New Delhi:

The projects that will be undertaken by ANL in JIABA will be for development of technologies for construction of knowledge base for a particular organism of interest. It will include both experimental and computational projects.

The joint research will be done by involving leading scientists and researchers from both countries. The other collaborator of JIABA in the US is Bioinformatics Research Center (BRC), Medical College of Wisconsin. In India, the nodal agency for JIABA is Center for Development of Knowledge and Awareness (CEDKA).

Under JIABA, ANL, BRC and CEDKA will initiate a series of projects to establish communication, joint project infrastructure, and cross-programme training between the faculty, students and their collaborators in India and the US. This effort will further support joint Bioinformatics research and intellectual transfer between the centres and their collaborators.

Says CEDKA director Dr Mahesh Dutt: ''ANL is one of the leading government laboratories of the US government. It has been behind several path-breaking research projects in the area of bioinformatics. ANL's participation in JIABA will lead to joint research projects, which will be beneficial for the world as a whole. Indian IT and pharma companies, research scientists and students will substantially gain from ANL's participation in JIABA.''

Says ANL head (bioinformatics group) Dr Natalia Maltsev: ''I am very enthusiastic about being a part of JIABA. It will facilitate useful scientific collaborations between scientists in both countries. Bioinformatics is a very dynamic field and joint research projects with leading researchers from both countries will lead to tremendous scientific progress.

''India is famous around the world for the high quality of its education and creative cultural roots. During my scientific career I've met a lot of talented Indian scientists currently working in the US. Being a part of JIABA will allow ANL to interact and collaborate with the Indian scientists working in India. I am looking forward to it.''

Says BRC director Dr Peter Tonellato: ''Bioinformatics has become the facilitating discipline to bridge the scientific investigations of the complexity of disease genetics with computer technology and mathematical theory. Our future and health will depend on the extend of our success in the next few years to efficiently apply the rapidly emerging breakthroughs in computer hardware and science to the biomedical health research fields.

''Coupling technology with high-throughput data collection and the forthcoming discovery paradigm will provide the basis of the new hypothesis-driven discovery research that will lead to breakthroughs in clinical applications of genome discoveries.''

ANL is one of the US department of energy's largest research centres. It spans across an area of over 2,400 acres. It is also the nation's first national laboratory, chartered in 1946. Argonne is a direct descendant of the World War II Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb before the Nazis did. Over the years, Argonne's research expanded to include many other areas of science, engineering and technology.

The laboratory has more than 4,000 employees, including about 1,400 scientists and engineers, of whom about 700 hold doctorate degrees. Argonne's annual operating budget of more than $475 million supports upwards of 250 research projects, ranging from studies of the atomic nucleus to global climate change research.

Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organisations. It also develops and transfers technologies that are used by commercial organisations. It also designs, builds and operates many scientific and engineering research facilities that range from 3-MeV Van de Graaff Accelerator to a Tribology Laboratory.

CEDKA is a public trust that works towards enhancing knowledge, awareness and research of the advanced technologies in the fields of bioinformatics, genomics and molecular biology, among others. It works for various sections of society, including professionals, scientists, students and the general public. The board of advisors of the organisation includes members from Washington State University, the Institute of Genome Research, Indian Institute of Science, University of Newcastle, ETH-Zurich, and others.

The organisation has an active support of national and international government agencies, leading educational institutions, scientists and research organisations. The activities by the organisation include visits by national and international personalities from various fields, seminars, lectures, shows, conferences and training.