The Deptt. of Bio-Technology and the Deptt. of Atomic Energy signed a Memorandum Of Understanding to institutionalize their collaboration for conducting advanced research on areas of mutual interests. The MoU was signed by Secretary, Deptt. of Bio-Technology, Dr. M.K.Bhan and Secretary, Deptt. of Atomic Energy, Dr. Srikumar Banerjee in the presence of Hon’ble Minister for Science & Technology Sh. Prithviraj Chavan in New Delhi last evening.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for Science & Technology Sh. Prithviraj Chavan remarked that signing of the MoU is a significant moment though the two Departments have been working together in the past also at a scientist-to-scientist level. The Minister said that institutionalizing their collaborative efforts would help breaking boundaries and ensure the coming of best brains together as also pooling in of resources. Sh. Prithviraj Chavan congratulated two Departments and wished them success in their new formal understanding to create synergy in the area of life science research. Sh. Chavan also added that the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is extremely supportive of science and technology research and there is unprecedented international interest in the existing times for Indian science and technology sector. The Minister informed that pursuant to cabinet’s decision, the Deptt. of Atomic Energy and Deptt. of Bio-Technology would soon take over the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre to develop it as a major cancer research center.

The Memorandum Of Understanding between Deptt. of Bio-Technology and Deptt. of Atomic Energy would cover identified areas of mutual interest in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, biomedicine, biomedical technology, cancer biology, stress biology, biosensors, infectious diseases, agricultural biotechnology, nuclear agriculture, nanotechnology and nano-medicine, radiation biology, artificial photosynthesis, bioremediation, chemical biology, bioinformatics, computational and systems biology etc.The MoU is aimed to promote joint activities between the two Departments with a view to accelerate the pace of research in advanced and challenging areas to enable substantial inter-agency collaboration within the country and enhanced participation in similar projects being implemented at the international level by consortia of institutions and nations.

The Secretary Bio-Technology Dr. M.K.Bhan said that the MoU would help extending the existing Bio-Technology cluster at Bangalore where the National Centre of Biological Science and the National Stem Cell Institute have already initiated work. The Secretary Deptt. of Atomic Energy Sh. Srikumar Banerjee pointed out that MoU would enable extending the ambit of the outreach programme of Deptt. of Bio-Technology to make application of science meaningful for disease oriented research and create science for use in our own country as also for global community.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : July 28, 2010