ANNUAL REPORT - Department of Biotechnology

two pathogens in the acidic environment.
Publications & Patents
During the year, 46 scientific papers were published
in reputed peer-reviewed journals, and 3 chapters
have been contributed to books. Seven patents
have been filed. In addition to the institutional
research funds, the scientific endeavours are further
substantiated by peer reviewed funding from various
national and international funding agencies such as
DBT, DST, DRDO, Wellcome Trust, etc.
Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics
(CDFD), Hyderabad
The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics
(CDFD) is an autonomous organization funded by
the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of
Science and Technology, Government of India.
CDFD receives funding also from other agencies on
specific collaborative projects. The Centre is
recognized by the Manipal Academy of Higher
Education for pursuing Ph.D. programme in Life
Sciences and is equipped with world class, state-ofthe-art
instrumentation and computing infrastructure
to facilitate working in frontier areas of research in
Life Sciences. There are presently fifteen groups
working on diverse research areas related to
genetics, molecular and cell biology, cancer biology,
pathogen biology, HIV biology, Immunology etc. and
the centre continues to attract leaders in related
disciplines. CDFD is supported with a strong
Bioinformatics facility and is the India node of the
European Molecular Biology Network (EMBnet).
CDFD is also a Sun Microsystem's Centre of
Excellence in Medical Bioinformatics. CDFD is
located in the fastest growing metropolitan city of
Hyderabad, more popularly known as Cyberabad for
its initiative and pioneering role in developing the
state during the past few years in the area of
information technology. Amongst the institutions of
its kind that are working in various areas of
molecular biology, CDFD is unique in that it has been
successfully involved both (i) in providing services,
based on modern high-technology DNA-based
methods, of direct benefit to the public, as well as (ii)
in performing fundamental research of international
standards in frontier areas of biological science. The
DBT Annual Report 2006-07
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value addition that has been obtained from combining
these two kinds of activities within a single institution
cannot be overestimated, since it has enabled CDFD
to attract faculty and students/project staff of topnotch
caliber who have provided a vibrant and nonhierarchical
environment where both research and
services thrive and the spirit of questioning, learning,
improving, and innovating is taken for granted. The
high credibility enjoyed by CDFD, in particular
amongst the stakeholders of the country's criminal
justice delivery system, stands testimony to its
success. The centre has witnessed an
unprecedented growth during last year in terms of
new service initiatives and cutting edge research.
Based on novel technology developed by the Centre,
a new joint activity has been initiated this year at the
CDFD as “APEDA-CDFD Centre for Basmati DNA
Analysis” with funding through APEDA (Agricultural
and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority). The Centre will test and certify export
consignments of basmati rice for their purity, and is
expected to contribute in increasing the value and
quality of such exports from the country. The major
thrust areas of research in the Centre continue to be
studies on infectious disease pathogens including M.
tuberculosis, H. pylori, HIV, and HPV; silkmoth
genetics and genomics; computational biology and
bioinformatics; and fundamental studies on
transcription and signal transduction. Transgenic
silkworms have been created that are resistant to
baculovirus, causative agent for destroying the
worms, by using RNAi technology. Important results
in K-Ras signaling pathways in cancer epithelial cells
have been obtained and a novel and convenient tool
for Human Papilloma Virus detection has also been
developed.
Services
CDFD continues to provide crucial support to the
justice delivery system in the country through DNA
fingerprinting services, while the Diagnostics service,
apart from meeting the needs of regular patients, is
also striving to introduce and to test potential new
diagnostic tools and methods. CDFD received more
than 150 cases ranging from violent crimes and
paternity/maternity disputes to wildlife poaching. One
of the major cases received was from the Gujarat
High Court, which acted on the request of the Central
Bureau of Investigation to direct the Centre to