Bose Institute to focus on quantum technology, synthetic biology in centenary year

To mark its centenary, India’s prestigious Bose Institute will bolster research in emerging areas of synthetic biology to redesign living systems and launch a novel programme in complex systems leading to quantum internets. The Institute was inaugurated by eminent scientist J.C. Bose on November 30, 1917 which coincided with his birthday. Its 100th Foundation Day celebrations will be held on Tuesday and a series of international conferences and workshops have been lined up till December 2017 for the centenary year. To further Bose’s legacy, the institute plans to explore areas in the interface of biology and physics, which though at the cutting edge, are underdeveloped in India, said Siddharth Roy, officiating director of the institute. “As part of the synthetic biology programme, we will focus on therapeutically and agriculturally important problems in biology, using approaches of systems and synthetic biology. This includes, engineering organisms to produce naturally occurring complex drugs in large quantities,” he said. In the complex systems programme, probably the first kind in India, the Institute will aim for research in transmission of information in synthetic circuits, network of networks, quantum networks leading to quantum internets and aspects of cosmic and astrophysical topological defects vis-a-vis similar defects in liquid crystals. “The programme will serve as a unique bridge between biology and physics,” said Roy. A Rs 250-crore, 16-storied unified academic campus will be launched at Salt Lake during the centenary year, to bring all scientists under one roof in line with Bose’s vision of fostering intense collaborations between all disciplines, said former director Sibaji Raha. Currently, the activities of the institute are spread over seven academic campuses and experimental field stations. The institute’s social outreach programme for rural India and for educational uplift of the youth will also be boosted substantially in the coming year, officials said. “In the centenary year , we will not only celebrate Bose’s contributions, the institute’s contributions but we will also deliberate on what needs to done to further science in the future,” said Raha. IANS