Biotechnology Higher Education, Funding & Start-ups: Indian Scenario

By : Shridhar C. Ghagane, Murigendra B. Hiremath, G. G. Kadadevaru, Sridevi I. Puranik, R. B. Nerli

Page No: 300-307

Abstract
Several higher education institutes and universities in India offer graduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral biotechnology courses. Modern biotechnology plays a crucial role in both the elucidation of the molecular causes of disease and the development of new diagnostic methods and enhanced targeted drugs. These developments have led to the birth of a new economic sector — the biotech industry, associated mostly with small startup companies. For their part, the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, came up with the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), with a primary focus to nurture the startups, facilitate industry–academia interactions, and promote student entrepreneurships in a large way. The established healthcare companies have also been successfully employing these modern techniques, collectively known as biotechnology, for many years, empowering and enabling the innovation ecosystem in the biotechnology sector. This article is intended to show a broad outlook of the Indian scenario of higher education, commerce and career opportunities in biotechnology and the use of research funds.

Authors :
Shridhar C. Ghagane : Department of Urology, KLES Kidney Foundation, KLES Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital & MRC, Belagavi, India
Murigendra B. Hiremath : Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.
G. G. Kadadevaru : Department of Zoology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, India
Sridevi I. Puranik : Department of Biotechnology, KLES R. L. Science Institute (Autonomous), Belagavi, India
R. B. Nerli : Department of Urology, KLE University’s JN Medical College, KLES Kidney Foundation, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital & MRC, Belagavi, India