National Institute of Biotechnology

National Institute of Biotechnology (NIB) is the only national research institute on biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. This institution is located very close to Dhaka at Ganakbari in Savar. NIB is conducting various research activities in biotechnology through 7 research departments, namely - Animal, Fisheries, Plants, Molecular, Microbial, Environmental Biotechnology, and Bioinformatics. NIB has a total of 111 employees, including 48 researchers. NIB has already developed drought, and high temperature tolerant transgenic eggplant varieties, detected different genetic involvements in diabetes development, identified complete genome sequences of various viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and conducted related research to these viruses, identified heavy metal-remediating bacteria, developed, and produced enzymes for textile and leather industries, completed identification of fish and animal of various sources through barcoding and for the first time elucidated the gut microbiome profile of Bangladeshi population through metagenomic analysis. In addition to biotechnology-specific research, NIB is developing skilled human resources through hands-on training and providing various services such as DNA sequencing and Prokaryote genome assembly, determination of the disease-causing microorganisms, as well as different species through the molecular method. To conduct various activities on biotechnology in our country, the organization is playing the role of 'National Resource Center' and 'National Focal Point'. Among the SAARC countries, NIB acts as Bangladesh's nodal agency of biotechnology. In addition, NIB is operating activities in Bangladesh as an affiliate of the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Trieste, Italy. [Md. Salimullah]