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Department of Bioinformatics
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About the
Department
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The Bioinformatics
Cell of Dr GRDCS was established in the year 2001 with an aim to advance
Bioinformatics and related researches for the benefit of mankind. The
Bioinformatics Cell grew rapidly and was converted into the Bioinformatics Centre in May 2002 with its own
well-equipped laboratory. The Advanced
Part time Diploma course in Bioinformatics was
started in the year 2002 for the students of Biotechnology,
Biochemistry, Microbiology and Computer Science. Full time PG Diploma Course in
Bioinformatics was started in the year 2002-2003. Two Year Post Graduate Course in
Bioinformatics (M Sc Bioinformatics) was started in
the year 2004.
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Facilities
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3 Servers, 35 Client machines
Scanner, Laser printer, CD Writer
LCD projectors, OHP, Laptop
Use of Internet Technology for teaching and
research
Online: The online access are done
on Protein Database, Nucleotide Database, Structural database,
Expasy, Swiss prot etc.,
Offline:
The software are Emboss, ClustalX, BioEdit,
Chempro, ChemSketch, Hex, ISIS_Draw, MODELLER, PyMol, QMoll,
RasMol, Arguslab, BABEL16, WinMopac, Phylip, icmbrowser, Tinker,
VMD, Chimera, Sirus, Dock.
Swiss-PDB-Viewer, QMol, PyMol, ActiveMol, MolMol, JACKAL,
ViewerPro, Cn3d, ClustalX, Bioeditor, Biorad, TreeView, GenScan.
The department will soon
procure software licensed for the use of academic teaching.
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MoU
Course
Overview
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Bioinformatics is the application of
computational techniques to the discovery of knowledge from
biological data which concentrate on sequence to function:
interpreting sequence data comparative genome analysis,
understanding, integrating and modeling cellular processes, novel
computer science and IT techniques which can be applied to
important areas of biology, methods to create biological databases
from uncomputerised or unstructured data, new approaches to the
integrity and maintenance of biological database.
The Department
offers an Advanced Diploma
in Bioinformatics (Part Time-Certified by the
College) for six months (spread over two semesters) along with a
project, for the students of Biotechnology, Biochemistry,
Microbiology and other related Biosciences, not only from the host
College but also from Colleges in Coimbatore city.
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The Department offers a one-year Full time Post Graduate Diploma in Bioinformatics
for the students of Biosciences, Life Sciences and other related
fields.
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The Department offers a two-year Postgraduate Degree in
Bioinformatics (M Sc
Bioinformatics) consisting of four semesters, in
which the final semester is mainly for research work in the field
of Bioinformatics. The research areas include Sequence Analysis, Molecular Modeling,
Cheminformatics, Genomics, Proteomics and Systems Biology.
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Unique Features of the Department
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The bioinformatics
laboratory is well-equipped with the latest state-of-the-art
facilities. The department concentrates on the continual
development of infrastructure. The department believes in
continuous and consistent development of the members of faculty. In
this regard, the members of faculty are encouraged to pursue their
higher studies as well as deputed to the Colleges and Universities
to present papers during the seminars or conferences. They are also
encouraged to publish papers in reputed journals.
The department of
Bioinformatics, over the time, has acquired a well-established
computer-networking laboratory actively engaged in research and
teaching in various areas of Bioinformtics. The following
infrastructure available at the department is actively supporting
the teaching and research activities of both the students and
members of staff.
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Departmental
Activities
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The Department has organized several workshops,
seminars and conferences for the betterment of the student, staff and
research scholars in the field of Bioinformatics and its related
fields. Invited Lectures are arranged frequently for the benefit of
the learning, educating and research community by the experts in the
field of Bioinformatics. Speakers from reputed Institutes like CCMB-Hyderabad, University of
Madras-Chennai, Madurai Kamaraj University-Madurai, IISc.-Bangalore,
Avinashilingam Deemed University-Coimbatore, Bharathiar
University-Coimbatore, Biomedical Engineering Research
Foundation-Salem, Genotypic Solutions-Bangalore, Institute of
Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology-Bangalore, Institute of
Bioinformatics-Bangalore, etc have visited the
College to give away the lead lectures.
Some of the
Speakers who have visited the Department include Dr K Guruprasad, Dr Manoj Balyan
(CCMB-Hyderabad), Dr S Manian (Bharathiar University), Dr P
Kolandaivel (Bharathiar University), Dr R Saravanan (BMERF-Salem), Dr
N Gautham,
Dr D Velmurugan, Dr M N Ponnuswamy (University of
Madras-Chennai), Dr Manju Bansal (IBAB-Bangalore), Dr Raja
Mugasimangalm (Genotypic Solutions-Bangalore), Dr T Madhan Mohan
(DBT-New Delhi), Dr P R Padma (Avinashilingam Deemed
University-Coimbatore), Dr M Hussain Munavar (Madurai Kamaraj
University-Madurai), Dr. Sekar, Dr S Ramakumar (IISc.-Bangalore),
etc.
Hands-on Training is also provided to
students to develop their skills on Bioinformatics software like
RasMol, Swiss-PDB-Viewer, QMol, PyMol, ActiveMol, MolMol, Chimera,
ChemPro, JACKAL, ViewerPro, Cn3d, PHYLIP, ClustalX, Bioeditor,
Biorad, TreeView, GenScan, etc.
Apart from the Public Domain software, the
Department has licensed software like AutoDock 3.0, DOCK 5.0 are also
taught in the Department.
The Department of Bioinformatics pioneered a path
breaking first of its kind activity by hosting a participation centre
of Virtual International
Conference on Genomics and Bioinformatics. The
seminar was organized by the North Dakota
State
University, Fargo.
Dr G R Damodaran College of Science was the first ever college to
host such a centre in India,
in which 42 major universities and reputed institutions across the
globe participated. Nearly 1500 participants could interact during
the conference. There were 3 host locations in India of which Dr GRDCS
was one. Of the 43 locations across the globe, 20 locations were
Access Grids and the remaining (including Dr GRDCS) were Real Player
Live Version Centers where the access for the conference was provided
through the Internet. The conference had various topics
pertaining to the recent trends in the field of Bioinformatics and
Genomics and the lead lectures were given by experts in those fields.
The experts were from various reputed Universities in and around the US.
The conference proceedings had the pictures showing the participation
of candidates from Dr GRDCS. The Department has hosted three such
conferences in the years 2002, 2003 and 2004. As many as 100
participants from various colleges in and around Coimbatore have participated in the
Conference.
The staff members and students are also involved
in conducting discussion session on various topics related to
Bioinformatics in Gyan Vani
the FM Radio Station in the college campus.
As many as 30 such discussions have taken place since 2002.
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Student-Centered
Teaching
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The Department believes in Student-Centered
Teaching and hence the students are encouraged to present articles
everyday by referring the magazines and share their views on those
articles. They are encouraged to participate in National Level
Seminars, Symposia, Workshops and Conferences and are guided by the
members of staff for presenting a paper or a poster.
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Members of
Staff in the Department
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Mr. B Thiagarajan, MCA,
M Phil (CS), PGDBI, PGDIM, Professor and Head
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Ms Pa Rajalakshmi, M Sc
(Biochemistry), M Phil (Biochemistry), PGDBI ,PGDMB,
Lecturer
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Ms K Shobana, M Sc
(Applied Biology), M Phil (Zoology), PGDBI, PGDCA, Lecturer
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Ms R Subhashini, M Sc
(Bioinformatics), Lecturer
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Books and Abstracts, Abstract published from the
Department
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Proceedings on Bioinformatics for Biologists – 2003 – A
DBT Sponsored National Level
Workshop on conducted from 23-01-2003 to 01-02-2003 at Dr G R
Damodaran College of Science, Coimbatore
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Abstracts on Bioinformatics for Biologists
– 2004 – A UGC Sponsored National Level Seminar-cum-Workshop conducted from
22-03-2004 to 24-03-2004 at Dr G R Damodaran College of Science, Coimbatore
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Abstracts on Structural Bioinformatics – A National Level Seminar conducted from 18-08-2005 to
20-08-2005 at Dr G R Damodaran College of Science, Coimbatore
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Abstracts
on Recent Trends and
Developments in Bioinformatics – A National Seminar conducted
from 11-08-2006 to 12-08-2006 at Dr G R Damodaran College of
Science, Coimbatore
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The
department has released a Souvenir on National Symposium on Technology in Life Sciences Genbix ’08 GENBIX–’08, Department of Bioinformatics, Dr G R Damodaran College
of Science.
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Research
Schemes/Projects undertaken
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Department of Biotechnology has sanctioned an amount
of Rs. 12 Lakhs
For a project on A Complete Genomic
and Proteomic Study of Available Algal Genomes to Dr K Mani for a period of 3
years starting from 2005. (An amount of Rs. 3 Lakhs has been
sanctioned for the year 2005)
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