A state-of-the-art laboratory of the SK Dash Center of Excellence of Bio-sciences and Engineering and Technology (SKBET) of IIT Bhubaneswar will be inaugurated on Tuesday.
S K Dash, one of the pioneers in the field of probiotics, provided a gift fund for setting up of SKBET in the specific areas of bio-molecular and food technology leading to capacity building at IIT Bhubaneswar.
In the School of Basic Sciences of the institute, SKBET is now hosting the Probiotics and Human microbiome research laboratory. It is applying innovative approaches and state-of-the-art technology to understand and solve problems that are related to human gut microbiome associated diseases, probiotic and prebiotic intervention in various diseases.
Apart from human probiotics, researchers are also actively working on various environmental probiotics that are useful for the maintenance of soil health in agriculture, water health in aquaculture, and probiotic blended feed for fish and prawn.
The SKBET research laboratory has a world-class set up to carry out research in the areas of microbiology, molecular biology, and cell biology. The state-of-the-art laboratory has procured many high-end instruments to carry out various experiments.
“Our team is actively working on a few next-generation probiotic strains with a goal to address many non-communicable diseases. We also have an aim of identifying and collecting various beneficial strains from the Indian population and establishing a local microbial bank. We are working to develop various probiotics blended products based on our research findings,” said an official release.
“Our previous studies on preschool children have established an inverse association of faecal Lactobacillus and faecal total iron concentration. Also, we have identified a Lactobacillus strain that is effective in clearing Salmonella infection. Our team has developed a product (a blend of 13 probiotics strains) that is effective in preventing eutrophication in aquaculture and maintain the soil and water health,” said Saroj Nayak, head of School of Basic Sciences.
Courtesy: TOI
