Biotech Science Clusters

Strength of Synergy

Sudhanshu Vrati Dinakar M. Salunke Satyajit Rath K VijayRaghavan

I
In recent years, progress in life
sciences research in India has led
to two possible societal values: the
increased number of skilled scientists
raises the benchmark for discussions
on science- based policy and also raises
the possibility of innovative
technologies into the economy. Both
scientific skills and innovation are
enhanced by the interactions that come
from proximity. It is through such
interactions that non- linear growth
can occur. Yet, much of our best
growth in research has been in small
units in dispersed locations. Such
growth was, and indeed continues to
be, sensible and manageable. In the
new initiatives that are developing in
the country, is it possible to keep the
strengths of small and efficient units,
yet have the benefits of interactivity
also embedded?
Clearly, each of the components
of such an interactive biotech science
space requires its own optimally
designed processes that must be
nurtured without interference. This
requires independent organizational
structures for each competency rather
than the more traditional approach of
end-to-end approaches in single
institutions, but in a situation where
their collegial interactions are carefully
fostered. Global experience indicates
that only such bottom-up, organically
developed collegiality that empowers
the participating scientific community
is likely to prove durable. This has led
to the emergence of the idea of clusters
of institutions as the major sites for the
creation of such an interactive biotech
science space.
Three such clusters are currently
in various stages of development
steered by the department of
biotechnology (DBT). One is
developing in Faridabad in the
National Capital Region (NCR) on a
200-acre site adjoining Badkhal lake.
Here, a beginning has been made with
the establishment of the Translational
Health Science and Technology
Institute (THSTI). A sister institution,
the Regional Centre for Biotechnology
Training and Education (URCB), is
being developed under agreement with
UNESCO. These institutions are being
mentored by the National Institute of
Immunology (NII) and the Harvard-
MIT Health Science and Technology uu

Sudhanshu Vrati Ph.D. is Staff Scientist at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi. (Email:vrati@nii.res.in)
Dinakar M Salunke Ph.D. is Staff Scientist & Deputy Director, NII, New Delhi. (Email:dinakar@nii.res.in)
Satyajit Rath Ph.D. is Staff Scientist, NII, New Delhi. (Email: satyajit@nii.res.in)
K. VijayRaghavan Ph.D. is Director, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. (Email:vijay@ncbs.res.in)

38 BIOTECH NEWS VOLUME IV | NO. 2


Programme (HM-HST). The THSTI is
u
envisaged as a group of autonomous
Centres focused on science for human
health ranging from a mechanistic
approach to broad questions to
specific domains such as pediatric
biology, vaccine design, health
technologies, technology policy
analysis, molecular diagnostics and
bio-imaging. The URCB will work on
the development of human resources
through education and mentoring in a
globally competitive milieu. It will
provide a platform for interdisciplinary
research, education and training at the
biotech interface of engineering,
chemistry, nano- and materials science,
physics and medicine and to empower
human resources to drive biotech
innovations. The cluster will create
core technology resources using an
innovative and efficient management
structure allowing effective cluster-
wide access to technologies such as
stringent containment facilities for
biohazardous work, engineered
laboratory animal resources, high-end
APRIL, 2009
imaging, modalities for collection of
large data sets such as proteomics,
genomics and metabolomics, the
maintenance of large bio- library and
high-throughput screening resources .
Further, the cluster will eventually
develop a clinical research centre as
well as a network of off-campus
partner institutional resources for
clinical as well as population studies.
Downstream technology development
will be nurtured within the cluster by
the creation of incubator resources for
participatory product- and business
development efforts.
A second cluster is being
developed at Mohali, near
Chandigarh, in which the major
components are a National Agri-food
Biotechnology Institute (NABI) and a
Food Bioprocessing Unit (BPU),
planned to be co-located with an Agri-
food Biotech Park. NABI will be a
centre for genome science -based crop
breeding programmes and will address
areas such as stress tolerance, draught,
Biotech Science Clusters
Strength of Synergy
nutrition enhancement. NABI will be a
centre of excellence in translational
plant science and product
development, working towards
development of innovative food
processes and products keeping in view
current and future markets both in
India and abroad. The institute will
also be involved in human resource
development in food science &
technology and nutritional science.
The BPU is designed to serve as an
incubator for agri-food business start-
ups. It will facilitate the scale-up and
process optimization of new
technologies developed by NABI or
acquired through licensing from other
sources within India and abroad. It
will provide industry-linked services
including quality testing and
certification, consultancy and support
to start-up companies. The two
institutes will link biotechnology of
crops with that of food and nutrition
while facilitating bench-to-market
progression of products and services
and act as a catalyst of innovation both
locally and nationally. uu
BIOTECH NEWS 39
 Biotech Science Clusters
Strength of Synergy
Students
URCB
Board of Governors
Executive/Finance Committee
Executive Director
Dean Dean(s)
A cademic
Research &
Training
Education
Tech
Platforms
Domain-Specific Centres
The Health Biotech Science Cluster at Faridabad in the NCR will be comprised of the Transnational Health Science & Technology Institute
(THSTI) and the Regional Center for Biotechnology Training and Education (URCB) as founding institutions, with domain-specific working
groups that will interact seamlessly in trans-institutional research & development programs. The integrated perspective of the cluster will be
fostered by a coordinating cluster board, which will mediate the incorporation of future new institutions, such as Clinical Health Centre (CHC),
into the cluster.
u A small cluster is being
developed around the National Centre
for Biological Sciences (NCBS) at
Bangalore, a centre of the Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research. An
Institute for Stem Cell Biology and
Regenerative Medicine (called the
Stem Cell Institute or SCI) has been
formed, under the auspices of DBT,
which will undertake team-driven
research in this environment
complementing the investigator- driven
research strengths of NCBS. The goal
is to develop an environment where a
wide range of approaches can develop
naturally and thrive. To facilitate this,
SCI and NCBS have come together to
create the Centre for Cellular and
Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) that
will provide core resources to
institutions in the cluster and also
manage interactions with industry. By
interweaving diverse institutional
laboratories and facilities in the cluster
space, it is expected that sustainable
40 BIOTECH NEWS
CONSTITUENCIES
Industry
THSTI
Governing Body
Executive/Finance Committee
Executive Director
Dean(s)
Translational
Development
Research &
Incubators
Business
Domain-Specific Centres
Health Biotech Science Cluster
CLUSTER BOARD
interactivity will emerge naturally. The
SCI has already embarked on
formulating its first team driven
projects in cardiac and vascular
biology, drawing from collaborators
both locally and globally. The Centre
for Stem Cell Research at the Christian
Medical College (CMC), Vellore, is
also being integrated into the SCI, as a
key clinical partner. In parallel, NCBS
has begun diversifying its research
portfolio into areas such as ecology,
theoretical sciences, facilities for
model-organism genetic screens and a
national mouse transgenic and
knockout facility. In the research
ecosystem generated by this diverse
capability, translational programmes
have a high likelihood of constant
renewal. Conversely, successful
innovations along with social and
economic requirements can feed back
to stimulate novel basic research.
A number of issues are likely to
prove critical in the successful
Patients
CHC
Governing Body
Executive/Finance Committee
Executive Director
Dean(s) Dean
Clinical
Prog 1
Physicians
Academic
Clinical
Animal Prog 2
Care
facilities
Prog 3
Prog 4
Domain-Specific Centres
development of these biotech science
clusters. A daily rubbing together of
shoulders between a wide diversity of
perspectives is necessary. A major
constraint will be the need to provide
for very substantive internal autonomy
along with the creation of a nurturing
administrative framework linking them
together. These can appear mutually
contradictory imperatives, and the
great temptation to err in one or the
other direction could be fatal to the
success of the larger enterprise.
Another constraint on this enterprise
will be the fact that the scale required
for its success will mandate the
availability of professionally operated
research resources, particularly in the
arena of interdisciplinary platform
technologies. The creation and
viability of such resources as efficiently
functioning cost-effective entities will
require novel approaches to
administrative design. Further, the
institutional participants in these uu
VOLUME IV | NO. 2
 Biotech Science Clusters

Strength of Synergy

BANGALORE BIOTECH CLUSTER

CLUSTER MANAGEMENT BOARD
UAS
Bangalore
NCBS STEM CELL INSTT

Center for Cellular and

Molecular Platforms
CTR. BASIC PLANT SCI UAS AGRI- Incubator Centre SILK & BIOMAT INST

Centre for Innovation

& Development
u cluster spaces will need to be
individually focused with very high
competence on a wide diversity of The Bangalore cluster is still being planned. National Center for Biological Sciences
arenas and viewpoints, both in terms (NCBS), University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) and Institute for Stem Cell Science &
Regenerative Medicine are already there, and the Center for Cellular and Molecular
of their relative positioning in the
Platforms has been approved. Centre for Basic Plant Science, Silk & Biomaterial Institute
discovery process, as well as in terms and the Agri-incubation Centre are still in the planning stage.
of the range of interdisciplinarity they
will bring to bear on biotech science.
This means that benchmarks of
globally competitive excellence will
have to be developed and implemented
PUNJAB KNOWLEDGE CITY, MOHALI
in the development of the faculty and (350 acres)
the professional culture of these INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE
participating institutions, and will have (DST)
(Ministry of HRD)
to be sustained for an extraordinarily
wide array of academic and technical MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
(Govt. of Punjab)
disciplines. The fatal temptation here
will be to succumb to the creation of
groups that can reach for low-hanging
AGRI- FOOD CLUSTER
fruit over the short-term in incremental
ways, but cannot contribute quantum National Agri-Food
shifts in discovery science. Imaginative Bioprocess Unit Biotechnology Agri- Food Park
Institute
leadership welcoming diversity of
perspectives and inclusive to (130 acres)
stakeholder viewpoints will be critical
for the success of these enterprises, and
The Agri-food Biotech Cluster will comprise the National Agri-food Biotechnology Institute
it is eminently reasonable to expect and Food Bioprocessing Unit, along with the proposed Agri-food park. The cluster will be co-
that self-confident twenty-first century located with the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, and National Institute of
India will have no difficulty in finding Nanotechnology and the proposed Management Institute in the Punjab Knowledge City at
Mohali, near Chandigarh.
and supporting such leadership.n

APRIL, 2009 BIOTECH NEWS 41