Indian biotech aiming to be $100 billion sector by 2025: Shaw

Indian biotechnology sector is looking to be a $100 billion sector by 2025, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said here on Saturday. 

"We want to make Indian biotechnology a $100 billion sector by 2025. 

I really believe this can be done if we have right policies in place, right resources and right investments," Biocon chairman and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told PTI. 

She was speaking on the sidelines of the third convocation and fifth annual lecture of NIIT University. 

Taking this road map is about delivering security like food security, health security and energy security and environment security, she added. 

"Agri bio can itself provide a $40 billion sector, Already BT Cotton is a $7.5 billion sector for the country. If you allow other genetically modified crops it could be much bigger," Shaw said. 

The government should allow the genetically modified crops. Without that the country cannot be food sufficient, she added. 

"Moreover this would also lead to less use of pesticides which are very harmful. You need to reduce pests and pesticides and that can only be done with technology," Mazumdar-Shaw said. 

If farmers are to become prosperous you need technology, she added. 

"This can happen when you have investments in agri-bio, pharma-bio among others," Mazumdar-Shaw said, adding that "for this, we need enabling policies by the government." 

Private sector needs the ease to conduct its business, she said.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Caffeine-Addicted Bacteria, Created In Lab, May Help Combat Water Pollution

Echerichia Coli, or E. Coli, bacteria under a microscope.

It looks like humans aren't the only ones who need a daily caffeine fix.

A team of microbiologists at the University of Texas, Austin, has genetically engineered bacteria to live solely on caffeine, creating microbial caffeine fiends for the first time ever.

In 2011, researchers found a soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida CBB5 living in a flowerbed at the University of Iowa capable of metabolizing caffeine. Now, microbiologist Jeffrey Barrick and his colleagues have transplanted the genetic “gear” that metabolizes caffeine into E. Coli—which grows quickly and is easier to handle.

"E. coli is a very well understood microorganism and there are many genetic tools available to work with it," Dr. Barrick told The Huffington Post. "It's a workhorse of biotechnology."

And what came out was a lean, mean, caffeine-eating machine that uses specialized enzymes to break caffeine molecules down into carbon dioxide and ammonia.

But the genetically modified E. Coli may serve more purpose than just reminding us of our coffee-slurping selves. Caffeine gets into the environment from coffee, energy drinks, soda, and certain pharmaceuticals, and has become a water pollutant in highly populated areas. But microbiologists hope these caffeine-craving bacteria could get rid of this pollution—simply by feasting on it.

The researchers also say the bacteria could provide a way to detoxify the nutrient-rich but highly toxic material that is left after separating coffee beans from coffee berries. The research, published in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology, could also open the door for new medications for asthma and other lung diseases, made from the chemicals given off by these bacteria.

"The addicted E. coli could be used as a biosensor to monitor levels of caffeine in heavily polluted environments, just as it could be used to measure how much caffeine is actually in the espresso from your local coffee shop," Barrick said.

By Melissa Cronin

huffingtonpost.com