IGIB: Vision of tomorrow

Although the platform is built up, IGIB needs to nurture talent and keep itself continuously updated, to remain at the cutting edge technology level and align with global genomics institutes of repute, writes Jayashree Padmini

WHEN the country is still stumbling over technology of yesteryears, there is one institute that has integrated the vision of tomorrow into its making - the Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (IGIB)! Here, we cannot forget the man behind this vision, Professor Samir Brahmachari, who has taken the CSIR lab to the frontier areas of functional genomics. The fortune and future of both the institute and the personage are interwoven.

How did Prof Brahmachari shape up this vision? The IISc scientist was the first to be elected from India to the International Human Genome Organization. This has been a turning point in his life and there starts the conceptualization of today’s genome institute.

Uniqueness of IGIB

What is unique about this institute? When brain drain pinched India down, IGIB has managed to draw talent, especially from the younger generation, from the country as well as overseas and more significantly, to retain it. How? Says, Prof Brahmachari, ‘‘I have adopted the strategy of assigning highly demanding, globally competitive, innovative projects rather than an extension of global projects.’’ With funding of mere Rs seven crore from the Department of Biotechnology and an equal investment from CSIR on modernization, CBT shaped up the genome dream. Being located in Delhi puts the institute at an advantageous position owing to the close vicinity of All India Institute of Medical Sciences and other hospitals that service a large patient population from across the country.

NIMHANS, Bangalore, is the other major institute from IGIB sources data. This assumes significance as IGIB has set its thrust on comparative genomics using computational tools to identify predisposition markers and drug targets with a focus on neurological and psychological disorders, asthma and TB. The research agenda doesn’t limit here, it encompasses life style diseases such as diabetes where the institute has collaborative projects with the Mumbai-based Nicholas Piramal and a proposed project with Strand Genomics of Bangalore in hypertension. To put it in a nutshell, Rs 50-crore plus plan already in hand to design predictive medicine of tomorrow!

IGIB, the erstwhile Center for Biochemical Technology, originally started as a manufacturer and importer of chemical and reagents for biomedical research, has undergone a metamorphosis over the years. It has positioned itself now as the institute for genomics and integrative biology as the name suggests. IGIB has taken the agenda in hands to take India through the aisle of genomics in the Genome era, for which the institute has drawn up the roadmap and incorporated the gamut of post genome capability into its kitty. This includes fusing together all available expertise in the areas of functional genomics and proteomics, genome informatics, system biology, comparative genomics, microbial & environmental genomics, disease genomics and population genomics. These are apart from human resource development in genomics technology & insilico biology and a focus on genomic resource & services.

Prof Brahmachari visualizes the institute to gain international acclaim and emerge as the nucleus of network projects involving industry and other institutes. Although the platform is built up, the institute needs to nurture talent and keep itself continuously updated, to remain at the cutting edge technology level and align with global genomics institutes of repute.