IIT Madras partners with French University to launch sustainable biomanufacturing programme

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) in partnership with is University of Tours, France, launched a new programme in sustainable bio-manufacturing of high-value phytochemicals. The programme is offered through the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) to promote collaboration with international universities, the official IIT Madras statement said.

The programme is in line with the vision of the government’s recently announced ‘BioE3’ Policy. The policy aims to promote and facilitate large-scale manufacturing of bio-products for sustainable development with high-performance biomanufacturing.

According to the IIT Madras statement, the programme deals with sustainable biomanufacturing of high-value plant-derived natural products using plant and microbial bio-factories which can also conserve nature while fulfilling the increasing market demand for phytochemicals for various commercial applications.

The course offers 30 seats for participants and the last date for application is November 22. The classes will begin from December 2 till 14, IIT note adds.

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IIT Madras’s sustainable biomanufacturing programme

The objective of the programme introduce to the participants, the current state-of-the-art available technologies to sustainably produce high-value plant metabolites (phytochemicals like drugs and cosmetics) as an alternative to natural plant extraction and total chemical synthesis. These techniques are based on the application of plant and microbial cell technology called ‘cell factory’ for sustainable biomanufacturing of phytochemicals, the IIT Madras statement added.

The programme is open for participants outside IIT Madras including researchers, industry professionals, students (BTech, MTech, MSc, PhD) in plant biotechnology, bioprocess engineering, biotechnology and faculty from recognized institutions. Applicants must have a basic knowledge of plant cell and microbial technology and fermentation.

Highlighting the need for such courses, professor Smita Srivastava, department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, IIT Madras, said, “For India to tap on the growing demand for plant based natural products and phytochemicals in the domestic as well as global market, and to become a global biomanufacturing hub in this niche segment, it is imperative to work around three pillars including Capacity building, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in this specialised domain.”