The Bioinformatics Institute of India will shortly open a branch in Bangalore. This was announced at the Bangalore IT.Com, four-day IT exposition held here in the city. The proposed centre, scheduled to open by December second week, aims at providing a platform for individuals, professionals, research and development organisations, pharmaceuticals and software companies to utilise and harness the Indian bioinformatics potential. Vijay Shukla, director, Bioinformatics Institute of India is confident that India is expected to play a leading role in the bioinformatics revolution. India has software professionals and qualified biologists but lacks a combination of both. We are planning to bridge the gap, he added.

The Bioinformatics Institute of India plans to begin three distance-learning programmes in Bangalore. These will include postgraduate diploma in Bioinformatics, postgraduate diploma cheminformatics and bioinformatics. The courses will be of one year duration. The regular programmes would the post graduate diploma in bioinformatics held for a duration of six months. The graduate diploma in bioinformatics, a three-year course can be done simulataneously with graduation, informed Shukla. Some of the leading drug companies like GlaxoSmithKline Beecham, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Glaxo Wellcome and Reliance Life Sciences are hunting for Bioinformatics while smaller pharma-biotech companies have difficulties to hire the personnel they want, pointed out Shukla.