The last decade was rightly termed as the information technology decade. It dramatically altered the way Indians live and dream. This period witnessed Indian entrepreneurial spirits soaring with the rise of the dotcom wave which unfortunately lasted for a short span. But the resilience of the IT professionals soon found outlets in bioinformatics—application of IT to the management of biological information. It has propelled many familiar names from IT industry to explore the field of bioinformatics. Some big players in India are doing more than take a mere look at the scenario. These days media has been seeing, almost on a daily basis, how the Indian infotech, biotech and pharma sectors are joining hands to explore the tremendous potential of this new area.

Although India is expected to play a leading role in the bioinformatics revolution, it is widely recognized that we lack trained bioinformatics professional. At present a strong need is felt for a multi-disciplinary system of education which incorporates both these areas—biology and computer science. Both universities and private institutions have started offering courses. Today, offline and online courses are available in the country. Take for example, Bioinformatics Institute of India (BII). It is engaged in providing education and training services in Bioinformatic sciences. According to Puneet Mehrotra, technical director of the institute, "The total number of students enrolled in BII’s regular and distant learning programs has reached up to 5,000. The need for talented professionals is high and the institute is creating a complete pool for bioin-formatics. We tend to provide almost all sorts of services in this specific areas."

As for the application of bioinformatics, within 10 years, all new drug designs will be genomics-related. Here is a $300 billion pharmaceutical industry and a very fast-growing biotech industry to support. There is a $300 billion industry spending, $30-40 billion a year in R&D: huge efforts, no tools. There are very good sequencers around, with good instruments, but there isn’t very much software to support it.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, is one of the early introducers of bioinformatics course in India. Prof. Alok Bhattacharya, dean, School of Life Sciences at JNU, shares some of his past experiences. "In the late Eighties, when we actually ventured into this field. The reaction from the industry was mixed. At that time, the use of computers had not reached to the top level, either. But, now the requirement of bioinformatics professionals has increased and it is the most emerging and efficient tool for research." Commenting on the number of students, he said, "We believe in a very selective human resource. We do not keep our focus to produce large number of computational biologists, because the industry is very selective about such workforce." His center would introduce MSc in Computational Biology from next year. "This name, Computational Biology, indicates a much larger canvas. Since the future lies in the hands of upcoming young talents, coming from combination of biology and computers, this new course will attract people from both the backgrounds," he added.

The combination of biology and computers is understandable. But what about biotech and management? This is a very futuristic thinking. But we are not behind here. Looking at the future needs and opportunities in biotechnology, University of Pune has launched a two-year full-time MBA program in biotechnology (MBA Biotechnology) last year. This is not only the first such program by any Indian university/institute but also probably the first of its kind in Asia. Says Dr (Capt.) CM Chitale, professor and head of the department of management sciences, "We want to give the basic inputs for managing the biotechnology products, on intellectual property rights etc., which are key for the growth of
biotechnology in India." Added Dr Smita S Singhania, lecturer and course co-ordinator (MBA-BT), "The biotech companies are eagerly looking at the department. They want to absorb the top five."

The thrust on biotechnology education is scaling high. According to Dr MR Kurup, secretary, Kelkars Education Trust "The objective of the courses is to provide skills to the students for self-employment, to train students to suit to the industry requirements, to apply high technology in teaching and training and to establish industry –academic interface." Adds Dr SS Barve, head, department of botany and coordinator, department of biotechnology, in Pune University "All our students are working in well known organizations in India and other countries. This validates the point that there is ample demand for quality students in the biotechnology industry."

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