GoI launches Drug Discovery Hackathon for COVID-19

On July 2, 2020, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan and Union Minister of HRD Ramesh Pokhriyal launched “Drug Discovery Hackathon”, 2020.

Highlights

The event was jointly launched by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research). The event was inaugurated virtually.

About the Hackathon

The event will act as a platform for all the people to share their ideas about cure against COVID-19. This is an open source drug discovery platform for COVID-19. The GoI will also help in chemical synthesis and biological testing.

Background

According to GoI, COVID-19 virus is still being understood. This is mainly due to its complex nature. The strains of the virus change differently in different regions. So far, around 10 strains of COVID-19 has been discovered and isolated.

Therefore, the Indian Government believes that a collective intelligence is required to overcome the limitations.

What is the plan?

The Hackathon has been divided into two main tracks. The first track will deal with designing of drugs. The second track involves optimization of algorithms and tools. Also, the Hackathon is to be conducted in three different phases. Each phase is to last for two months.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2020