The growing importance of bioinformatics in the various disciplines of biotechnology led the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, to establish a Biotechnology Information System network (BTNET). The National Informatics Centre has provided the computer communication facility to BTNET through its satellite-based computer communication network, NICNET.
BTNET is a closed-user group of NICNET and links nine Distributed Information Centres (DICs) and 16 sub-Distributed Information Centres (sub-DICs) with the apex centre known as the Biotechnology Information Centre (BTIC). Micro earth stations are installed at all the DICs. The sub-DICs are to be hooked up to the network through dial-up modems.
The nine Distributed information Centres, located at various premier institutes and universities of the Country have extensive databases in specialized areas of biotechnology (see box),
LIST OF DICs WITH AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
- Genetic Engineering
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore Madurai Kamraj University (MKU) Bose Institute, Calcutta Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
- Animal Cell Culture and Virology
Poona University, Pune
- Plant Tissue Culture, Photosynthesis and Plant Molecular Biology
Indian Agriculture Research Centre, New Delhi
- Oncogenes, Reproduction Physiology, Cell Transformation, Nucleic Acid and Protein Sequences
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad
- Immunology.
National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi
- Enzyme Engineering, Immobilized Biocatalysts, Microbial Fermentation and Bioprocess Engineering
Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh.
and these can be accessed by Users to get the required information.
Through these nine DICs and 16 other sub-DICs, also located in premier institutes and universities, the scientific community has been using BTNET for information exchange since it became operational in 1991.