Author: Biotech Express

Mahima Datla, managing director of Biological E Limited from Hyderabad and B P Acharya, patron of Federation of Asian Biotech Association (FABA) have been conferred with Dr B S Bajaj Memorial FABA Special Award-2022 and FABA Lifetime Achievement Award, respectively for their immense contribution to the biotechnology sector in India. The FABA special awards will be conferred during the 19th edition of BioAsia, the largest annual global biotechnology and life sciences summit of Asia, organised by the Government of Telangana and FABA. The 44-year-old Mahima has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration Management from Webster University, London, has been with Biological…

Hyderabad based start-up, 30M Genomics envisions to improve the molecular biology skills among life science students through development of highly affordable version of thermal cycler. 30M Genomics is incubated at ASPIRE BioNEST, University of Hyderabad and has received financial support from BIRAC, Meity and VFSTR for developing affordable genetic diagnostics. The startup has developed, “Key PCR” which is a bluetooth operated thermal cycler having equivalent performance of a sophisticated thermal cycler. The equipment is portable, weighing less than 600 grams and completely 3D printed with biodegradable material. Thermal cycler or PCR machine, is an indispensable equipment for life sciences research.…

AIIMS, Delhi today announced to discontinue routine COVID-19 testing prior to in-patient hospitalisation and surgeries, news agency ANI reported. AIIMS Medical Superintendent DK Sharma in a letter today said in accordance with current ICMR’s national guidelines, it has been decided to discontinue routine Covid-19 testing prior to inpatient hospitalisations (regular as well as daycare) and also prior to any minor or major surgical or interventional or non-interventional procedures and imaging in clinically asymptomatic patients. His letter states that OPD or emergency patients as well as those patients who were earlier Covid-19 positive and have since recovered & transferred to the parents’ department’s inpatient ward…

“As many as 8,761 people committed suicide due to unemployment, bankruptcy or indebtedness in the year 2020,” Minister of State of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha. The Home Ministry also said that in the three years between 2018 and 2020, as many as 25,251 lost their lives because of financial crises. The data assumes significance given that in 2020, the government had told parliament that there was no record of deaths of migrant workers so the “question does not arise” of compensation. Back then, the government’s written response to a question on whether families of those who…

Nowadays in every part of globe protests against vaccine mandates and lockdowns have become common but political parties everywhere are still not giving up chances to favor pharma profiteers and mainstream news media is not covering such events. A convoy of truckers and others who oppose vaccine mandates has rolled into Ottawa, Canada for a weekend of rowdy protests, putting Canada’s capital city on edge amid warnings from police that they don’t know how large the crowds will get. The demonstrators have been hailed as heroes by anti-vaccine groups on mainstream and alternative social media platforms. Thousands of protesters pile…

In an interview by Eenadu TV recently I mentioned that although Omicron infections go up, its effect on causing serious disease and death is minimal. Now I confidently say that even though it infects the vaccinated people, it is very feeble. This is already seen in US and other European countries. For example, this week the average number of Covid cases in the US is about 600,000 to 700,000 and the average deaths are about 1400-1600. A vast majority of these are due to Covid 19 or Delta variant, not due to Omicron. This translates to about 1 death for…

Prof K C Bansal (April 24, 1955) is currently the Secretary of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), India and has more than 40 years of research and research management experience of working with different institutions of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Govt. of India, and abroad like United Nations as a technical expert representing India at FAO, Rome and Geneva. Prof Bansal headed a premier central institution of ICAR at Pusa, New Delhi i.e., the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), which has five Divisions, three units and an experimental…

“India is majorly an agrarian country where around 70% of its population lives in villages. Each and every villager is a practical agricultural scientist, practicing it from thousands of years. Farming is in people’s DNA and thus India has the inherent inclination and natural technical capacity to produce and supply organic food not only to country but to global agriculture supply chain which can further enhance India’s GDP” Dr Heera Lal, IAS and Additional Mission Director, National Health Mission, Uttar Pradesh. In an informal talk to Biotech Express he talked about his various ongoing of the project Model Gaon. …

In an interview with CNBC, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla stated that two doses of the vaccine give modest protection, if any, whereas three doses with a booster offer reasonable protection against hospitalisation and mortality but less protection against infection.  It’s worth noting that Bourla once stated that two doses of the mRNA vaccine were 100 percent effective in preventing the illness. Bourla sought to rewrite the entire COVID narrative in a series of interviews, while also casting serious doubt on the efficiency of his current product line. The reaction has come after a tight slap on pfizer by U.S. district…

Though it is not clear whether positive test is equal to infection as corona infection is seen mild now in almost all cases. But even as coronavirus cases and restrictions questions have been rising across the country when recently political leaders from various parties held large public meetings in various parts of country and attended events without wearing masks. The visits come at a time when they have been urging citizens to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and wear masks to prevent the spread of the virus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been campaigning across the state of UP since December. On…