific knowledge he has given in the course of regular schooling is no longer enough. From the point of view both of knowledge and of methods, the education must continue throughout his working life. Education is a lifelong process. The growing need for scientific knowledge and training, due to the evaluation of the modern world and the rapid spread of education, has been analysed and is now widely recognized. In face of that need, it would seem logical to give emphasis on the most modern educational technologies, and in particular, to make a wide spread mass use of television techniques, internet, multimedia etc. This study investigated the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on Achievement of Students in Chemistry at Secondary Level. For the purpose, a list of secondary school of CBSE and U.P. Board are prepared and four institutions were selected with the help of lottery method. The selected samples of four schools were randomly divided into two groups Experimental groups and Controlled groups. The required data was collected at two stages as pre-test and post test scores from the achievement test in chemistry. Data was analysed quantitatively employing statistical techniques of mean, S.D. and t-test.
Design of a virtual laboratory for analyzing nanoscale magnetic materialsijma
As the advance of technology, the manufacturing process of materials has moved forward from the scale of
micrometer to sub-micrometer and nanometer. Combining nanotechnology and traditional magnetic
materials, nanoscale magnetic materials can be created for applications in biomedical examination and
therapy as well as data recording to increase the storage space of a computer. The topic of using the
magnetic force microscope (MFM) to exam a material’s magnetic field distribution can often be found in
nanotechnology courses. Due to the cost of equipment and difficulty of its operation, the teacher can only
teach students with an instructional video most of the time instead of using a real MFM to conduct
experiments. As a result, students may not fully understand its principle and operating procedure. In this
study, a virtual MFM laboratory was designed as an app for execution on tablet computers to increase
students’ learning interest and motivation. Without using expensive equipment, they can understand the
magnetic field distribution of materials by using the virtual MFM to examine different samples provided in
the virtual laboratory. A teaching experiment was also conducted to compare the learning effectiveness of
using an instructional video and the virtual MFM laboratory. The experimental results showed that using
the virtual MFM laboratory was more effective than using the instructional video; the questionnaire results
also revealed that most students had positive attitudes toward the virtual MFM laboratory and they thought
it could enhance their learning interest and motivation.
Bioinformatics Course at Indian Biosciences and Research Instituteajay vishwakrma
Bioinformatics is the study of the inherent structure of biological information and biological systems. It brings together the avalanche of systematic biological data (e.g. genomes) with the analytic theory and practical tools of mathematics and computer science. Bioinformatics is a rapidly evolving and developing field both in terms of breadth of scope of useful applications and in terms of depth of what can be accomplished with the mission providing the training and knowledge in Bioinformatics IBRI has introduced the courses in Bioinformatics.
What constitutes structural bioinformatics and 2 example areas from our own work - studying evolution using structure and what really happens when we take a drug. Presented to UCSD medical students in years 1-3
A QSAR is a mathematical relationship between a biological activity of a molecular system and its geometric and chemical characteristics.
QSAR attempts to find consistent relationship between biological activity and molecular properties, so that these “rules” can be used to evaluate the activity of new compounds.
Biotechnology information system {btis}KAUSHAL SAHU
WHAT IS BTIS?
WHY BTIS?
OBJECTIVES
BIOGRID
RESOURCES
R&D PROJECTS
BTIS CENTRES IN INDIA
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
REFERENCES
India is the first country in the world to establish in 1987 a biotechnology information system (BTIS) network to create an infrastructure of biotechnology through the application of bioinformatics.
The Department of Bio-Technology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology , Government of India has taken up this infrastructure development project and created a distributed network at a very low cost.
Bioinformatics as a field of study gained popularity with the launch of the Human Genome Project. The project sought to determine the sequence of the entire human genome and generated huge amounts of data. Since then, more and more life science related data is being generated from ongoing sequencing efforts, and computation lets researchers analyze this data to locate trends, mutations, diseases and the like. More about us at http://ibab.ac.in/
Journal of Applied Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (JABCB) promotes rigorous research that makes a significant contribution in advancing knowledge in the fields of Biology & Bioinformatics.
Explore the World of Biotechnology with a B.Sc. Degree | Unlock endless possibilities in biotech research, innovation, and applications with our comprehensive B.Sc. in Biotechnology program. Embrace a rewarding career in this cutting-edge field. Enroll now!
bioinformatics algorithms and its basicssofav88068
Introduction to bioinformatics, this is where u will learn about basic bioinformatics and its applications . what is bioinformatics and why bioinformatics. the basic fata sequences and blast algorithms. the examples of human genome , DNA , the genetic material and the blueprint of the whole existence. the concept of bioinformatics which is a relatively new field and the tools used there and the pipelines are also new . bioinformatics the lord the Saviour the Christ idk what else to write to up the discoverability score this is completely senseless and useless.SlideShare is a platform where you can upload, present, and discover presentations and infographics from various topics and industries. Please click the link in that email to verify your identity. To learn more, please visit our a and the long live the king of the pirates Luffy will find the one piece this website is totally crap pirate things that is best I've write 1000 words and it still isn't enough idk what else to add this .
History and devolopment of bioinfomatics.ppt (1)Madan Kumar Ca
Dear Sir, Madam
Name: Madan Kumar C A
Topic: History and Development of Bioinformatics
Guide: Dr. Ramesh C K
Associate Professor
Dept of Biotechnnology
Sahyadri Science College
Shivamogga
A QSAR is a mathematical relationship between a biological activity of a molecular system and its geometric and chemical characteristics.
QSAR attempts to find consistent relationship between biological activity and molecular properties, so that these “rules” can be used to evaluate the activity of new compounds.
Biotechnology information system {btis}KAUSHAL SAHU
WHAT IS BTIS?
WHY BTIS?
OBJECTIVES
BIOGRID
RESOURCES
R&D PROJECTS
BTIS CENTRES IN INDIA
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
REFERENCES
India is the first country in the world to establish in 1987 a biotechnology information system (BTIS) network to create an infrastructure of biotechnology through the application of bioinformatics.
The Department of Bio-Technology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology , Government of India has taken up this infrastructure development project and created a distributed network at a very low cost.
Bioinformatics as a field of study gained popularity with the launch of the Human Genome Project. The project sought to determine the sequence of the entire human genome and generated huge amounts of data. Since then, more and more life science related data is being generated from ongoing sequencing efforts, and computation lets researchers analyze this data to locate trends, mutations, diseases and the like. More about us at http://ibab.ac.in/
Journal of Applied Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (JABCB) promotes rigorous research that makes a significant contribution in advancing knowledge in the fields of Biology & Bioinformatics.
Explore the World of Biotechnology with a B.Sc. Degree | Unlock endless possibilities in biotech research, innovation, and applications with our comprehensive B.Sc. in Biotechnology program. Embrace a rewarding career in this cutting-edge field. Enroll now!
bioinformatics algorithms and its basicssofav88068
Introduction to bioinformatics, this is where u will learn about basic bioinformatics and its applications . what is bioinformatics and why bioinformatics. the basic fata sequences and blast algorithms. the examples of human genome , DNA , the genetic material and the blueprint of the whole existence. the concept of bioinformatics which is a relatively new field and the tools used there and the pipelines are also new . bioinformatics the lord the Saviour the Christ idk what else to write to up the discoverability score this is completely senseless and useless.SlideShare is a platform where you can upload, present, and discover presentations and infographics from various topics and industries. Please click the link in that email to verify your identity. To learn more, please visit our a and the long live the king of the pirates Luffy will find the one piece this website is totally crap pirate things that is best I've write 1000 words and it still isn't enough idk what else to add this .
History and devolopment of bioinfomatics.ppt (1)Madan Kumar Ca
Dear Sir, Madam
Name: Madan Kumar C A
Topic: History and Development of Bioinformatics
Guide: Dr. Ramesh C K
Associate Professor
Dept of Biotechnnology
Sahyadri Science College
Shivamogga
UNLOCKING SECRETS: BIOINFORMATICS' IMPACT ON FORENSIC BIO-EXAMINATIONSIJNSA Journal
Bioinformatics (BI) is a diverse and interdisciplinary domain that studies biological data through computational techniques. Its rapid technological progress has led to a significant increase in biological data production, sparking a notable expansion in BI research and application. In recent years, the convergence between BI and forensic science has become increasingly evident, with the growing use of BI tools and techniques in forensic investigations. BI is not only extensively used in biomedical research to analyse biological data and forecast gene regulation but also in the development of drugs targeting disorders linked to epigenetic alterations. It merges principles from various fields like biology, computer science, and statistics to process extensive omics data, create databases, predict structures, and model metabolic processes. The impact of BI on biomedical research is substantial, aiding in data processing, prediction, and visualisation. Moreover, BI is increasingly important in analysing data generated through Sanger-based electrophoresis methods and massively parallel sequencing in forensic DNA analysis, demonstrating its practical application in the field. Therefore, BI plays a critical role in forensic identification, searching databases side by side, forensic DNA phenotyping and biographic ancestry, forensic genetic genealogy, and forensic epigenomics. An overview of different bioinformatic methodologies employed in forensic applications, exploring approaches for managing data and investigating trend analysis strategies within forensic contexts, is discussed. Additionally, it investigates data management strategies. The primary objective was to explore how BI facilitates forensic BI's use, integration, and impact. Utilising a systematic literature review and content analysis, the study examined peer-reviewed articles, conference proceedings, and reports from critical databases like Google Scholar and Scopus, focusing on publications from 2010 to 2024. Key findings highlight the significant advancements in genomic sequencing technologies and their application in personalised therapeutics. Forensic scientists can improve forensic exams' accuracy, reliability, and efficiency by using BI tools, metrics, and efficient data management procedures.
Computational methods to analyze biological data. It is a way to introduce some of the many resources available for analyzing sequence data with bioinformatics software. This paper will cover the theoretical approaches to data resources and we will get knowledge about some sequential alignments with its databases. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combines biology, computer science, information engineering, mathematics, and statistics to analyze and interpret biological data. Bioinformatics has been used for in silico analyses of biological queries using mathematical and statistical techniques. Databases are essential for bioinformatics research and applications. Many databases exist, covering various information types for example, DNA and protein sequences, molecular structures, phenotypes, and biodiversity. Databases may contain empirical data. Conceptualizing biology in terms of molecules and then applying informatics techniques from math, computer science, and statistics to understand and organize the information associated with these molecules on a large scale. In this materialistic world, People are studying bioinformatics in different ways. Some people are devoted to developing new computational tools, both from software and hardware viewpoints, for the better handling and processing of biological data. They develop new models and new algorithms for existing questions and propose and tackle new questions when new experimental techniques bring in new data. Other people take the study of bioinformatics as the study of biology with the viewpoint of informatics and systems. Durgesh Raghuvanshi | Vivek Solanki | Neha Arora | Faiz Hashmi "Computational of Bioinformatics" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-4 , June 2020, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd30891.pdf Paper Url :https://www.ijtsrd.com/engineering/computer-engineering/30891/computational-of-bioinformatics/durgesh-raghuvanshi
Conceptualising Framework for Local Biodiversity Heritage Sites (LBHS): A Bio...Vishwas Chavan
India’s Biological Diversity Act 2002 is now 18 years old, and
it has made it possible for the local communities to actively engage in the
management of biological resources in various manners. One of the important
provisions empowers the local communities to designate biodiversity rich
areas as a Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS). However, our national progress
in designating BHS has been snail-paced and far away from optimal use of
such a provision for the benefit of nature itself. This calls for strategies and
measures that empowers local communities to assess and designate the potential
of a socio-ecological landscape as a Local Biodiversity Heritage Site (LBHS).
Here we propose a conceptual framework for establishing Local Biodiversity
Heritage Sites that represent the richness of the social-cultural landscape of
Maharashtra state. Steps required to identify and establish a LBHS are listed
based on the examples Sacred Groves and Rocky Plateaus, two habitats of
high conservation importance in Maharashtra. In our opinion such sites are the
humanities last chance to preserve the gene, species, ecosystem, its services,
associated knowledge, culture, traditions and thereby natural heritage. It is
our belief that LBHS can be a true legacy for future generations and a lasting
reminder of the indelible connection of human beings with Mother Nature.
State Biodiversity Boards: Towards Better GovernanceVishwas Chavan
India’s Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and the three-tier
implementation mechanism of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), the State Biodiversity Board (SBB), the Union Territory Biodiversity Council (UTBC) and the Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) is close to two decades old. However, our collective and compounding national progress is much less than satisfactory. One of the major reasons is lack of empowerment
of the SBBs, the UTBCs and resultantly passive functioning of the BMCs. Bottom-upward empowerment of BMCs to SBBs and UTBCs is crucial in order to achieve the National Biodiversity Targets (NBT) and other national biodiversity conservation and sustainable development ambitions. In this article, author proposes a five pillared work program that can help empower
the SBBs and UTBCs that can result in vibrant and optimally governing BMCs. Some or all of the activities mentioned in this article may have been initiated or implemented by few SBBs and UTBCs. However, author calls for coordinated and performance evaluation mechanism being developed and steered by SBBs and UTBC to achieve the national goal of development inclusive biodiversity conservation.
Exploring the future of scholarly publishing of biodiversity dataVishwas Chavan
Little more than decade back biodiversity data publishing was opportunistic and secondary spin-off activity of the biodiversity research and conservation management chain. Today, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility facilitate free and open access to over 420 million primary biodiversity data records contributed by publishers across the globe. This is an outcome of a growing realization that free and open access to biodiversity data is crucial to take informed decisions and actions for sustainable use of biotic resources and conservation of biodiversity areas. In recent past use of biodiversity data in research, conservation and management activities is on rise. However, users often complain about the low degree of ‘fitness-for-use’ of the accessible data. Most of the times potential use of data is hampered because of lack of adequate metadata, that can demonstrate the fintness-for-use of a given dataset.
To overcome this an appropriate incentivisation mechanism is essential, that can provide due credit and acknowledgement to a research groups for their efforts in authoring good metadata. In recent past a concept of ‘scholarly data publishing’ is being talked about where in both data and metadata undergo peer-review similar to other scientific publications. Pensoft publishing has launched a fresh data only journal called ‘Biodiversity Data Journal, and accepts data papers in six of its other journal titles. European aquatic biodiversity community through EU funded project ‘BioFresh’ has engaged with editors of 29 aquatic biodiversity journals to being accepting data papers. GBIF node in Columbia and South Africa are planning to kick start a journal that will publish data papers. Recently, Nature Publishing Group has announced a peer-reviewed data publishing only journal called ‘Scientific Data’. These developments announce the arrival of the new data publishing era ‘Scholarly Data Publishing’. Biodiversity science and biodiversity informatics stands to gain a lot by being on the forefront of this tide.
1. Briefings in Bioinformatics Advance Access published August 12, 2010
B RIEFINGS IN BIOINF ORMATICS . page 1 of 10 doi:10.1093/bib/bbq027
Bioinformatics education in India
Urmila Kulkarni-Kale, Sangeeta Sawant and Vishwas Chavan
Submitted: 10th May 2010; Received (in revised form): 29th June 2010
Abstract
An account of bioinformatics education in India is presented along with future prospects. Establishment of BTIS net-
work by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India in the 1980s had been a systematic effort in
the development of bioinformatics infrastructure in India to provide services to scientific community. Advances in
the field of bioinformatics underpinned the need for well-trained professionals with skills in information technology
Downloaded from http://bib.oxfordjournals.org at New Copenhagen University on August 20, 2010
and biotechnology. As a result, programmes for capacity building in terms of human resource development were
initiated. Educational programmes gradually evolved from the organisation of short-term workshops to the institu-
tion of formal diploma/degree programmes. A case study of the Master’s degree course offered at the
Bioinformatics Centre, University of Pune is discussed. Currently, many universities and institutes are offering bio-
informatics courses at different levels with variations in the course contents and degree of detailing. BioInformatics
National Certification (BINC) examination initiated in 2005 by DBT provides a common yardstick to assess the
knowledge and skill sets of students passing out of various institutions. The potential for broadening the scope of
bioinformatics to transform it into a data intensive discovery discipline is discussed. This necessitates introduction
of amendments in the existing curricula to accommodate the upcoming developments.
Keywords: bioinformatics; education; syllabus; computational infrastructure; certification; biotechnology
information system; India
INTRODUCTION Ramachandran plot that provided the foundation
The beginning of the era of bioinformatics is marked of modern structural biology/bioinformatics [2]. As
by early studies such as the compilation and analysis a consequence of these and other discoveries, bio-
of large sets of protein sequences by Late Dr informatics has grown into a full-fledged scientific
Margaret Dayhoff to study molecular evolution in discipline of knowledge discovery. It has become
the 1960s [1]. These efforts led to the development an essential and integral component of frontline re-
of one of the earliest databases in the area of bio- search in life sciences. The problems addressed using
logical macromolecules—Protein Information bioinformatics range from simple analyses of single
Resource, popularly known as PIR database. This gene/protein data to modelling of complex data such
was followed by the development of computer pro- as systems biology. Bioinformatics employs the prin-
grammes, often written by the scientists themselves, ciples of statistics, mathematics, physics and chemistry
for the application of quantitative methods to study to address the problems in biology by using compu-
biological data. History of bioinformatics in India tational methodologies.
dates back to the 1960s when Prof. G. N. The early contributors to the field of bioinformat-
Ramachandran and colleagues derived the famous ics were from either life sciences or physical sciences
Corresponding author. Vishwas Chavan. Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat, Universitetsparken 15, DK 2100,
Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel: þ45 35 32 14 75; Fax: þ45 35 32 14 80; E-mail: vchavan@gbif.org
Dr Urmila Kulkarni-Kale, Director, Bioinformatics Centre, University of Pune has been teaching wide range of courses in
Bioinformatics for 18 years, designed syllabi and been faculty at national and international workshops. Her research interests include
viral comparative genomics, immunoinformatics and Bioinformatics.
Dr Sangeeta Sawant is teaching courses in varied areas of Bioinformatics at University of Pune for 16 years and has designed syllabi
for various courses. Her research interests include structural bioinformatics, molecular modeling and simulations to study protein/
peptide structures and functions.
Dr Vishwas Chavan is at the Secretariat of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), with 19 years experience in
biodiversity and ecosystem informatics. His recent interest is to develop ‘data publishing framework’ that address social, political
and cultural issues responsible for expediting discovery and publishing of biodiversity data (http://www.vishwaschavan.com/).
ß The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
2. page 2 of 10 Kulkarni-Kale et al.
who had realized the potential of computational of life science researchers in the application of
approaches in the study of biology. As the discipline bioinformatics. This has successfully ushered in
evolved and its scope became broader, the demand a new paradigm in India, through integration
for trained human resource started growing. This of bioinformatics approach with experimental
necessitated the establishment of formal training pro- research.
grammes. Initially, a few research institutes intro-
duced short training programmes of a few days to
few weeks in duration. The topics covered in these
BIOINFORMATICS EDUCATION
programmes varied from introduction to the field of
bioinformatics to specialized themes like biological
IN INDIA: EVOLUTION &
databases, algorithms and applications of bioinfor- CURRENT STATUS
The centres under the BTIS network, right
Downloaded from http://bib.oxfordjournals.org at New Copenhagen University on August 20, 2010
matics. Formal long-term courses were subsequently
from their inception, have been carrying out gener-
launched by many universities/institutes world
alized as well as special theme-based short-term
over [3–8].
training programmes in different areas of bioinfor-
matics. The training programmes in the 1980s
focused on building awareness of bioinformatics
GROWTH OF BIOINFORMATICS among biologists, medical practitioners, statisticians,
IN INDIA mathematicians and IT professionals. These were
Formalization of bioinformatics activities in India followed by detailed workshops on topics like bio-
began in the early 1980s with the establishment of logical databases, database searches, algorithms for se-
a nation-wide network of Distributed Information quence analysis and their applications, phylogenetic
Centers (DICs) under the umbrella of the analysis, structural bioinformatics, molecular model-
Biotechnology Information System (BTIS), by the ling and simulations etc. These activities proved to be
Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government extremely useful to a variety of user groups like re-
of India (http://www.dbtindia.nic.in/; http://www searchers, academicians and industry professionals.
.btisnet.gov.in/index.asp) [9, 10]. These centres were The short-term training activities are now well coor-
assigned the mandate to (i) carry out research in dinated across the BTIS network with DBT publish-
specialized areas and (ii) provide bioinformatics sup- ing an annual training calendar (http://www.btisnet
port and services to the scientific community at large. .gov.in/uniquepage.asp?ID_PK¼21).
The BTIS network today includes six Centers of In the 1990s, application of novel, high-
Excellence (CoEs), 10 DICs, 51 Sub-DICs and throughput technologies and automated procedures
61 Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facilities (BIFs) in life sciences resulted in the generation of large
coordinated by the apex centre at DBT, New volumes of biological data across the omics series.
Delhi (http://www.btisnet.gov.in/index.asp). The With the changing nature, volume and complexity
geographic distribution of the centres ensures easy of data (whole genome sequences, proteomics, struc-
access of informatics infrastructure to maximum tural genomics, transcriptomics, metabolic and signal
number of academic and R&D institutions in the transduction pathways, protein–protein interactions,
country. The expansion of the network has also cul- etc.) specific and specialized technology became ne-
minated in broadening expertise in various domains cessary for processing and analysis of the data.
of bioinformatics, viz. structural bioinformatics, gen- Approaches based on application of artificial intelli-
omics, proteomics, immunoinformatics, etc. gence methods, machine learning techniques, fuzzy
Researchers from these centres have significantly logic, grid computing, parallel programming, etc
contributed to the development of a variety of pri- were developed. With the changing scenario it
mary and derived databases, a large number of became necessary to train students/professionals to
algorithms to analyse data at different levels of bio- be ‘bioinformaticians’. The field has been evolving
complexity and servers for prediction of various so rapidly that the training programmes should em-
properties of biomacromolecules (http://btisnet power the students not only to learn and apply the
.gov.in/writereaddata/12271108171_Publication_ core tools and techniques but also inculcate a
List.pdf) [11]. The BTIS network offers computing life-long learning ability that allows them to absorb
facilities as well as domain expertise, which and master new technologies/concepts as they
have induced interest amongst a large number emerge.
3. Bioinformatics education in India page 3 of 10
The full-fledged formal training programmes in combination of computational and experimental
bioinformatics were therefore designed with the fol- components. A few of the ADB pass-outs also
lowing objectives. became entrepreneurs by establishing their own
start-ups in the areas of bioinformatics, chemoinfor-
To train students in the fundamental disciplines matics and medical informatics.
relevant to bioinformatics Full-fledged Master’s degree programmes in bio-
To help them acquire the essential IT and bio- informatics started later have either replaced the
informatics skills ADB course or coexisted with it for a few years at
To develop the competency in problem solving. the universities mentioned above.
The students trained with these objectives are MSc programmes in bioinformatics
Downloaded from http://bib.oxfordjournals.org at New Copenhagen University on August 20, 2010
anticipated to meet the interests of stakeholders, Scientific and technological advances, viz. comple-
viz. the funding agencies as facilitators, educational tion of full genome sequencing projects of important
institutes as prosumers and academia/RD labora- organisms including human, rise of omics series,
tories/industry as employers. availability of high performance computing facilities,
in the early years of the 21st century further
Advanced Diploma in Bioinformatics increased the demand for trained manpower.
A 1-year Advanced Diploma course in This called for institution of a full-fledged 2-year
Bioinformatics (ADB) was launched in 1997 in the Master’s degree course (MSc) in bioinformatics.
five DICs viz., Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) The first MSc programme in bioinformatics was
(New Delhi), University of Calcutta (Kolkata), started at the University of Pune in July 2002, with
Madurai-Kamraj University (Madurai), Pondicherry financial support from the DBT (http://bioinfo
University (Puducherry) and University of Pune .ernet.in/). Subsequently, an MTech course in
(Pune). It was designed for students who completed computational and systems biology was launched at
their Master’s degree in basic sciences or Bachelor’s JNU, New Delhi in 2006 and MSc in bioinformatics
degree in medicine/engineering/pharmacy. The at Pondicherry University (Puducherry) in 2007. As
objective of ADB was to create human resource a representative Master’s degree programme, a case
in bioinformatics to satisfy the growing need in study of MSc Bioinformatics at the University of
various sectors. The ADB syllabus was designed to Pune is presented below.
train students to achieve proficiency in the use of The MSc bioinformatics programme at the
existing tools as well as the development of University of Pune has earned a reputation as one
new tools. Indeed, the syllabus that was designed of the best in the country. The course has been de-
for ADB in 1997 was in congruence with the signed to ensure a balanced and comprehensive
‘dream’ syllabus proposed by Russ Altmann in training in bioinformatics as well as related subjects.
1998 [12]. The course consists of a total of 100 credits distrib-
The ADB course had to address the needs of stu- uted over four semesters of 15 weeks each. A theory
dents coming from different backgrounds. On one course of one credit is equivalent to 15 contact hours
side, students with formal training in biological sci- while a practical course of one credit requires 45 h of
ences needed to learn mathematics, statistics and laboratory work. The weightages for theory, labora-
computer science, whereas those from engineering/ tory courses and project work are 43, 37 and 20%,
physical/chemical sciences required an in-depth ex- respectively. The learning process lays emphasis on
posure to biology. Such a mixed composition of stu- hands-on experience and problem solving sessions.
dents often proved to be an advantage as they The syllabus is designed to impart training not only
complemented each other in understanding the mul- in bioinformatics but also in biology, mathematics,
tiple disciplines and significance of bioinformatics. statistics and information technology, which
The ADB opened up opportunities for students to form the foundation of bioinformatics. Figure 1
secure admission into the PhD programmes of (A and B) depicts the allocation of credits for
reputed universities in India/abroad and jobs at vari- theory and laboratory components of these subjects,
ous cadres ranging from technicians to scientists in respectively.
academic institutions/industry. Several of these The courses in these subjects run through the four
assignments included research projects having semesters with increasing levels of complexity
4. page 4 of 10 Kulkarni-Kale et al.
(Figure 2). Basic biology and mathematics form op-
tional courses to students who studied mathematics
and biology, respectively, in their Bachelor’s degree.
Biological chemistry and genetic information flow
and processing (molecular biology) are offered in
the first semester while cell biology, genetics and
experimental laboratory techniques are taught in
the second semester. For specialized areas of bio-
informatics, viz. immunoinformatics, parasite bio-
informatics and metabolic pathway engineering, the
corresponding areas of biology (immunology, para-
Downloaded from http://bib.oxfordjournals.org at New Copenhagen University on August 20, 2010
sitology, metabolic pathways) are integrated with in-
formatics. As depicted in Figure 2, statistics is taught
in the first semester whereas advanced algorithms and
techniques as applied to biological data mining are
covered in the subsequent semesters along with
Figure 1: Distribution of credits for the core subjects
taught in MSc Bioinformatics. (A) Percent credit alloca- pertinent topics in bioinformatics. Similarly, the
tions for theory courses and (B) Percent credit alloca- courses imparting IT skills are introduced gradually
tions for laboratory courses. The credits allocated for during the first to third semesters. The IT training
project work are not included in this distribution. includes various operating systems, programming
Figure 2: Semester-wise distribution of topics in the major disciplines in the syllabus of MSc bioinformatics at
University of Pune. Different colours as shown in tiles are used to indicate four semesters.
5. Bioinformatics education in India page 5 of 10
languages (C, java and perl), database management Nationwide scenario of bioinformatics
systems and computer graphics and visualization. education
The topics in bioinformatics are divided into Realizing the importance of bioinformatics as a
four broad groups viz. databanks and sequence-based career opportunity for the young generation, many
approaches, structural bioinformatics, genomics universities and institutions are now offering
proteomics, and biological data mining, which Diploma, Bachelor’s and Master’s level courses in
are spread over the four semesters (Figure 2). India. Since it is not possible to provide comprehen-
The course contents encompass biocomplexity sive overview of all of them here, some of the better
from macro to micro levels and vice versa. For ex- known ones are mentioned below. In addition to the
ample, there are modules in biodiversity informatics universities mentioned below, a few of those listed in
on one hand and molecular phylogeny on the other, the Table 1 also offer Bachelor’s and Master’s degree
Downloaded from http://bib.oxfordjournals.org at New Copenhagen University on August 20, 2010
to enhance understanding at molecular level. courses in bioinformatics.
Similarly, study of individual genes/proteins is fol-
lowed by that of genomics and proteomics providing JNU, New Delhi
a perspective at the systems level. Chemoinformatics
is an important area of research and is included as a JNU introduced Advanced postgraduate Diploma
separate course in the second semester. in Bioinformatics in 2000 at the Centre for
The students get an exposure to research meth- Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, which
odologies in the project work during the fourth se- was later integrated into the School of Information
mester. Some of the projects carried out by the ADB Technology. In the year 2006, an MTech pro-
and MSc students have led to publications in gramme in computational and systems biology
peer-reviewed journals [13–15]. replaced the Diploma course (http://ccbb.jnu.ac
Rapid growth and developments in bioinformatics .in/education.html).
call for revision of syllabus at regular intervals.
Accordingly, the syllabus of MSc bioinformatics is Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai.
periodically revised at the Bioinformatics Centre,
University of Pune. It compares well with the syllabi The Bioinformatics Centre, School of
of Master’s programmes offered at various universi- Biotechnology, Madurai Kamaraj University offered
ties world over. A few differences feature due to a 1-year Advanced Diploma course in Bioinformatics
degree of details and weightages allocated to found- during 1996–2006. The course was designed to pro-
ing disciplines or areas of specialization. For example, vide an integrated outlook of biotechnology and
bioinformatics programmes offered in the different bioinformatics (http://www.biotechmku.org/).
universities/institutes in Germany are designed to
focus on the main research area of the parent uni- Pondicherry University, Puducherry
versity/institute [5].
The ADB and MSc programmes in bioinformatics The Bioinformatics Center of Pondicherry
at the University of Pune turned out to be highly University currently offers MSc and PhD
sought after professional courses leading to place- programmes besides modular courses in bioinfor-
ments in academia as well as industry. To date, a matics (http://www.bicpu.edu.in/). Pondicherry
total of 127 and 146 students have been trained in University, Madurai Kasmraj University and Anna
the ADB and MSc (Bioinformatics) programmes, re- University (Chennai) are also due to start MSc in
spectively. Of the 69% of the students, who have computational biology on a consortium basis from
successfully completed these courses, 80% found the academic year 2010–11.
placement in academia or industries in India and
abroad. These budding bioinformaticians are contri- Indian Institutes of Technology
buting to a wide range of academic and commercial
projects not only in core scientific areas (drug Master’s level programmes in Bioengineering and
and vaccine developments, clinical research, agrobio- Biotechnology offered by IITs include bioinformat-
technology, etc.) but also in technological as- ics as core/elective courses.
pects (software, database development and user
support). Indian Institutes of Information Technology
6. page 6 of 10 Kulkarni-Kale et al.
Indian Institutes of Information Technology Microbial Technology, Chandigarh; Institute of
(IIITs), Allahabad offers MTech in Information Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi,
Technology with specialization in bioinformatics etc.). These programmes are mainly funded by the
(http://bi.iiita.ac.in/index.html) whereas IIIT DBT, Department of Science and Technology
Hyderabad offers MTech in bioinformatics as well (DST), Council for Scientific and Industrial
as MS by research in bioinformatics (http://www Research (CSIR), Ministry of Communications
.iiit.ac.in/academics/programmes/postgraduate/ Information Technology (MCIT), Indian Council
mtechbio). of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR) and University
Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Grants Commission (UGC). Availability of doctoral
Biotechnology, Bangalore programmes has provided an impetus to research in
Downloaded from http://bib.oxfordjournals.org at New Copenhagen University on August 20, 2010
bioinformatics.
A postgraduate course of 18-month duration
(three semesters) in bioinformatics is conducted by
the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied CHALLENGES AND
Biotechnology (IBAB), Bangalore, since 2002 OPPORTUNITIES
(http://www.ibab.ac.in/prog_bioinformatics.html). Emergence of bioinformatics has ushered in new ex-
citements in Life Science research and opened up
DOEACC Society new vistas in the career paths [8, 11, 16, 17].
Computational infrastructure is a crucial component
The DOEACC Society, an autonomous body of for generating the human resource with desired skills
the Department of Information Technology, and competencies. Through the establishment of
Ministry of Communications Information BTIS Network, DBT has played and continues to
Technology, Government of India, is dedicated to play a significant role in this direction.
education in IT in the non-formal sector. The soci- Bioinformatics being a multidisciplinary field,
ety has designed bioinformatics courses at four dif- teaching programmes require experts from the core
ferent levels, ranging from basic diploma (‘O’ level) domain (bioinformatics) as well as from the basic
to MTech (‘C’ level). The courses are run at desig- areas of biology, mathematics, statistics, computer
nated centres of DOEACC (http://www.doeacc science and information technology. Only a handful
.edu.in), e.g. a B-level programme, MSc (Tech) in of teachers with the necessary teaching and research
bioinformatics, at the West Bengal University of experience in the field of bioinformatics are currently
Technology (WBUT), Kolkata. available. In most of the universities, the limited
number of in-house faculty makes it necessary to
PhD programmes in bioinformatics invite experts from other institutions. With increas-
Research work in the areas of computational biology ing numbers of courses all over the country, there is
and data mining leading to the award of doctoral de- a growing demand for experts/teachers in this field.
grees has been carried out in India since late 1960s. This opens up opportunities for the overseas
University of Pune was one of the first universities to bioinformaticians to return to India, facilitating
have started a PhD programme in 1997 in bioinfor- brain gain.
matics perse and the first degree was awarded in 2000.
Currently, PhD programmes in bioinformatics and Teaching bioinformatics to students
computational biology are offered by several central, as a component of Master’s degree
state and private universities, Indian Institutes of programmes in other disciplines
Technology (IITs) as well as research institutes (e.g. In view of the wide spread applications in life science
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; National research, a few universities have included bioinfor-
Centre for Biological sciences, Bangalore; Centre matics as a subject in the curricula of Master’s degree
for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad; programmes in zoology, botany, microbiology, bio-
Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, chemistry, biotechnology and bioengineering.
Hyderabad; National Institute of Pharmaceutical Students of these subjects are the potential users
Education Research at Mohali and other locations; of bioinformatics and hence need to be trained
various National Institutes of Technology; Institute of in an ‘application-oriented’ manner. Bioinformatics
7. Bioinformatics education in India page 7 of 10
training is adding value to some of the engineering this examination. The examination is novel and
and management degree programmes as well. We unique in that it employs a three-tier system of test-
envisage that bioinformatics training will soon be ing, viz. objective, short answer and computational
incorporated into the curricula of medical sciences laboratory based assessments.
so that the medical fraternity would be adequately The objective and short answer components of
equipped to apply modern methods of molecular the examination include sections on biology, basic
medicine in clinical practice research in future. mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, informa-
Based on our experience of teaching bioinformatics tion technology and bioinformatics. The skills
to a few students with background in pharmacy and assessed in the laboratory based examination are:
our interactions with experts working in the area of (i) application of the existing bioinformatics tools,
drug design, we believe that formal training in bio- (ii) ability to analyse and interpret data and (iii) com-
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informatics would empower pharmacists with new petency in programming. A national committee
tools approaches for the entire spectrum of appli- of experts has framed the syllabus for BINC exam-
cation areas, viz. drug discovery, delivery and metab- ination, which is compatible with Master’s level
olism. Similar views on the inclusion of teaching programmes.
bioinformatics in pharmacy curricula have been ex- Candidates, who qualify in all the three individual
pressed by Thorn et al. [18]. components of the examination, are awarded a cer-
tificate. This certification is intended to serve as a
Need for modular courses benchmark to facilitate industries and other potential
Professionals from different domains of life, physical employers in recruiting bioinformatics professionals.
and computer sciences can effectively utilize bio- As a corollary to the BINC certification, fellowships
informatics resources for knowledge discovery. In are also awarded to the top 15 BINC qualified can-
view of this, there is a growing interest to acquire didates to pursue PhD in Indian institutes and uni-
the requisite skills through short term, tailor-made versities in the area of bioinformatics and
modular courses in bioinformatics. To cater to this computational biology. This examination is open
requirement, BTIS centres funded by DBT are orga- to students from other countries as well, for the pur-
nizing theme-based short-term training programmes pose of certification only.
(http://www.btisnet.gov.in/uniquepage.asp?ID_ BINC examinations were conducted five times
PK¼21). MCIT, Government of India has also taken during 2005–10. A total of 2374 candidates, from
the initiative to identify and fund Centres of 27 states and union territories of India have appeared
Excellence with a mandate to design and deliver for these examinations, of which, only 50 candidates
modular courses of short duration for professionals have qualified for certification amounting to a success
(http://mit.gov.in/content/bio-informatics). rate of 2.1% (Table 1). While candidates from
Pondicherry University and IBAB, Bangalore have more than 150 universities/institutes appeared for
recently launched such courses. the examinations, those who qualified came from
only 18 of them. However, the representation
BioInformatics National Certification of universities/institutes to which successful candi-
Examination dates belong is becoming wider every year
Recent years have witnessed a mushrooming of bio- (Table 1). Of the candidates who qualified for certi-
informatics training programmes in Indian universi- fication, 80% had formal training in bioinformatics
ties and institutions, both from the public and private reflecting that these candidates had a distinct advan-
sectors, with a wide variation in the course contents, tage over those who had limited exposure to bio-
training period and methodology of training. In view informatics during their education or through
of this, recognizing the need to define the minimum self-study. Among the BINC certified candidates
core competency of the trained manpower in this the proportion of those with Master’s degree is
area, DBT has instituted the BioInformatics 88%, which is significantly higher than those with
National Certification (BINC) examination in 2005 a Bachelor’s degree (12%). This underlines the im-
with the objective to certify the bioinformatics portance of education in basic sciences at Bachelor’s
knowledge and skills of the students (http:// level as a prerequisite for adequate and comprehen-
bioinfo.ernet.in/binc). However, formal training sive training in bioinformatics at the Master’s level.
in bioinformatics is not a prerequisite to appear for Thus, the recent rush to introduce courses in
8. page 8 of 10 Kulkarni-Kale et al.
bioinformatics at the Bachelor’s degree level by sev- mining and are expected to have a far-reaching
eral institutes/universities appears to be premature impact on bioinformatics research. Furthermore,
and ill-conceived since students do not get an op- new approaches are needed for cross-scale and
portunity to have a sound foundation in basic sci- cross-discipline integration of data from biodiversity
ences. Similar views have been expressed by Natesh informatics, ecoinformatics and enviroinformatics,
and Bhan [11] on the Bachelor’s degree programmes which is critical to a wide range of scientific and
in biotechnology. educational purposes as well as for decision-making
in the sustainable use of natural resources [19]. These
Way forward emerging trends, which would widen the scope of
The resources available for bioinformatics education- bioinformatics, need to be incorporated in the curri-
al programmes have been enriched over the period cula. For example, studies of interactions at levels
Downloaded from http://bib.oxfordjournals.org at New Copenhagen University on August 20, 2010
of last 10–12 years. The easy and efficient access to beyond molecular, such as cell–cell, species–species
scientific knowledge through specialized journals, and species–environment as outlined in phylody-
e-learning material, international conferences, work- namics studies [20] should find a place in the curri-
shops, etc. has further augmented the development cula. Mathematical modelling and simulations of
of these programmes. The time is now ripe to an- these interactions should constitute an important
ticipate a perceptible impact of the educational pro- component of bioinformatics training in future.
grammes on research and developments in life The students should also be exposed to skills in sci-
sciences in general and bioinformatics in particular entific writing and presentation, knowledge of intel-
in the country. lectual property rights, ethics, morals and
The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed socio-scientific attitude to ensure their overall devel-
an unprecedented accumulation of biological data opment. We believe that with the inclusion of these
due to spatio-temporal studies involving technolo- aspects in bioinformatics education, bioinformatics as
gies that allowed capturing data at mega- and a discipline will move into ‘the Forth Paradigm’,
milli-scales. The complexities and volume of result- facilitating data-intensive discoveries in biological
ant data posed new challenges for management and sciences [21]. A recent survey carried out by the
Table 1: University-wise distribution of candidates who qualified in BINC examinations (2005^10)
Sr. No. Year Name of the University BINC Qualified
Candidates
1. 2005 çç- 0
2. 2007 Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 1
Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur 1
University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore 1
University of Pune, Pune 4
West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata 1
3. 2008 Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bangalore 2
Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida 1
Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal 1
University of Pune, Pune 6
Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 2
4. 2009 Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut 1
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay 1
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 1
International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad 1
JNU, New Delhi 1
Panjab University, Chandigarh 1
Patna University, Patna 1
Sardar Patel University, Gujrat 1
Sastra University, Thanjavur 1
University of Pune, Pune 20
Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 1
5. 2010 çç- 0
Total 50
9. Bioinformatics education in India page 9 of 10
journal Nature clearly brings out the need for trained The help extended by Ms. Sunita Jagtap in data compilation is
bioinformaticians as well as application of latest tech- greatly appreciated. V.C. acknowledges the Global Biodiversity
Information Facility.
nology of cloud computing for archival and proces-
sing of genomic data to maximize the discoveries
based on genomic data [22].
FUNDING
Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
towards infrastructural facility and teaching programs
CONCLUSIONS (ADB, M.Sc., CoE and BINC) at the Bioinformatics
Recognizing the potential of bioinformatics, India
Centre, University of Pune. Ministry of Com-
has taken the early steps to establish the necessary
munications and Information Technology, Govern-
infrastructure and initiated the training programmes
ment of India towards Center of Excellence in
Downloaded from http://bib.oxfordjournals.org at New Copenhagen University on August 20, 2010
in this area. Efforts in this direction have resulted
Bioinformatics.
in perceivable growth of bioinformatics and biotech-
nology in the country. Several research projects
have been funded and successfully completed,
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