New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram-based Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), the only institution of its kind in the country, will now be run by the federal government, the federal cabinet decided yesterday.
The cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided "to place RGCB as an autonomous institute under the administrative control of the Department of Biotechnology", federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters in New Delhi.
Following the implementation of the decision "the RGCB will be the only central institute in the area of biotechnology in Kerala", said Dasmunsi.
Projects
"The takeover will have a major role in implementing relevant biotechnology projects in the state as well in the entire southern region."
The RGCB aims at researching about cancer, human genetics, protein engineering, molecular reproduction, molecular microbiology, and neurobiology and plant molecular biology.
The minister said the transfer would also help RCGB develop into "a national research centre for bio-drug discovery programmes based on the knowledge of traditional systems of medicines prevalent in Kerala".
It will also help the country "to utilise the institute's expertise in cell and molecular biology for developing diagnostic and prognostic markers for disease".
