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| India's first stem cell institute to come up in city |
| BS Reporter / Chennai/ Bangalore Nov 16, 2009, 00:25 IST |
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Bangalore has been chosen as the location to set up India’s first major stem cell institute. The institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, called inStem will be set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), government of India at an investment of Rs 200 crore.
inStem will come up as part of the ‘Bangalore Bio-cluster’ which will consist of three main institutes; the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), inStem and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) at the GKVK campus, University of Agricultural Sciences. NCBS was established in 1992 and operates under the aegis of the Department of Atomic Energy.
C-CAMP is the platform technology, industry-interation and incubator unit which will act as a provider and developer of technology and enable scientific activity and entrepreneurship. Around Rs 50 crore will be invested in C-CAMP which will be registered as a section 25 company so that technology can be commercialised when required.
“NCBS, C-CAMP and inStem will share space, faculty, facilities and ideas in an eco-system where interdisciplinary work will be encouraged,” said Jyotsna Dhawan, Dean of inStem. Research at the institute could look into basic stem cell research as well as regenerative medicine. She added that inStem would offer PHDs in stem cell research. Nearly 40 faculty members are expected to be inducted into the institute.
Prithviraj Chavan, Union minister of state (independent charge) for science & technology and Earth Sciences called the ‘Bangalore Bio-Cluster’ a unique experiment for Indian science. “Currently our government spends 1 per cent of the GDP on science but we will increase it to 2 per cent,” said Chavan.
He said that moving away from the model of setting up public institutions, the government would now look at partnership with private entities by being a facilitator for funds.
The government, said Chavan, is keen to attract young brains into pure sciences through new initiatives since students have a tendency to opt for medicine and engineering due to the attractive remunerations in the respective fields.
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