Modern biotech & chemical testing labs at MNNIT soon

MOTILAL NEHRU National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) is all set to have its very own state-of-the-art Biotechnology Laboratory and a separate Chemical Testing Lab soon.

Once functional, the labs would be the first of their kind in an NIT in the country and would be used to provide hands-on training to students of BTech (Biotechnology) and BTech (Chemical Engineering), two new courses which the Deemed University plans to start from the forthcoming academic session.

Equipped with highly sophisticated research equipment, the Biotechnology Laboratory will be constructed at the cost of more than Rs 2 crore and will become operational for the second year students of the BTech (Biotechnology) by July 2007.

"We have been keeping a hawk's eye on the researches that are being carried out in the country in the field of biotechnology and the picture of current research seems to be bleak," said Director of MNNIT Prof Arun Baran Samaddar.

He said despite the ongoing researches in the field and the courses that are being offered by the other institutes, MNNIT decided to provide an extra impetus to the field of Biotechnology in the country as the next century will undoubtedly be the era of biotechnology and nano-technology. The proposed lab will be embellished with high-tech equipment like DNA Synthesiser, DNA Sequencer, high-resolution electron microscope as well as hot and cold rooms. Besides these, the biotech lab will also be upgraded from time-to-time as per the requirement of the research needs.

"We would need special hot and cold rooms for the preservation and conservation of the bacteria and other organisms to be made available for the advanced research, explained Prof Samaddar who added that the admission for the new BTech courses will carried out on the basis of the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) conducted by CBSE, New Delhi.

Two full-time visiting faculty have already been appointed for the new BTech courses among whom one has even joined on duty, said Prof Samaddar. He said that permanent faculty with core research experience of biotechnology would be recruited by the 2007-08 session.

"Special thrust will be laid on the wet lab research in comparison to the existing dry (computational) research lab. These researches will include DNA analysis and tissue culture and others," he added.

Similarly, a modern Chemical Testing Lab with the investment of Rs 20 lakh will be constructed for the proposed BTech (Chemical Engineering) course which MNNIT plans to start from the 2006-07 academic session.

It may be mentioned that Biotechnology is the directed use of organisms for the manufacture of organic products (like beer, milk products, and skin). Naturally present bacteria are utilised by the mining industry in bioleaching.

Biotechnology is also used to recycle, treat waste and clean up sites contaminated by industrial activities (bioremediation), and produce biological weapons. There are also applications of biotechnology that do not use living organisms like DNA microarrays used in genetics and radioactive tracers used in medicine.