On July 30, 2021, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Science & Technology released ‘Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines’ developed by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology.
- These Guidelines will be implemented through Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC) at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology supported by DBT.
- The Minister also launched the website of IBDC.
- Biotech-PRIDE is the 1st of its kind by the DBT.
- The PRIDE Guidelines will be helpful to harmonize, synergize and encourage the data sharing for research and analysis in the country and to promote scientific work and foster progress by building on previous work.
Key Points:
i.The guidelines aim at providing a well-defined framework to facilitate sharing of biological knowledge, information and data across the country to promote research and innovation in different research groups.
ii.Other existing data centres will be bridged to this IBDC which will be called Bio-Grid.
- Bio-Grid will be a National Repository for biological knowledge, information and data and will be responsible for enabling its exchange, developing measures for safety, standards and quality for datasets and establishing detailed modalities for accessing data.
iii.These guidelines will also avoid duplication and wasteful expenditure of resources on research.
iv.Notably, India ranks number 4 amongst the top 20 countries contributing biological databases.
Recent Related News:
DBT issued a Special Call to Farmers of North East Region (NER) under its Mission Programme ‘Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network (Biotech-KISAN)’. The objective is to understand the local problems of NER farmers and provide scientific solutions to solve them.
About Department of Biotechnology (DBT):
Establishment– 1986 under the Ministry of Science & Technology
Secretary– Dr. Renu Swarup
Headquarters– New Delhi
