News: Union Minister of State for Science & Technology has inaugurated the nation’s first ‘Animal Stem Cell Biobank’.
About India’s First Animal Stem Cell Biobank
- It is a state-of-the-art facility that will store and preserve high-quality stem cells from various animal species.
- Setup at: The facility is set-up at the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) at, Hyderabad.
- The NIAB is a premier institute under the Department of Biotechnology’s Biotechnology Research Innovation Council (BRIC).
- Collaboration: The Biobank is developed in partnership with HiMedia Laboratories.
- Significance
- The biobank would provide quality-controlled animal stem cells and indigenous, cost-effective cell culture media to veterinary clinics, research institutions, hospitals, and industry.
- This first-of-its-kind resource would accelerate advances in veterinary medicine, regenerative therapies, and animal cell-based smart protein production. This will reduce dependence on imports and fostering the country’s biomanufacturing capacity.
Note:
- The Ministry also launched five new veterinary diagnostic tools aimed at transforming animal health management under the ‘One Health’ approach.
- These tools are –
- BruDIVA: A diagnostic test that distinguishes between animals infected with brucellosis and those vaccinated to track and control the disease more effectively.
- Udder Care: An affordable, field-friendly kit for early detection of mastitis, a common udder infection in dairy cattle which reduces milk production and quality.
- CureCheck: A portable device for rapid antibiotic sensitivity testing in livestock infections such as mastitis providing results in under two hours.
- Toxo Antibody Rapid Test: A simple, on-the-spot test for detecting toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease affecting both humans and animals causing abortions and stillbirths in livestock.
- RapiChex JE NS1 Test: A rapid, point-of-care diagnostic kit for Japanese Encephalitis, a mosquito-borne viral disease affecting humans and animals.
