Bangalore's Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) will shortly commence a two-day training programme on Hands on Biotechnology (HoBit) which will cover the key aspects of biotechnology.

The course is intended to introduce the participant to the basic concepts that underline the new field as well as provide a platform for people who are eager to experience the thrill of working in a laboratory, according to sources at IBAB.

The course consists of lectures, demonstrations and actual wet-lab time. It has been designed keeping in mind the time constraints of professionals and students. According to sources from IBAB, the course is mainly aimed at those who have little or no background in biology. Another module titled as Biology for Engineers is also being planned.

The first HoBit module will be conducted in the second week of August 2002 and will cover the main elements of molecular and cell biology and allow the participant to isolate and analyse one of the key modules- DNA.

The target audience according to sources from IBAB are engineering and management students.

IBAB located in the ITPL, Whitefield is Karnataka government's initiative in biotechnology and bioinformatics education. The institute, which was set up at a cost of Rs. 10 crore, received equal funding from the government of Karnataka and the ICICI.

Early this year it started a postgraduate diploma course, which is multidisciplinary. It intends to provide competence in computational biology, bioinformatics, basic biology, computer science statistics through lectures and practical training for graduates from engineering and science backgrounds.

The one-year course is structured into trimester system with first two semesters devoted to in-house training and a full time project to be executed in the third semester either in-house or at other academic/industrial institutions.