A sudden spurt in demand for biotechnology professionals in Karnataka is in the offing with the conclusion of the Bangalore Bio.com 2001. Many educational institutions in the state are exploring this option with great enthusiasm. The proposed state government undertaking, Institute of Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnology [IBAB] at Whitefield near Bangalore is planning to provide training in bioinformatics. It will offer master's and doctoral degree programme and short-term training courses.

The government and the ICIC have already contributed Rs 5 crore seed capital but the scheduled opening of the Institute is being postponed by a month due to delay in completion.

According to Dr. Gayatri Saberwal of National Centre for Biological Sciences and the co-ordinator of IBAB, efforts are on to provide the job related training, so that students can easily adapt to the bioinformatics environment of the companies they join. It is expected that successful students from IBAB will be selected by companies for assignments.

Vivek Kulkarni, secretary Information Technology, government of Karnataka who is also a member of the IBAB governing body said that the course would begin soon after the appointment of the institute director. About 40 students will be enrolled for the course in the first year. It will also carry out research and development activities apart from promoting incubation centres. The IBAB expects to sustain itself financially through fees for start up incubation, contract research and generation of intellectual property in the long run.

In Bangalore, there are several new companies focussing on bioinformatics- Strand Genomics, ThinkGen, Bigtec, e4e Labs, Lotus Labs, requiring bioinformatics professionals.

For Strand Genomics, Bangalore Bio.com was the base for recruiting several aspiring scientists with a hardcore information technology background. In the case of California Digital India, there is a hunt for information technology specific professionals having an understanding of biology concepts.

Bigtec is also offering a three-month postgraduate diploma in bioinformatics, focussing on cross-domain areas of biology. The course costs Rs 1 lakh and will be offered to around 20 students.

B Chandrashekar, managing director, Bigtec said adding post graduates in life sciences and health sciences with a background in physics, mathematics, and engineering aptitude would help increase the tribe of bioinformaticians. Bigtec has already conducted some courses and absorbed them in their companies, which also carries out contract research for MNCs. The Government Science College, Bangalore has also started a bioinformatics and biotechnology degree course from June 2000.

Gene Codes, a leading US bioinformatics company will set up its Indian operations by the end of this year and offer graduates jobs with bioinformatics background. The company is focussing on training in India, considering the dearth of bioinformatics professionals here.

To groom students in the emerging area of bioinformatics, Canadian pharmaceutical major, MDS Sciex, the Bangalore based information technology major Kshema Technologies and PES Institute of Technology has teamed up to set up the 'MDS Sciex Kshema Chair' at the PES Institute in mid- December 2000. The initiative, which is first of its kind in the country through which a professor will conduct research in bioinformatics and aid the participating companies in the field, has roped in 120 science and technology students from the PES Institute of Technology for this venture. A corpus fund of Rs 20 lakh has been created for setting up the chair.

Though there are no exact figures about the manpower requirements, industry observers say the number is huge. However, sources in the pharma biotech sector like Biocon India, Shantha Biotech, Bangalore Genie, Gangagen Biotechnologies, National Centre for Biological Sciences estimate the value of the Indian biotechnology market at $2.5 billion in 2000-2001.Out of this the diagnostic and therapeutic segment form over 30 per cent.

Dr. Ravi Kumar, managing director, XCyton Diagnostics, Bangalore said that the future growth in the biotech sector is expected from diagnostics and therapeutics with a growth rate of 20 per cent. The vaccine sector is valued at $125 million and growing over 20 per cent annually with leading players like Haffkine in Mumbai and Serum Institute in Pune, Shantha Biotech, Bharat Biotech, Cadila, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Pasteur Institute of India, Human Immunologicals, etc.

Going by the growth rate of the pharma-biotech market, P M Bhargava, former director, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology [CCMB], Hyderabad and presently head of Anveshana Consultancy said, "There is no doubt that the current biotech scenario in Karnataka and India requires several bioinformatics professionals and that now it is mandatory for biologists to have adequate exposure to information technology to speed up research requirements."

A major reason for shortage of professionals is due to few government and private training centres located in Hyderabad, Tiruchirapalli and Pune. Bhargava pointed out that government should have focussed on biotechnology when information technology degrees were introduced in the Universities.

The biotechnology boom has opened up opportunities for students with combination of Chemistry, Botany and Zoology [CBZ], said Vivek Kulkarni. "Bangalore is a base of several bio tech companies and my department will shortly conduct a survey on the number of biotech companies in the city and the manpower requirement."

The exodus of IT professionals from the US and the tight employment scene in the country will help the bioinformatics sector in Bangalore to boom, if students are trained in the field, informed Gautam Das, head of Syngene International, part of Biocon India.