Bhubaneswar, November 12: Establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Marine Bio-technology in Odisha has been mooted, keeping in view the vast coastline, said Science and Technology Minister Ashok Panda while speaking in the 20th Annual General Body Meeting of Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar in New Delhi on Friday.
“A comprehensive proposal on the establishment of such a centre in Marine Bio-technology for Eastern Ghat has been submitted to the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. The proposal aims at bio-prospecting for novel compounds and drug candidates, generating genomic resources and contributing to the ecological restoration and enhanced livelihood of the coastal communities,” said Panda.
Panda further suggested inclusion of Kandhamal district in National Network Programme on Tribal Health and Nutrition, in addition to Nabarangpur, an aspirational district declared by the Centre in which ILS is presently involved.
He appreciated the ILS for its significant contribution during Covid pandemic through extensive testing and research activities on Delta Variants.
The meeting was presided over by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences.
ILS-Bhubaneswar Director Dr. Ajay Parida presented the salient features of the institute and said that setting up of an Immunogenicity platform has been approved and the Incubation Centre of the Institute is doing well.
He said that the Review Committee has praised the institute highly for its advanced technological approach, sound experimental designs and result oriented time bound performances.
Among others, Dr. Rajesh S Gokhale, Secretary, Department of BioTechnology and Dr. Sanjay Mishra, Scientific coordinator also spoke in the meeting.
