NEW DELHI: India will soon come out with guidelines, Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange), for depositing biological data in the country’s national repository. It will safeguard data generated using public resources and improve the quality of experimental life science research.
The move will help in strengthening the country’s first indigenous biological data centre, Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC). Currently, the biological data is deposited in international repositories, and there are no national guidelines that mandate this.
“Formulation of biological data storage, access and sharing policy of India and setting up the Indian Biological Data Centre-PRIDE policy are part of the country’s national biotechnology development strategy 2021-25,” said an official of the department of biotechnology (DBT).
He said the guidelines, being formulated by the DBT, would be in conformity to the principles of the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP) so that “privacy and confidentiality”, and quality of biological data can be protected.
The guidelines will have clarity on ‘open access’, ‘managed/restricted access’ and ‘no access’. “Data that are sensitive from a personal standpoint (such as data on illness) or from a national security point of view will not be shared at all,” said the official on the Biotech-PRIDE guidelines.
The science & technology ministry is also expected to launch a web-portal for deposition of biological data to the IBDC – the national repository for life science data emerging from India.
The IBDC has come up at the Regional Centre of Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad (Haryana) in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The Centre will also provide infrastructure and expertise for biological data analysis.
The move will help in strengthening the country’s first indigenous biological data centre, Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC). Currently, the biological data is deposited in international repositories, and there are no national guidelines that mandate this.
“Formulation of biological data storage, access and sharing policy of India and setting up the Indian Biological Data Centre-PRIDE policy are part of the country’s national biotechnology development strategy 2021-25,” said an official of the department of biotechnology (DBT).
He said the guidelines, being formulated by the DBT, would be in conformity to the principles of the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP) so that “privacy and confidentiality”, and quality of biological data can be protected.
The guidelines will have clarity on ‘open access’, ‘managed/restricted access’ and ‘no access’. “Data that are sensitive from a personal standpoint (such as data on illness) or from a national security point of view will not be shared at all,” said the official on the Biotech-PRIDE guidelines.
The science & technology ministry is also expected to launch a web-portal for deposition of biological data to the IBDC – the national repository for life science data emerging from India.
The IBDC has come up at the Regional Centre of Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad (Haryana) in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The Centre will also provide infrastructure and expertise for biological data analysis.
