The Department of Biotechnology has made a significant leap in to the research field with many extramurally funded projects from funding agencies such as the DBT DST with our esteemed faculty at the level of Principal Investigator and Co-principal investigators. More than 50 research scholars are pursuing their Ph.D. in different fields of Biology. Faculty members and research scholars are continuously involved in publishing their research work in highly reputed peer reviewed journals of impact factors and are actively participating in various Conferences and Faculty Development Programs. The department also hosts many professional association activities such as the Indian Association of Applied Microbiology, Association of Microbiologist in India and Indian Association of Microbiology.
Mission:- To enable the students to acquire technical skills in core aspects of Biotechnologies pertaining to the development of innovative technologies.
- To increase the employability of students by exposing them to various industrial, academic and research environment.
- To inculcate leadership and inter-personal skills by involving students in diversified activities.
- To instill the societal and ethical responsibility in our students.
- The department of Biotechnology envisages to empower the students with analytical skills and to create an ethical workforce, competent to transform the future with social consciousness on par with global standards.
The department of Biotechnology collaborates with research institutions and industries to promote joint research activities and consultancy. The department has a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the following organizations;
- Einnel Technologies, Chennai.
- Gleneagles Global Health City, Chennai.
- Knowledge Centre for Innovation Integrity and Implementation, Chennai.
- Lifecell International Private Ltd, Chennai.
- Y R Gaitonde Medical, Educational and Research Foundation, Chennai.
- Biozone Technologies, Chennai.
Centre for Bioresource Research and Development - (CBiRD)
The Centre for Bioresource Research and Development (CBiRD) was established in 2009 to promote research in the department. Its objective is to meet the requirements of faculty members and students of the entire institute in terms of collaborative research in biotechnology. The Centre houses exclusive facilities for Molecular Biology, Transcriptomics, Plant tissue culture and Microbial technology. The faculty members and students utilize the facility for their project work and short term training needs. The Centre also shares the resources with other departments in the institute.
The Molecular Biology Laboratory consists Of Stereozoom Microscope and Thermocycler (PCR Machine). Research in this laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate Dopamine Neurogenesis During Development and Regeneration. In Zebrafish with the aid of genetic and Molecular Tools.
Internships
- The students take up NPTEL courses the credits of which will be transferred.
- Life Cell Technologies is a major training centre for students.
- Biozone Technologies is a centre for research associated with the department where students are trained in short term hands-on workshops.
Laboratories:
The Department of Biotechnology is furnished with well developed and active Biosciences and Bioengineering Laboratories. These provide an able platform for the demonstration of practical knowledge and enrichment of research activities. The Basic Biosciences Laboratories include Biochemistry, Immunology, Cytogenetics, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Laboratories. The department is also facilitated with Bioprocess Engineering, Genetic Engineering, Plant and Animal Tissue culture Laboratories, Project Lab I & II, Research Lab (Centre for Bioresources Research and Development) and FIST funded AFM Lab (International Research Centre) to encourage and equip faculty and students keeping abreast with the growing technologies. All the laboratories are maintained and highlighted by high-end equipments and chemicals meeting both Research and Industrial needs.
List of Programme- Specific Laboratories
- Molecular Biology Lab
- Plant Tissue culture Lab
- BioProcess Engineering Lab-I
- BioProcess Engineering Lab-II
- Genetic Engineering
- Animal Tissue Culture Lab
- Biochemistry Lab
- Microbiology Lab
- Immunology Lab
- Cytogenetics Lab
Other Facilities
- Project Lab-I
- Project Lab –II
- Research Lab
- FIST funded AFM LAB (International Research Centre)
Molecular Biology & Genetic Engineering Lab
Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering lab offer students an opportunity to have hands-on training in basic as well as advanced molecular biology techniques. The experiments conducting in this lab will be based on isolation, separation and staining of nucleic acids as well as independent usage of modern genetic engineering tools like PCR, restriction mapping, cloning and hybridization. The lab is well equipped with Thermal cycler, spectrophotometer, water baths, centrifuges and incubators.
Plant Tissue Culture Lab
The plant tissue culture laboratory consists of a media preparation room, transfer room, and a culture room which are well maintained to keep the lab sterile. The Lab provides the facility for culturing isolated cells or tissues under sterile and controlled conditions obtained from any part of the plant like stem, leaf, flower bud, etc. Various types of tissues or cells are grown aseptically in different types of glass-wares containing a medium with mineral nutrients, vitamins and plant growth regulators. Tissue Culture techniques are being employed in this laboratory to give hands-on learning experience to the students in using a set of techniques/methodologies that can be applied in tissue culture industries as well as in research labs.
Bioprocess Engineering Lab
Bioprocess laboratory giving exposure to the students for Media Optimization, Growth kinetics Enzyme kinetics and Immobilization techniques. It also trains the students in Various techniques of Downstream processing like Sonication, Homogenization and chromatographic techniques which helps the students to come out with a wide knowledge and skills.
Animal Tissue Culture Lab
Animal and human cell culture methods lead to more breakthroughs in medical Biotechnology, including the production of vaccine, recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), and cells for transplantation. Cell culture refers to the culture of nucleated (eukaryotic) cells under prescribed conditions within the laboratory. Cell culture laboratory designed for the maintenance, preservation of cells and observation of cell morphology in cell biology works. Cell culture models can be used to test the potency and cellular toxicity of a biological therapy. There are several advantages, such as inarticulate manipulation of research conditions and significantly lesser costs. Students get hands on training in maintainance and preservation of cell lines, cytotoxicity analysis and genotoxic assays.
Biochemistry & Immunology Lab
Biochemistry Laboratory provides a platform for the investigation of the chemistry of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level. It provides avenues to explore chemical changes in disease, drug action, and other aspects of medicine, as well as in nutrition, genetics, and agriculture. The students are trained to carry out both qualitative and quantitative analysis of various biomolecules and understand their scope in research and industry.
Immunology Laboratory provides opportunities for the students to understand the physiological functioning of the components of immune system in states of both health and diseases. The students are trained to carry out blood grouping, blood cell counting, antigen-antibody reactions and immunochemical techniques.
Microbiology & Cytogenetics Lab
Microbiology Laboratory is providing the primary practical exposure knowledge on isolation techniques, characterization, Microbial quality analysis, Antibiotic sensitivity tests for Undergraduates and Masters of technology. This laboratory is equipped with biologically safety cabinets that provide an aseptic environment for the culturing, autoclave, hot air oven (sterilization of materials), incubator, orbital shaker (providing for optimum growth conditions. The students will experimentally demonstrate the knowledge gained from the Microbiology theory course. The students are encouraged to perform the experiments and interpret the results with the standard microbiological criteria.
Cytogenetics Laboratory focuses on the visualization of cells, cell staining techniques, observation of different stages of mitosis and meiosis in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and karyotyping.
Highlights of the Course Curriculum
- Choice Based Credit System
- Choice of Faculty for a course
- Professional Training courses
- Semester Abroad Programme
- Non Credit Courses imparting ethics
- Orientation / Induction programme
- Proficiency modules
- Credit transfer from certificate courses
- Value added courses
- Integrated placement training
Guest Lectures:
The department of Biotechnology has an extensively integrated curriculum that caters to the needs of the industry in the future. However, the curriculum does have some gaps that have been identified by the faculty during the course delivery. To address these gaps a series of guest lectures by eminent people from the industry are conducted.
Also, students get a chance to interact with the guests to the department personally and clarify on their apprehensions. Many of the International conferences conducted in the campus attract guests from reputed institutions abroad with whom the students interact regularly.
Events:
Students of Biotechnology Department participate in various club activities in order to get an exposure about group activities and beyond syllabus technical exposure.
A glimpse the activities participated by students are given below:
FERMENTED FOOD EXHIBITION 2019
Students of Biotechnology exhibited various fermented foods and demonstrated the procedure to produce the fermented foods on during the 19th to 21st AUGUST 2019. They also projected the health benefits of the fermented foods to the participants.
- Grape Wine production
- Strawberry wine
- Jambul wine
- Rose wine
- Kimchi of Korean
- Flavored Yogurt
- Sauerkraut of Russian
- Ginger Beer
- Rice wine
- Bread
- Lemon Pickle
- Mango pickle
- Prawn pickle
- Idly
Students and Staff of the Department of Biotechnology conducted SUSTAINABLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 2019.
Topics covered were mushroom cultivation, aquaculture, vermicomposting, preparation of panchakavya and seaweed fertilizer, soap preparation, millet cookies, Spirulina and artemia cultivation.
Professional activities:
| Professional Body | Description | Logo |
| Bionove | Bionove is a student forum which releases a quarterly newsletter fully edited and compiled by the students of the Biotechnology department | 
|
| IAAM | Indian Association of Applied Microbiologist | 
|
| IEI | Institute of Engineers (India) | 
|
Events organized in association with professional bodies
National workshop on Techniques in Biotechnology (NWTBT)
National workshop on Agricultural waste utilization for sustainable environment
Semester Abroad Programme:
With a plethora of opportunities abroad the students of the Biotechnology programme are highly encouraged to venture into countries abroad with institutions who have signed a memorandum of understanding with us. The students pursue a summer/winter internship abroad.
Our students also do their final year project work in institutions abroad which serves as a launchpad for their higher studies.
Placement:
The placement training for the students starts as early as the first year and is blended along with the regular curriculum. The students are trained in the core areas of Biotechnology along with aptitude, logical reasoning and soft skills as expected by the industries. To refine their language skills and communication skills an English language training is provided.
Most of the students get placed in software technology companies which have a separate life sciences division. Also the core companies place the students as trainee engineers to start their career.
The following companies visit the campus for placement:
