Give a brief account of major
achievements in the realm of biotechnology in India.
(15 marks,
250 words)
Biotechnology is a
highly interdisciplinary field that combines biological sciences with
engineering technologies to manipulate living organisms and biological systems
to produce products that advances healthcare, medicine, agriculture, food,
pharmaceuticals and environment control. Biotechnology can be classified into
two broad categories: R&D in Biological Sciences and Industrial Processes.
The biological sciences aspect deals with research and development in areas
such as Microbiology, Cell biology, Genetics,
Molecular Biology etc.
for understanding the occurrence
and treatment of diseases, development of agriculture,
food production, protection of the environment and many more. Most of
the R&D work in biological sciences is carried out in the laboratory. The industrial
processes aspect deals with the production of
drugs, vaccines, biofuels and pharmaceuticals on an industrial scale
using biochemical processes and techniques.
India has embarked upon
a very ambitious program in biotechnology with a view to harnessing its
available human and unlimited
biodiversity resources. It has mainly been a government sponsored effort with very little
private industry participation in investment.
The major thrust areas
of
biotechnology development in India have been
education and training, agricultural biotechnology, biofertilizers and
biopesticides, tissue culture for tree and woody species, medicinal and
aromatic plants, biodiversity conservation and environment, vaccine
development, animal, aquaculture, seri and food biotechnology, microbial
technology, industrial biotechnology, biochemical engineering and associated
activities such as creation of biotechnology information system and national
repositories.
The Department of
Biotechnology (DBT) established under the Ministry of Science and Technology in
1986 was the major instrument of action to bring together most talents,
material resources, and budgetary provisions. It began sponsoring research in
molecular biology, agricultural and medical sciences, plant and animal tissue
culture, biofertilizers and biopesticides, environment, human genetics,
microbial technology, and bioprocess engineering, etc. The establishment of a
number of world class bioscience research institutes and provision of large
research grants to some existing universities helped in developing specialized
centres of biotechnology.
The sector in India, which is
currently growing at 20% was expected to go up to USD 11.6 Billion by 2017. The
focus is on making the Indian biotechnology sector reach USD 100 billion by
2025. Currently, India’s biotech industry holds 2% of the global market share
and is the third largest in the Asia-Pacific region. The sector has immense
potential to grow and provides plenty of opportunities to
investors. The ‘National IPR policy’ announced by the
Government of India in May 2016 while helping promote innovation, R&D and
entrepreneurship, also lays down processes to expedite IPR filings, which is
critical for the success of this sector.
Today, big Indian biotech companies like Avesthagen, Biocon,
Life Technologies, Shantha Biotechnics, Strand Life Sciences and so forth are
expanding their business. Serum Institute, Pune is believed to be the world`s
largest manufacturer of DPT vaccines. Indian Immunologicals operates the
world`s second largest plant for veterinary vaccines and is also the world`s
largest manufacturer of the vaccine against Foot and Mouth Disease. The
Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) is a proposed regulatory
body in India for uses of biotechnology products including genetically modified
organisms (GMOs)
Upcoming sectors are bioinformatics, recombinant
technology etc which India is well poised to take advantage of.
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