The growing impact of Biotechnology in all spheres has resulted in the active and focused pursuit of innovative applications that capitalize on novel approaches to enhance our strengths in frontier areas of Biotechnology.
AMRITA BIOQUEST 2013 provided an ideal forum to discuss exciting and emerging multidisciplinary themes related to the use of biotechnology in addressing pertinent societal needs. The conference focused on the ways in which research areas such as translational medicine, nanotechnology, neuroscience, genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and bioengineering contribute to alleviating human suffering and improving the quality of life. This conference, which was hosted by the Amrita School of Biotechnology, served as an ideal platform for distinguished experts from diverse areas of biotechnology to come together, discuss and deliberate on established as well as emerging platforms and strategies.
A significant feature of Amrita BioQuest 2013 was a live webcast interaction with Prof. Leland Hartwell, (2001 Nobel Laureate for Physiology and Medicine for his discovery of protein molecules that control cell division) who addressed the conference delegates, live from his office in Seattle, USA, followed by a live question and answer session. Prof. Hartwell spoke on the theme “The Role of Science and Technology in Creating a Sustainable World.”
The seven tracks that were organized as part of Amrita BiQquest 2013 were:
Genomics and Translational Medicine:
Biomedical Engineering
Neurobiology and Computational Neuroscience
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Bioprospecting and Bioengineering
Bioanalytical Techniques.
Biotechnology in India from a Global Perspective
Some of the other interesting events at Amrita BioQuest 2013 included Amrita Pitchfest 2013, Ten Talks Ph.D. symposium and over 300 poster presentations in the seven conference tracks.
Ten Talks was a Ph.D. symposium selecting 10 novel papers from current PhD students. The goal of the “ten talks” event was to highlight their work in front of other academics than their supervisors. They were able to present their work and get feedback on their topic and approach from leading scientists in the field and from fellow students.
Another interesting event conducted at Amrita BioQuest 2013 was Pitchfest. This was a contest for entrepreneurial startups with innovative ideas in Biotechnology. Pitchfest offered the perfect platform for new business ideas to be presented with the potential for useful applications, to a panel of experts in the field.
Amrita BioQuest 2013 was thus able to provide an ideal forum to discuss and deliberate on established as well as emerging platforms and strategies.