Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh releases “Biotech-PRIDE Guidelines”

July 30, 2021 Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced the “Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines” developed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology (DBT). This guideline is to enable information exchange and promote research and innovation in many research groups nationwide. The Secretary has also launched the website of the Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC).

Highlights

• There is no shortage of talent in India, and the local database will have a huge support mechanism that will allow young scientists and researchers to share and use data for the benefit of Indian citizens.
• The launch of Biotech-PRIDE is the first of its kind in DBT; India ranks fourth among the top 20 countries which is contributing to biological databases.
• The government invests a large amount of public funds to generate data in various fields, including in biological sciences for knowledge generation, to gain in-depth knowledge of the mechanisms complex biology and other processes and for translation.
• Advances in DNA sequencing and other high-throughput technologies, as well as the dramatic drop in the cost of DNA sequencing, have enabled government agencies to fund research to generate large amounts of biological data in various fields of biological sciences.
• Sharing a broad spectrum of data on a large scale promotes understanding of the biological and molecular processes in animal husbandry, agriculture, and other basic research that contribute to human health, thus spreading to social benefits.
• The Indian Biological Data Center (IBDC) will initially implement these guidelines.
• Other existing datasets / data centers will connect to this IBDC called BioGrid.

Bio-Grid

The BioGrid will become a national repository of knowledge, information, and biological data, and will be responsible for allowing their exchange, establishing security measures, standards and quality of data sets, and establishing detailed modes of access to data. The Biotech PRIDE Guidelines will facilitate this and allow the exchange of information to promote research and innovation by different research groups across the country.

Importance of PRIDE guidelines

The PRIDE guidelines will help coordinate, collaborate, and foster data sharing for research and analysis in the country, and will promote scientific work and advance progress based on previous work. These guidelines will also help avoid duplication and waste of research resources.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2021