ANNUAL REPORT - Department of Biotechnology

antibiotic biosynthesis in Streptomyces. Major
achievements include identification of biomarkers
in serum of leprosy patients; identification of
daunorubicin (anti-cancer antibiotic from
Streptomyces) development of strain over producing
chitinase; patenting of two skin genes; 6 international
publication with impact factor 3 and above and
training of 10 students /scientists from
industry/institution. The facility has developed
technologies for production of chitinase, amylase
and antibiotics.
DNA Sequencing Facility at University of Delhi,
South Campus, New Delhi
The existing facilities have been optimally utilized
and more than 1200 users are benefited. A 48
capillary automated DNA sequencer has been
installed as phase III of the facility.
Toxicology facilities for GM Products at Shriram
Institute for Industrial Research (SRI), New Delhi
The Toxicology facility was inaugurated on
23.11.2006 and evaluations of GM products has
already been started. Remodeling of existing animal
house is completed and has been made functional.
Toxicological studies for DBT sponsored projects
namely Natural Dye & Dunelliella Biomass has
already been completed and Safety evaluation of the
GM Tomatoes are in progress. These studies have
been conducted on 50 % of the SRI's scheduled
charges.
High precision microcalorimetry facility for
monitoring biomolecular stability and
interactions at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi
The main objective of the facility is to determine the
thermal stability and conformational transitions of
proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids and lipids in terms
of transition temperature, enthalpy, free energy and
heat capacity of denaturation. The equipments have
been commissioned and are being utilized by various
users.
Flowcytometry Facility at All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, New Delhi
DBT Annual Report 2006-07
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The equipment has been installed and the facility has
been extensively used for teaching, training and
research. Three training programmes have been
conducted on software, maintenance and operations
of flowcytometry and 20 scientists /students have
been trained..
Upgradation of the existing computing
infrastructure at the Bioinformatics facility at
Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics
(CDFD), Hyderabad
Sun Fire E20K High End Server and related software
for hosting various tools and database received from
EMBnet and APBionet has been installed for
developing new tools and services for Bioinformatics
and Biotechnology Research. The upgradation has a
very positive impact on quality and quantity of
bioinformatics related publications from CDFD.
Transgenic Green House Facilities at University
of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore and Tamil
Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore
The green house with incinerator has been
constructed with the objectives of testing of the
transgenic crops already developed by these
universities for evaluating their performance outside
the laboratory, and to obtain Bio-safety data for large
Scale cultivation and testing of the transgenic
materials developed outside the Universities to test
their performance and to obtain the Bio-safety data
for large scale cultivation to derive their benefits.
Prof. S.P. Roychaudhari Drosophila Stock Centre
at University of Culcutta, Kolkata
Drosophila stock centre maintains over 400 different
genetic strains D. melanogaster. These stocks are
used for teaching in various Universities and
Institutes. Some of the strains has already been
enlisted Drosophila Information Service, USA. 200
M.Sc. and Post M.Sc. students from different
Departments of Universities are trained by the
Scientists of the Centre. A workshop entitled
“Drosophila genetics: A new way to look teaching and
Research resources” with 40 participants conducted.