The Department of Biotechnology was established in 2003 with a view to develop a center of excellence for education and research in biotechnology. In so doing, a four-semester AICTE-approved and DBT supported M.Tech. programme in Biotechnology was started with students qualifying in the All India level Combined Biotechnology Entrance Examination (CBEE) conducted by Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi. It is pertinent to mention that WBUT and Annamalai University are the only two centers in the country in M.Tech Biotechnology supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. A modest infrastructure has been developed with the financial support from WBUT and other national funding agencies viz., DBT, BRNS, AICTE, CSIR and DST. In 2005, the Department of Bioinformatics was started with a four semester AICTE approved M.Tech programme (M.Tech. in Bioinformatics). The School of Biotechnology (recently renamed School of Biotechnology and Biological Sciences) was set up in 2006 for all round development of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. WBUT has realized the need for introducing PG teaching and research program in Bioinformatics, in addition to the Biotechnology program, to meet the need of today’s scientific community. The Department of Bioinformatics was founded in the year 2005 and is recognized by UGC under its 12B regulation. The department receives grant from UGC for its regular function and also from DBT under its BTIS-net program towards Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility (BIF). The main focus of the School of Biotechnology & Biological Sciences is education and training of students in various facets of frontier Science. The post B.Sc. integrated Ph.D courses in Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Bioinformatics are the other important courses under this School. A Centre for Genetic Counseling is run where outreach activities in the form of diagnosing and counseling of patients suffering from genetic disorders is carried out. In 2007 a workshop sponsored by ICMR was also conducted in this area. Considering the excellent response and demand of the students plans of enhancing the number of seats along with the laboratory facilities will be the future goal of the School. In addition plan to start a post graduate course in Genetic Counseling is in the pipe line.
