The Institute of Bioinformatics (IOB) a non-profit organization set up by The Genomics Research Trust in collaboration with the University of Hopkins at the International Tech Park, Whitefield on the outskirts of Bangalore will now use research and experimental approaches to provide data in computational genomics and proteomics.

Heading this institute as chief scientific advisor is Dr Akhilesh Pandey who oversees the research performed at IOB. His areas of interests are signal transduction, mass spectrometry, protein-protein interactions, databases and Bioinformatics. He has been acknowledged worldwide for his research in Bioinformatics and proteomics. Dr. Pandey is trying to ensure scientific discoveries by using Bioinformatics and proteomics technologies', which could be utilized to understand diseases, find treatment options.

In the last 12 months, Dr. Pandey has been the motivator for several biologists and computer scientists at IOB and he envisages IOB to become a leading global centre for excellence. Bangalore was short listed as the base for IOB because it is at the forefront of a technology revolution in India and has been a hub of scientific expertise in biosciences, computing and related sciences.

In an interview with Nandita Vijay of Pharmabiz, Dr. Pandey talks about Bioinformatics being the next wave after information technology. Excerpts-:

There has been much talk about bioinformatics being the next wave after information technology. Is the hype justified? Your comment.

Bioinformatics is in for the boom. The subject is a combination of biology and information technology, which are adopted in such a manner to empirically solve or get a better hand on the research problems. There is no doubt that bioinformatics will continue be popular in the coming years. This is primarily due to the fact that we can now generate much more biological data and be able to analyze situations that is unlikely to change in the coming years.

There have been several unsuccessful bioinformatics business models in the last two to three years. How confident are you about the success of IOB?

Without commenting on the bioinformatics business models that have not been able to take-off, all that needs to be stated right now is that our model is research based. Since we are fully aware of the high quality of internationally competitive research at IOB, we are confident about IOB's success. In fact, we expect IOB to be a model for a new kind of institute in India.

India has the manpower for bioinformatics but do companies here have the funds to support such projects?

It would be difficult for me to answer this but am of the view that there will be projects but the biggest issue is the availability of funds. However, I must admit that am a bit unclear about the types of projects that are ongoing in companies in India. I am of the opinion that if the projects are interesting and viable, there would surely be the funds to support Bioinformatics.

What can the government do to boost the fledging bioinformatics industry?

The government must give special incentives to Bioinformatics sector like it has extended to the information technology industry. Importantly, the government must recognize institutes like IOB that are engaged in research, which spurs the industry. So money making must not be the only parameter by which the incentives should be decided. If an institute is doing path-breaking research, it is imperative to support such initiatives. Also, the inter-relation and importance between Bioinformatics and biotechnology must be recognized and promoted.

What has been IOB's experience in bioinformatics in India since its inception in early 2003? What are your expectations from the Indian markets?

We are primarily involved in research to create a comprehensive human protein reference database based on open-source software, which will serve as a repository of all human proteins till date. The uniqueness of the data is its accuracy, comprehensiveness and ease of retrieval. IOB plans to use the cutting edge mass spectrometry-based methods to define and annotate the human protein further. Although the technologies of IOB are not mainstream they include ZOB, Pearl, Viable and Python. The IT-based technologies like Scalable Vector Graphics will integrate with the front end technology SMIL. We have made rapid progress in using bioinformatics tools to develop databases and in initiating projects involving extensive bioinformatic analyses. We are competitive in the international arena.

What are the thrust areas of IOB?

The main thrust of IOB is research. We want to create publicly available databases and tools in the areas of genomics and proteomics. We want to emphasize the value of manual curation in the analysis of large datasets as is exemplified by our development of Human Protein Reference Database.

What kind of organization do you want to evolve into?

We want to evolve into a center of excellence in systems biology research by integrating computational biology with experimental biology. We plan to commence DNA microarray experiments as well as mass spectrometry-based proteomics experiments at IOB shortly.

What has been the performance of the company so far?

Our performance, since we are a non-profit organization, has to be measured in the number and quality of peer-reviewed publications in international journals. Our scientists have published several primary articles as well as review articles in leading international journals this year. Our database will be feature in the annual database issue of Nucleic Acids Research, a leading international journal in genomics.

Would you give us details on the collaborative arrangement with NCBS for the cancer marker project?

The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) has been very supportive of IOB since the inception of IOB. Our scientists are initiating experiments in collaboration with Dr. Sudhir Krishna's laboratory at NCBS to identify signatures for cervical cancer. This is just the beginning.

How would this database on cancer expected to help oncologists and onco research scientists?

The cancer database called Oncomine, that we have developed in collaboration with Dr. Arul Chinnaiyan's lab at the University of Michigan, will provide easy access to complicated data and help in the identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for a number of human cancers. There is currently no other similar resource.

In the area of oncology are you planning tie-ups with any other cancer centres like Curie Centre of oncology or Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology or any other institute in the country?

Yes, we are keen on making a small number of collaborative arrangements with key institutes in the country.

What are the strengths of the Institute?

The strength of our institute is the high quality of the work being done by scientists. The next strength of the institute is that we are one of the very few in the world that are combining bioinformatics and experimental approaches in research to understand human biology. For us, these two are inseparable.

What are the future plans of IOB?

As I mentioned earlier, IOB would like to continue its path of research in genomics and proteomics. We hope to start DNA micro array and proteomics experiments at IOB itself in the near future. We hope to ally ourselves with a major University in India. Most of our employees would then pursue Ph.D. degrees under the auspices of that University. What this implies, of course, is that IOB and that University will have the largest Ph.D. programme in bioinformatics in the world. This is at a time when leading learning centres like MIT and Harvard are trying to come up with curricula for such programmes.