NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Adding another feather to Goa’s cap, Union government’s department of biotechnology will establish a research institute of national importance called Neel, an institute for marine biology and biotechnology.
The announcement was made by secretary of department of biotechnology, Prof Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan during his keynote address at the 7th EU-India Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Days 2016 being hosted by the National Institute of Oceanography in Dona Paula.
Informing the media that the institute will be a national enterprise benefiting many laboratories from across the peninsular, he said, “A research institute where biotechnology and biology can be used in a sustainable manner for looking at the marine preservation because that is very important in the era of climate change to make sure that we keep our marine resources in a manner which will not cause ecological problems. At the same time it’s a great source for economy because you can analyse by the latest ways of biology the molecules without disturbing the environment and use these molecules, this is an enormous possibility.”
He further said the institute will train students in basic and high-end marine biology so that sustained and conserved development of marine resources can take place not just in Goa but all over India.
“So that the people from India can lead in marine biology and marine biotechnology in the new blue economy,” he added.
Stating that the government will ensure that the Goa University and the NIO take the lead in making it an institution of great value for all, he said the Union government’s department will partner with Goa University’s marine biology and biotechnology departments along with partnership with the NIO.
He said, “Goa is a state which has great maritime traditions, we should have Goans not only in ships all over the world, but in science and technology ships too across the world. Our goal is that Goans should be world leaders in marine biology and biotechnology. And this should be a flag which Goa flies for the whole country in the world.”
VijayRaghavan said the department will sign a memorandum of understanding with the state government and ensure that Goa gets maximum benefit from these enterprises.
“We are looking at a new way of partnership where people of Goa, the culture, the state, all of that is preserved and enhanced the way Goa wants, but in a manner also Goa takes the leadership in the exercising area of science,” he added.
While, the structural institute will be established in the future, the work on human resource and programme implementation will begin first. He further said there are such bright people in India in general and in Goa in particular that they must be exposed to this and they must become world leaders.
Providing insights about the research work to be carried out, he said, “Right from deep sea hydrothermal vents and how life on this planet originated to the diverse nature of life forms, the chemistry and materials of the life forms, the genes and the genomes of these life forms, how they interact, how they survive, these are all the extraordinarily important things for the whole world.”
