Dimapur, June 16 (EMN): With the objective to develop bio-resources of the Northeast, Directors of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and the National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune in Maharashtra, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) at Imphal, Manipur.
The Directors found many unique bio-resources available in NE India, out of which a few could be commercialised for the socio-economic development of the region. The researchers appreciated the efforts taken by IBSD during the last 15 years and expressed satisfaction about the facilities at IBSD and said they have the technology for the development of the unique bio-resources.
Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo, Director IBSD, stressed on the uniqueness of the region and said that the memorandum with RCGB Thiruvananthapuram will focus on developing a Regional Facility for DNA Fingerprinting at IBSD for molecular genetic diversity analysis of the unique flora and fauna of North East India and develop unique passport data for rare plants and animals.
Prof. Sahoo also said that the facility will become a training centre for scientists and students, who wish to learn about the techniques used for DNA Fingerprinting and DNA barcoding for the entire North East region.
Dr. M Radhakrishna Pillai, Director RGCB, also mentioned that the Kerala based Institute undertakes basic and applied research in frontier areas of disease biology, and has focused on 3 major areas of research such as Infectious and Chronic Disease Biology, Plant Biotechnology and Translation Research and Technology.
The memorandum with NCCS Pune will focus building up further the Microbial Repository Centre at IBSD, which already has over 25,000 microbial isolates from different parts of North East India, and will also provide a platform for the recently launched National Human Microbiome Project that will also conduct an in-depth study of the microbiome of North East India’s diverse ethic groups, said Dr. Shekhar C Mande, Director NCCS.
It may be mentioned here that North East Region of India is a genetic treasure house of plants, animals and microbial resources. This region falls among the World’s top 10 Biodiversity Hotspots. Realising the importance of the rich biodiversity and the unique bio-resources of the region, the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, established the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) at Imphal, Manipur, in the year 2001.
