Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology

Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology is a research institute in India, exclusive devoted to research in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. It is located at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of the state of Kerala in India. This centre is an autonomous institute under the Department of Biotechnology of the Govt. of India. Previously, it was an R&D centre under Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment which is a funding agency for research Institutes and centers in Kerala.

Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB)
Former name
Centre for Development of Education, Science and Technology (C-DEST), Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Development of Education, Science and Technology (RGC-DEST)
MottoDiscoveries for better tomorrow
Established1990
Parent institution
Ministry of Science & Technology (Department of Biotechnology)
Academic affiliation
University of Kerala, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education
DirectorProfessor Chandrabhas Narayana
Academic staff
45
Administrative staff
27 + 54
Address
Thycaud Post, Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 014, Kerala, India
,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
CampusUrban
Websitehttps://rgcb.res.in/
RGCB also provide Medical Laboratory Services, Regional Facility for DNA Fingerprinting, Research Consultancy Services & Molecular Platforms, Laboratory Medicine and Molecular Diagnostics (LMMD)

The centre was inaugurated on 18 November 2002 by then President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. The institute has highly focused research departments working on different areas of biological sciences under following areas.

  • Cancer Research
  • Cardiovascular Disease & Diabetes Biology
  • Pathogen Biology
  • Regenerative Biology
  • Plant Biotechnology & Disease Biology
  • Neurobiology
  • Reproduction Biology
  • Transdisciplinary Biology

The Center has a regional facility for Genetic Fingerprinting, which provides DNA analysis services for forensic & criminal investigations, paternity disputes, identification of wildlife remains, authentication of plants and seeds besides a battery of molecular diagnostics for genetic and infectious diseases. RGCB is also a major provider of laboratory and infrastructure services to other academic and research institutions. RGCB has a strength of 25 scientists, 120 Ph.D. students and around 100 research project staff. The centre has good infrastructural facilities for carrying out research in the field of Biotechnology. Financial support of Rs. 100 crores sanctioned by the Govt. of India in 2008, for a period of 3 years, apart from the yearly allocation of Rs. 25 crores, aims at making RGCB a world class research centre in the near future. RGCB is set to expand further into a second campus at Aakulum shortly. It would focus on R & D and also provide a unique"TEST & PROVE " facility to encourage biotechnology. BioSpectrum magazine ranked Bio-Technology course at RGCB as second best in the country only after Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.[1]

Proposal for renaming

The Union Government is currently planning to rename it to 'Shri Guruji Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar National Centre for Complex Disease in Cancer and Viral Infection'.[2] It has received enormous backlash by many politicians of Kerala including Shashi Tharoor and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The Chief Minister of Kerala has written a letter to the Union to reconsider the decision and to instead name the new campus after an eminent Indian scientist reasoning that "it will help to avoid controversies in the public domain."[3] Shashi Tharoor asked what was M.S. Golwalkar's contribution to science "other than promoting the disease of communalism".[4]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "RGCB's second campus ready, says Minister". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 5 December 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 December 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. "In letter to Centre, Kerala CM opposes move to name new Centre for Biotechnology campus after Golwalkar". The Indian Express. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  4. "https://twitter.com/shashitharoor/status/1335098003858722818". Twitter. Retrieved 7 December 2020. External link in |title= (help)

See also



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