The Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has drawn up an ambitious project to develop a biotechnology research hub at Puthenthope here. The Centre for DNA Bar-coding of life forms in the Western Ghats and Kerala, which is scheduled to be inaugurated by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on June 11, will be the first research facility on the campus. Moves are afoot to make it functional within two years.
"Over the next five years, the complex will be developed as the biotechnology hub of Kerala. We have plans to establish a biotechnology resource and instrumentation centre with state-of-the-art laboratories where individuals and institutions could do research work," E.P. Yesodharan, executive vice-president, KSCSTE, said.The Centre for DNA Bar-coding is being set up under the Scheme for Augmentation of Research and Development (SARD) with P.N. Krishnan of the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI) as coordinator. The institution is expected to become a key facility to identify and distinguish biological species in threatened natural habitats such as rainforests and tropical ecosystems.
The Hindu, May 21, 2008
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