Computational Biology and Bioinformatics: A tinge of Indian spice

If you had a chance to travel around recently in some of the main roads in the major cities in India such as Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai (Madras) in the recent years, you might have noticed banners and posters advertising for bioinformatics or, more broad-based, biotechnology organizations rather like advertisement boards of hotels, cellular phones and computers. Biotechnology and Bioinformatics are popular terms now in India and recently Nature released a special outlook section on activities on biological sciences in India. [1] The generic term “Biotechnology” which seems to encompass traditional and modern biology is very popular especially among Indian students aspiring for a career in biology. This bioinformatics boom, which looks somewhat subsided now, is compounded by the launch of bioinformatics companies and bioinformatics wings of popular software and pharmaceutical companies – few flourishing, some lingering and many dead.