The computer communication network, linking all the bioinformatics centres,
is playing a vital role in the success of the bioinformatics
programme. Database development, R&D activities in bioinformatics,
human resource development and a variety of services in support
of biotechnology R&D programmes and projects, has made
this programme very popular and useful to the scientific community.
With an excellent cooperation received from various agencies
of the Government of India, in particular, the National Informatics
Centre (NIC), who provided the communication support, initially
for E-mail and subsequently for full Internet access as well
as some value added services, made it possible for the network
to assume the role of a closed user group representing a scientific
grid in various inter-disciplinary subjects of biotechnology
encompassing, agriculture, health, and environment, besides
other related subjects of scientific importance. The contributions
made by the scientists and academicians at the University
departments of the UGC, and national laboratories and institutions
of the CSIR and ICAR, in which our bioinformatics centres
are located, have resulted in excellent capacity building
for use of a variety of information resources on the Internet.
More than 100 databases dealing with different aspects and
of relevance to R&D efforts in biotechnology are now available
on the network. A national node of EMBnet has been established
at the Centre of DNA Fingerprinting and Diognostics (CDFD),
Hyderabad.
Four mirror sites for mirroring important
biological databases are being established at IISc,
JNU, Pune University, and IMTECH to promote and support
R&D activities in Genomics and Proteomics, the two
emerging fields of biotechnology requiring critical
support of genomic databases. With these resources now
available on the BTISnet, it has now become a single
largest information resource for all references to biotechnology
related literature, scientific data, patent information,
policy matters and related issues. Several Home Pages
have been hosted on the Internet to give details of
the services being provided to the scientific community.
The Biotechnology Information Centre (BTIC), the Apex
Centre, established at the Department of Biotechnology,
is coordinating the entire network activities, including
hosting of a Home Page on the activities of the Department
of Biotechnology and its major programmes, as well as
maintaining several directories and databases on the
Research projects funded by this department. A Biotechnology
Patent Facilitating Cell has recently been established
which uses the facilities of the BTIC to provide full
scale patent search services.
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