Department of

Biochemical Engineering &

Biotechnology

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Vision

Mission

Values

To contribute to India and the World through excellence in scientific and technical education and research; to serve as a valuable resource for industry and society; and to remain a

source of pride for all Indians.

To generate new knowledge by engaging in cutting-edge research and to promote academic growth by offering state-of-the-art undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes.

To identify, based on an informed perception of Indian, regional

and global needs, areas of specialisation upon which the Institute can concentrate.

To undertake collaborative projects which offer opportunities for

long-term interaction with academia and industry.

To develop human potential to its fullest extent so that intellectually capable and imaginatively gifted leaders can

emerge in a range of professions.

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Academic integrity and accountability.

Respect and tolerance for the views of every individual.

Attention to issues of national relevance as well as of global concern.

Breath of understanding, including knowledge of the human sciences.

Appreciation of intellectual excellence and creativity.

An unfettered spirit of exploration, rationality and enterprise.

We, at the Department of Biochemical Engineering &

Biotechnology, IIT Delhi continuously strive to excel in

teaching and research through our endeavours to foster an

atmosphere conducive to achieve these goals. Biotechnology

has been rightly identified as the technology of this

millennium. Recent developments in the field have opened the

boundaries to limitless opportunities. From Life Sciences and

Chemical Engineering to Computer Sciences, every walk of life

has and will continue to be profoundly touched by

developments in Biotechnology. Because of its intrinsic nature,

Biotechnology will create processes that are eco-friendly and

sustainable. Our aim is, therefore, to bring about the

development of ecofriendly technologies that create entirely

new products and processes besides modifying or replacing

the existing ones. Equipped with the integrated expertise to

apply both biological and engineering sciences, we also expect

to create a class of biochemical engineers and biotechnologists

who are capable of solving industrial problems, of continuously

updating technology in bioprocess industries, and of

developing new products and processes. Our mission is,

therefore, to make a quantum jump in the growth of

Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology for the welfare of

society while safeguarding the environment.

March, 2003

The Department

The Department of Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology at IIT

Delhi has a unique place in the development of biochemical engineering

discipline in India. The biochemical engineering activities at the Institute

began in 1968. An Indo-UK collaboration generously supported the M.Tech.

and Ph.D. programmes that were initiated. The Institute took an early note of

the significant role that was to be played by biochemical engineers and

biotechnologists in future industrial development of biotechnology based

processes. In the year 1974, with the help of a large grant received from

SFIT-Zurich, an independent Biochemical Engineering Research Centre

(BERC) was created. The Centre continued to offer M.Tech. and Ph.D.

programmes in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology. The Centre

earned international acclaim for intensive research in basic science and

engineering problems related to the bioconversion of renewable

lignocellulosic residues to liquid and gaseous fuels, organic feedstock, food

and feed.

Later in 1989, a unique and innovative 5-Year Integrated M.Tech.

programme in Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology was initiated in

which students who qualified the prestigious Joint Entrance Examination

(JEE) of IITs were admitted. Realising the potential of this discipline for future

growth of Biochemical Industries, the Centre was converted into a full-

fledged Department of Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology in the year

1993.

At present, the department runs a 5-year integrated dual-degree

programme in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology for students who

qualify JEE. During the fifth year of this programme, eligible students receive

a stipend from the Institute. The department also runs M.S. (Research) and

Ph.D. programmes. Candidates graduating from these programmes

constitute valuable human resource for chemical and biochemical industries,

for teaching and research in academic institutions and biotechnology

industries, and for positions of management of biotechnology within the

country.

The various academic programmes & the research activities of the

department are supported by funding received from different agencies. The

department has been successful in raising considerable amount of funding

from national and international

agencies to support its varied

r e s e a r c h a n d t e a c h i n g

programmes. Generous support

is also received from govern-

ment organizations such as the

Ministry of Human Resource

Development, the Department

of Biotechnology and the

Department of Science and

Technology.

The department offers a 5-year integrated dual-degree programme for

students who have passed class XII and qualified JEE. At the end of 5 years

the students receive both B. Tech. and M. Tech. degrees in Biochemical

Engineering and Biotechnology. The course curriculum is carefully designed

to impart training in Biology courses such as Microbiology, Biochemistry,

Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology; Chemical Engineering courses such as

Mass and Energy Balance, Fluid Mechanics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Chemical

Reaction Engineering and Process Control; and Biochemical Engineering

courses such as Bioprocess Engineering, Bioseparation, Downstream

Processing, Enzyme Science and Engineering, and Plant Design. Advanced

courses in more specific areas such as Animal Cell Culture, Plant Cell Culture,

rDNA Technology and Immunology are also available to the students. In

addition to courses in these areas the students supplement their

departmental studies with courses in other areas such as Computer Science,

Management and Humanities. A great emphasis is laid on laboratory courses,

which are offered both at UG and PG levels. The students also have an

opportunity to gain experience in research through summer and winter

projects.

A four-semester M.S.(Research) programme is offered by the

department. To enroll in the programme, the students need to qualify the

Graduate Apptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) and have an outstandig

academic record in their B. Tech. programme in Chemical Engineering/

Biochemical Engineering/ Food Technology/ Industrial Biotechnology. This

programme has been designed to act as an interface between the Bachelor's

programme and Ph.D. Under this programme, a project of 2-3 semester

duration is given to the students. There is more emphasis on the research

component, which accordingly constitutes a major component of the whole

programme. Various fellowships are available for collaborative research with

German and Swiss Universities.

The department also offers a Ph.D. in various areas of research being

pursued by the faculty. A minimum number of courses are offered to students

to prepare them to undertake advanced research in various frontier areas in

Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology. The normal duration of the Ph.D.

programme is about 4 years. Students with exceptional academic records can

apply to the Ph.D. programme at any time of the year.

Academic ProgrammesAcademic Programmes

The department has infrastructure to

support a wide range of research activi-

ties. Some of the major equipments of the

department are:

Bioreactors of different sizes (2 liters to 1000 liters Volume)

Analytical Instruments including centrifuges, electrophoresis (nucleic acids and proteins), Chromatography, HPLC, FPLC, spectrophotometers

PCR machines, nucleic acid sequencing apparatus, gel documentation unit, gel dryer

Culture growth chambers

Culture storage facilities such as deep freezers and lyophilizer

Radioactive laboratory & dark room

Netfinity Server with 50 workstations

ELISA reader

The facilities of the department are

complemented by resources available in

other departments of the institute, such

as NMR, SEM and ASA. Being a depart-

ment of IIT Delhi, it is in a unique position

to tap the intellectual resources to carry

out inter-disciplinary research, such as,

Bioinformatics and Environmental

Biotechnology.

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The research areas being pursued by

the department reflect the expertise of

the faculty which ranges from molecular

b io logy through to b ioprocess

engineering. Many of the research areas

are multi disciplinary with input of inter-

re lated expert ise. Further, the

department has been offering the

required support to the Biotech industries

and research organizations, both in India

and abroad. The department therefore

undertakes consultancy projects from

industries as well as long-term sponsored

research projects. Current areas of

research in the department can be

broadly classified as follows:

Microbial Fermentations

Bio-separation and Downstream Pro- cessing

Molecular Biology, Designed Vector Construction, Plasmid Biology

Environmental Biotechnology

Enzyme Engineering and Molecular Enzymology

Animal and Plant Cell Culture Technology

Metabolic Engineering

Biosensors and Bioprocess Control

Molecular Machines

Protein Folding Pathways

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Facilities Research & ConsultancyFacilities Research & Consultancy

Sponsored Research & Consultancy Projects

The department has undertaken many sponsored research projects in a range

of areas depending on the expertise of the faculty. The total value of sponsored

research projects undertaken by the department in the last five years was more

than Rs 5,25,00,000. some of the more recent projects undertaken are:

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Anaerobic digestion of domestic solid wastes (CPCB, Prof. Subhash Chand, Dr. P. Vasudevan (RDAT) and Dr. T. R. Sreekrishnan)

Bioethanol from alternative feed stocks (DBT, Prof. Subhash Chand)

Cloning and characterization of ligninase / laccase genes from white rot fungus (DBT, Prof. S. Mishra)

Development of a biocatalytic process for desulphurisation of diesel (OIDB & CHT, Dr. J.K. Deb and Dr. P. K. Roychoudhury)

Development of non-linear geometric controller for bioprocessing: Application to L-methionine production (DBT, Dr. James Gomes, Prof. V. S. Bisaria and Dr. T. R. Sreekrishnan)

Development of novel reactor for large scale bioconversion of lignocellulosic residues to animal feed (Department of Biotechnology, GOI, Dr. James Gomes, Prof. V. S. Bisaria, Dr. T. R. Sreekrishnan)

Enhancement of urokinase productivity in a hollow fibre bioreactor by nutrient manipulation using cell culture engineering (DBT, Dr. P.K. Roychoudhury and Dr. J. Gomes)

Environmental pollution control using novel high cell density process (DBT, Dr. T.R. Sreekrishnan and J. Gomes)

Enzymatically transformed protein binders and thickeners (ICI India, Prof. I. Verma (CPSE), Prof. V. Chaudhary (CPSE), Prof. S. Mishra)

High density fermentation of biofertilizers (M/S International Panacea Limited, New Delhi, Prof. V. S. Bisaria and Dr. V. Sahai)

Media and process optimisation from fermentation of Beauveria (M/S Biotech International Limited, New Delhi, Dr. V. Sahai, Prof. V. S. Bisaria and Dr. A. Srivastava)

Molecular Machines: mechanism and thermodynamics (Swarnajayanti Research Project under Swarnajayanti Fellowship, DST, Dr. S. Nath)

Prebleaching of Kraft pulp by xylanase and ancillary enzymes (DST-TIFAC, Prof. S. Mishra, Prof. V. S. Bisaria, Dr. T. R. Sreekrishnan and Dr. V. Sahai)

Waste management and efficient treatment in recycling (AICTE, Dr. T.R. Sreekrishnan)

Ms. Saroj Mishra, Ph.D.(City University New York)

Molecular enzymology of hydrolyticenzymes, yeast expression systems

Professor & Head

Transfer process, microbial reactionkinetics, bioconversion, environmentalbiotechnology, ecology engineering,

process biotechnology

Subhash Chand, Ph.D. (IITD)Enzyme technology, biochemical engineering,

environmental biotechnology

V.S. Bisaria, Ph.D. (IITD)Enzyme and microbial technology,

lignocellulose bioconversion, plant cellbiotechnology

G.P.Agarwal, Ph.D.(Rice University, Houston)

Bioprocess engineering, membrane basedseparation, IMA chromatography

J.K. Deb, Ph.D. (BHU)Ribozyme engineering,

biodesulphurization, recombinanttherapeutic proteins

Vikram Sahai, Ph.D.(IITD)Instrumentation and control, onlineanalysis, scale-up of bioprocesses

Associate Professors

S.N. Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D. (IITD)

Professors

Faculty Profile

Associate Professors

P.K. Roychoudhury, Ph.D. (IITD)Biochemical engineering and cell culture

engineering

Sunil Nath, Dr. Ing. (BraunschweigUniversity)

Bioseparation, biothermodynamics,bioenergetics & molecular machines

A.K. Srivastava, Ph.D. (McGill)Modelling, simulation and optimization of

bioprocesses, plant cell biotechnology

T.R. Sreekrishnan, Ph.D. (IITD)Biochemical engineering and environmental

biotechnology

James Gomes, Ph.D. (Tulane University)Nonlinear control, ANN, solid-state bioconversion,

L-methionine production

Assistant Professors

Prashant Mishra, Ph.D. (JNU)Enzyme engineering, lipid biochemistry

Ms. Aradhana Srivastava, Ph.D. (IITD)Microbial production of organic acid, probiotic

organisms, heterologus protein expression/production/identification in yeast

Tapan K. Chaudhuri, Ph.D.(Bose Institute, Kolkata)Chaperone assisted protein folding in vivo and in vitro,mechanism of protein folding using stopped-flow CD andfluorescence techniques, protein engineering.

List of Publications

1. Alam Z., Fakhrul R., Molla A. H. and Roychoudhury P. K., Treatment of wastewatersludge by liquid state bioconversion process, J. Environ. Sci. Health, A36: 7, 2001.

2. Ali M. and Sreekrishnan T. R., Aquatic toxicity from pulp and paper mill effluents: areview, Adv. Environ. Res., 5: 175-196, 2001.

3. Ali M. and Sreekrishnan T. R., Anaerobic treatment of agriculture residue based pulpand paper mill effluents for AOX and COD reduction, Process Biochem., 36: 25-31,2000.

4. Banka R. R. and Mishra S., Adsorption properties of the fibril forming protein fromTrichoderma reesei, Enz. Microb. Technol., 31: 784-793, 2002.

5. Basu S., Gaur R., Gomes J., Sreekrishnan T. R. and Bisaria V. S., Effect of seedculture on solid-state bioconversion of wheat straw by Phanerochaete chrysosporiumto animal feed, J. Biosci. Bioeng., 93 (1): 25-30, 2002.

6. Bhatia Y., Mishra S. and Bisaria V. S., Microbial ß-glucosidase: cloning properties andapplications, CRC Crit. Rev. Biotechnol., 22: 375-407, 2002.

7. Bhatia Y., Mishra S. and Bisaria V. S., Biosynthetic activity of recombinant Escherichiacoli expressed Pichia etchellsii ß-glucosidase II, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 102/103,367-379, 2002.

8. Chakravarti R. and Sahai V., Optimization of compactin production in a chemicallydefined production medium by Penicillum citrinum using statistical methods, ProcessBiochem., 38 (4): 481-486, 2002.

9. Chakravarti R. and Sahai V., A chemically defined medium for the production ofcompactin by Penicillium citrinum, Biotechnol. Lett., 24: 527-530, 2002.

10. Chattopadhyay S., Srivastava A. K., Bhojwani S. S. and Bisaria V. S., Effect of majornutrients on Podophyllum hexandrum suspension, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 60:541-546, 2003.

11. Chattopadhyay S., Srivastava A. K., Bhojwani S. S. and Bisaria V. S., Production ofpodophyllotoxin by large-scale cultivation of Podophyllum hexandrum in bioreactor,J. Biosci. Bioeng., 93 (2): 215-220, 2002.

12. Chattopadhyay S., Farkya S., Srivastava A. K. and Bisaria V. S., Bioprocess consider-ations for production of secondary metabolites by plant cell suspension cultures,Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng., 7: 138-149, 2002.

13. Chattopadhyay S., Srivastava A. K. and Bisaria V. S., Optimization of culture param-eters for production of podophyllotoxin in suspension culture of Podophyllumhexandrum, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 102/103: 381-393, 2002.

14. Chaudhuri T. K., Farr G. W., Fenton W. A., Rospert S. and Horwich A. L., GroEL/GroES-mediated folding of a protein too large to be encapsulated, Cell, 107: 235-246, 2001.

15. Chaudhuri T. K., Arai M., Terada T. P., Ikura T. and Kuwajima K., Equilibrium andkinetic studies on folding of the authentic and recombinant forms of human alpha-lactalbumin by circular dichroism spectroscopy, Biochemistry, 39: 15643-51, 2000.

16. Chaudhuri T. K., Horii K., Yoda T., Arai M., Tagata S., Terada T. P., Uchiyama H., IkuraV, Tsumoto K., Kataoka H., Matsushima M., Kuwajima K. and Kumagai I., Effect ofthe extra n-terminal methionine residue on the stability and folding of recombinantalpha-lactalbumin expressed in Escherichia coli, J. Mol. Biol., 285: 1179-94, 1999.

17. Costantino H. R., Griebenow K., Mishra P., Langer R. and Klibanov A. M., Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic investigation of protein stability in the lyophilizedform, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1253: 69-74, 1995.

18. Dastidar M. G., Malik A. and Roychoudhury P. K., Biodesulphurization of Indian(Assam) coal using T. ferroxidans, Energy Conver. Mgmt., 41: 375-388, 2000.

19. Deb J. K. and Nath N., Plasmids of Corynebacteria, FEMS Microbiol. Lett., 175: 11-20, 1999.

20. Giridhar R. and Srivastava A. K., Productivity improvement in L-sorbose biosynthesisby fed-batch cultivation of Gluconobacter oxydans, J. Biosci. Bioeng., 94 (1): 34-38,2002.

21. Giridhar R. and Srivastava A. K., Mathematical modeling and its use for design offeeding strategies for L-sorbose fermentation, Can. J. Chem. Eng., 79 (3): 349-355,2001.

22. Gomes J. and Menawat A. S., Precise control of dissolved oxygen in bioreactors: Amodel-based geometric algorithm, Chem. Eng. Sci., 55: 67-68, 1999.

23. Gomes J., Singhal A., Bhargava S. and Roychoudhury P. K., A model for adaptationof microorganisms to nitrates, Chem. Eng. Technol., 9: 1-8, 1999.

24. Gupta V., Nath S. and Chand S., Role of water structure on phase separation inpolyelectrolyte-polyethyleneglycol based aqueous two-phase systems, Polymer, 43:3387-3390, 2002.

25. Gupta V., Nath S. and Chand S., Electrostatic interactions, phase separation behaviorand partitioning of proteins in polyelectrolyte based aqueous two-phase systems,Ind. J. Biotechnol, 1: 87-95, 2002.

26. Gupta V., Nath S. and Chand S., Estimation of proteins in the presence ofpolyethylenimine, Biotechnol. Lett., 22: 927-929, 2000.

27. Gupta P., Sahai V. and Bhatnagar R., Enhanced expression of the recombinant lethalfactor of Bacillus anthracis by Fed-Batch culture, Biochem. Biophy. Res. Comm., 285(7): 1025-1033, 2001.

28. Gupta A. and Srivastava A. K., Continuous propionic acid production from cheesewhey using in-situ spin filter, Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng., 6: 1-5, 2001.

29. Jain S. and Nath S., Catalysis by ATP synthase: mechanistic, kinetic and thermody-namic characteristics, Thermochimica Acta, 378: 35-44, 2001.

30. S. Nath and S. Jain, Kinetic modeling of ATP synthase and its mechanistic implica-tions [BREAKTHROUGHS AND VIEWS], Biochem. Biophy. Res. Comm., 272: 629-633,2000.

31. Kaur J. and Agarwal G. P., Studies on protein transmission in thin channel flowmodule: The role of dean vortices for improving mass transfer, J. Mem. Sci., 196: 1-11, 2002.

32. Malik A., Dastidar M. G. and Roychoudhury P. K., Biodesulphurization of coal: effectof pulse feeding and leachate recycle, Enz. Microb.Technol., 28: 49-56, 2001.

33. Malik A., Dastidar M. G. and Roychoudhury P. K., Biodesulphurization of coal: rateenhancement by sulphur grown cells, Biotechnol. Lett., 22: 273-276, 2000.

34. Mishra P., Griebenow K. and Klibanov A. M. Structural basis of the molecularmemory of imprinted proteins in anhydrous media, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 52: 609-614,1996.

35. Moller K., Tidemand L. D., Srivastava A., Piskur J., Nielsen J. and L. Olson, Evalua-tion of novel hosts for heterologous protein production, 3rd European Symposium onBiochemical Engineering Science, 2000.

36. Mukhopadhyay S. N., Process Biotechnology Fundamentals, Replica Press, NewDelhi, 2001.

37. Mukhopadhyay S. N., Effect of thermophilic temperatures on aeration parametersand dissolved oxygen probe performance in batch cultivation of B.stearothermophilus CU21, Ind. Chem. Engr. Sec. A, 43 (3): 147-151, 2001.

38. Nath S., The molecular mechanism of ATP synthesis by F1F0-ATP synthase: Ascrutiny of the major possibilities, Adv. Biochem. Eng. Biotechnol., 74: 65-98, 2002.

39. Nath S., Surface tension of non-ideal binary liquid mixtures as a function of compo-sition, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 209: 116-122, 1999.

40. Rathi P., Goswami V. K., Sahai V. and Gupta R., Statistical medium optimization andproduction of a hyperthermostable lipase from Burkholderia cepacia in a bioreactor,J. Appl. Microbiol., 93:1-8, 2002.

41. Sahoo D. K. and Agarwal G. P., Effect of oxygen transfer on glycerol biosynthesis byan osmophilic yeast Candia magnoliae I2B', Biotechnol. Bioeng., 78 (5): 545-555,2002.

42. Sethi B., Jain M., Chowdhary M., Soni Y., Bhatia Y., Sahai V. and Mishra S., Cloning,characterization of Pichia etchellsii ß-glucosidase II and effect of media compositionand feeding strategy on its production in a bioreactor, Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng.,7: 43-51, 2002.

43. Sharma S. and Agarwal G. P., Comparative studies on metal sorption characteristicsof chelating gels for immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography, Sep. Sci. Tech.,37 (15): 3491-3511, 2002.

44. Sharma S., Dastidar M. G. and Sreekrishnan T. R., Zinc uptake by fungal biomassisolated from industrial wastewater, ASCE Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic andRadioactive Waste Management, 6 (4): 256-261, 2002.

45. Sharma S. and Agarwal G. P., Interactions of proteins with immobilized metal ions:role of ionic strength and pH, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 243: 61-72, 2001.

46. Sharma S. and Gomes J., Effect of dissolved oxygen on continuous production ofMethionine, Eng. Life Sci., 1: 69-73, 2001.

47. Srivastava P., Karan G. and Deb J. K., Methods for specific integration of T7 RNApolymerase gene in the chromosome of Corynebacteria and the resultant Coryne-bacteria-T7 promotor based shuttle vector system, Patent application no. 96/DEL/2002, dated Feb. 5, 2002.

48. Srivastava A., Piskur J., Nielson J. and Eagel-Mitani M., Methods for the productionof heterologous polypeptides in transformed yeast cells, Patent issued in USA Pt. No.6190883 (Feb 2001), issued in EU Pt No. 99941413.92105 (April 2001), PCT No. WO00/14258, and Japanese application No. 2000-568999.

49. Srivastava A., Rubiah Y. and Roychoudhury P. K., An empirical model for extractivelactic acid bioconversion using ion exchange resins. Art. Cells Blood Subs. Immob.Biotech., 27 (5&6): 403-410, 1999.

National & International Collaborations

The Department has been very active in collaborating with foreign insti-tutions. Early in 1974, an lndo-Swiss programme in Biochemical Engineer-ing with Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, was initiated whichcontinued for a period of 11 years (1974-85) with substantial fund supportto develop both the expertise in various areas of Biochemical Engineering aswell as to furnish laboratories with a number of sophisticated equipment.Another source of major international funding was through UNDP (1989-94)on Advanced Research in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology throughwhich the expertise of the faculty was enhanced by carrying out research invarious reputed institutions of the world besides upgrading the laboratories.The Department also had a successful collaboration with French laboratoriesunder Indo-French collaboration in Bioconversion, with Chemical Center, Uni-versity of Lund, Sweden under Indo-Swedish collaboration. Currently, theinstitutes with whom the department has collaborations in various areas ofresearch are :

NationalAll India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS), New Delhi

Biocon India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore

Biotech International Ltd., New Delhi

Central Pulp and Paper Institute,Saharanpur

Dabur India Ltd, New Delhi

Delhi University

Indian Oil Corporation, New Delhi

Institute of Genomics and IntegratedBiology (IGIB), New Delhi

International Center of Genetic Engineer-ing and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi

International Panacea Ltd, New Delhi

National Institute of Immunology (NII),New Delhi

Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI),New Delhi

Vetcare, Bangalore

International

IMA chromatography

Plant cell culture and lovastatin

Bio-insecticides

Xylanase production, pulp and paper

Yeast production

Plant cell culture, industrial enzymes,biochemical engineering

Oil zapper formulation

Bioinformatics

Molecular biology of plant virus

Enzymes, lactic acid, bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides and xylanase production

IMA chromatography, animal cell cultureand nerve cell culture

Scale up of process for oil zapper

Large-scale animal feed production,enzyme formulation for poultry, scale-upof processes

ABRD Corporation, USA Carbon dioxide fixation

Chung Buk National University, Plant cell cultureSouth Korea

Osaka University Bioprocess technology, plantcell culture

T. B. University, Czech Republic Thermophilic biomethanation and wasteutilization

University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia Biochemical engineering & mammaliancell culture

Ph.D. Projects

Completed in the last 3 years1. Studies on lipase catalysed esterification/transesterification reactions for resolution

of racemic acids and alcohols in microaqueous medium

2. Bioprocess engineering studies on bioconversion of sorbitol to sorbose by Acetobactersuboxydans

3. Characterization of streptomycin resistant mutant of Corynebacterium acetoacidophilumATCC 21476

4. Microbial production of tannase and its application in hydrolysis of tannins and syn-thesis of gallic acid esters

5. Treatment of agroresidue based pulp and paper mill effluents

6. Purification and characterisation of ß-glucosidases from a thermotolerant yeast Pichiaetchellsii

7. Strain improvement and reactor studies for the production of L-methionine by Coryne-bacterium lilium

8. Purification and characterisation of cloned Pichia etchellsii ß-glucosidase II and itsapplication in synthesis of oligosaccharides

9. Probing protein polymer interactions in precipitation and aqueous two phase parti-tioning

10. Production of anticancer drug podophyllotoxin by plant cell cultivation of Podophyllumhexandrum

11. Molecular enzymology of microbial PHB biosynthesis

12. Studies on the production of compactin by fungal fermentation

In progress1. Mechanism of replication and sequence analysis of plasmids of Corynebacterium

renale

2. Structural and functional studies of ß-glucosidase gene of Pichia etchellsii

3. Purification and characterisation of laccase gene from Cyathus species

4. Molecular biological aspect of ATP synthesis

5. Protease engineering for non-aqueous solvents

6. Biopesticide azadiractin production from plant cell suspension culture of Azadiractaindica

7. Fractionation of protein mixture using ultrafiltration

8. Stabilization of wastewater treatment sludge and solid wastes using autoheatedthermophilic digestion processes

9. Separation of urokinase from bioreaction mixture

10. Development of a biocatalytic process for desulphurization of diesel

11. Ribozyme engineering for the study of gene regulation

12. Microbial production of gibberellins

13. Study of engineering aspects of MPI rhizobium biofertilizer production

14. Study and regulation of urokinase (tPA) production in vitro using animal cell culture

15. Enzyme catalyzed (trans) esterification of lipids/phospholipids

16. Structure and functional analysis of streptomycin nucleotydyl transferase ofCorynebacterium acetoacidophilum

17. Molecular analysis of broad range plasmid of Corynebacterium renale for thedevelopment of versatile vectors

18. Sustained drug delivery systems: interactions of proteins with polymers

19. Strategies for overproduction of biodegradable polymer polyhydroxy butyrate inAlcaligenes eutrophus

20. Studies on growth and protein synthesis by immobilized recombinant microbial cells

21. Studies on production and optimisation of xylanase from Melanocarpus albomyces

22. Alternative control strategies for bioprocesses

23. Lipase catalyzed synthesis of mono-glycerides and sugar esters for application of foodemulsifiers

24. Engineering of lipases using non-aqueous solvents

Processes and Products

Downstream Processingl Immobilized Metal Ion Affinity Chromatographyl Membrane based protein fractionation

Enzyme formulationsl Designer lipid synthesisl Emulsifier synthesisl Glyco-conjugatesl Peptidesl Poultry Feedl Pulp and paper

Microbial Productsl Biopesticidesl Citric Acidl Compactinl Glyceroll Lactic Acidl Methioninel Nutraceuticalsl Propionic Acidl Xanthan Gum

Processes from Renewable Resourcesl Animal Feedl Ethanol

Softwarel Nonlinear control of Bioprocesses

Therapeuticsl Podophyllotoxin and Azadirachtin by plant cell culturel Streptokinase by recombinant Corynebacteriuml Urokinase by HT1080 cell line

Research Activities

Student Activities

The Department, in keeping with IIT Delhi�s tradition of active studentparticipation, encourages students to be actively involved in variousacademic and non-academic ventures and activities. Towards such goals,BETA or Biochemical Engineers and Technologists Association wasestablished by the students and faculty of the Department. Theassociation, through it�s various activities, has developed a strongrelationship with the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry andother government and non-government organizations like Departmentof Biotechnology and The Confederation of Indian Industry. BETA hasbecome a portal for the students to gain exposure to issues, both technicaland managerial, in the field of Biotechnology. The association alsoorganizes the prestigious yearly Conference on Biochemical Engineeringand Biotechnology, BIOHORIZON.

BIOHORIZON is a platform for the Industry and Academia to cometogether and discuss issues of Technical, Social and Economic importancein the areas of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology. BETA throughBIOHORIZON hopes to promote extensive interaction between theAcademia and Industry in new ventures, necessary for the growth of theBiotechnology Industry in India. Further, it acts as an excellent platformfor young scientists to display their research and reach out to theBiotechnology Community at large through the BIOHORIZON publication.

Students from the department, through BETA, also have an opportunityto gain exposure and display their research in other such Conferencesand Symposiums held all over the country.

Fellowships for UGs/PGs

For Under Graduates Students (Exchange Programme)

l Scholarship from University of Massachusetts (UMASS), Amherst.l Scholarship from University of British Columbia (UBC), Canadal Scholarship from Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Lyon (INSA), Francel Scholarship Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL),

Switzerlandl Scholarship from Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France.

For Post Graduate Students

l Institute Assistantship for MS and Ph.D. Studentsl Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD)- �Sandwich

Model Scholarship�

Opportunities and Placement

The curriculum structure of the department provides the students firsthand experience in a variety of areas in Biochemical Engineering andBiotechnology. The system is flexible so that the student also has ad-equate opportunity to learn about other engineering fields such asMechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Computer Science.The department also has MOUs with German and Swiss universities forexchange programmes and joint research projects. Therefore, the stu-dents have the opportunity to gain industrial and research exposureboth in India and abroad.

Apart from opening a host of avenues in the Biotechnology and thePharmaceutical Sector internationally, the curriculum also enables thestudents to enter diverse and interdisciplinary fields. Biocon, Ranbaxyand Astrazeneca have recruited students from the department in thearea of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology and Tooltech,Strandgenomics, Metahelix in the area of Bioinformatics. Also, compa-nies such as HLL, ITC, Evalueserve, Mckinsey�s have recruited studentsfor management positions related to the field of Biochemical Engineer-ing and Biotechnology.

Biochemical Engineering Sector

Process plant design

Fermentation technology-enzymes, microbial, animal & plant cell cultivation and recombinant product

Media design and optimisation

Design of waste water treatment facilities

Downstream processing operations

Process Automation & Control

Biosensors

Software development for fermentation processes

Bioscience Sector

rDNA technology

Designed vector construction

Bioinformatics, data mining, software development in genomics

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Name and Email * Broad Area of Specialisation

Agarwal G.P 1005 Bioprocess engineering, membrane based gopal@dbeb.iitd.ac.in separation, IMA chromatography

Bisaria V.S. 1002 Enzyme and microbial technology,vbisaria@dbeb.iitd.ac.in lignocellulose bioconversion, plant cell

biotechnology

Chaudhuri T. K. 1012 Chaperone assisted protein folding in vivo and tapan@dbeb.iitd.ac. in vitro, mechanism of protein folding using

stopped-flow CD and fluorescence techniques, protein engineering.

Deb J.K. 1006 Ribozyme engineering, biodesulphurization,jkdeb@dbeb.iitd.ac.in recombinant therapeutic proteins

Gomes J. 1013 Nonlinear control, ANN, solid-state biocon-

gomes@dbeb.iitd.ac.in version, L-methionine production

Mishra P. 1015 Enzyme engineering, lipid biochemistrypmishra@dbeb.iitd.ac.in

Mishra S. 1007 Molecular enzymology of hydrolytic enzymes, saroj@dbeb.iitd.ac.in yeast expression systems

Mukhopadhyay S.N. 1003 Transfer process, microbial reaction kinetics, snmukho@dbeb.iitd.ac.in bioconversion

Nath S. 1009 Bioseparation, biothermodynamics, sunath@dbeb.iitd.ac.in bioenergetics & molecular machines

Roychoudhury P.K. 1011 Biochemical engineering and cell culture pkrc@dbeb.iitd.ac.in engineering

Sahai V. 1008 Instrumentation and control, online analysis, vsahai@dbeb.iitd.ac.in scale-up of bioprocesses

Sreekrishnan T.R. 1014 Biochemical engineering and environmental sree@dbeb.iitd.ac.in biotechnology

Srivastava A. 6192 Microbial production of organic acid, ars@dbeb.iitd.ac.in probiotic organisms, heterologus protein

expression/production/identification in yeast

Srivastava A.K. 1010 Modelling, simulation and optimization of ashokks@dbeb.iitd.ac.in bioprocesses, plant cell biotechnology

Subhash Chand 1004 Enzyme technology, biochemical engineering, subhashc@dbeb.iitd.ac.in environmental biotechnology

, environmental biotechnology, ecology engineering, process biotechnology

*Prefix "2659" to these telephone numbers to call from outside IIT Delhi.

Faculty and Expertise Faculty and Expertise

For further information, please contact:

Prof. (Ms.) Saroj Mishra, HODDepartment of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology

Indian Institute of Technology DelhiHauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, INDIA

Tel: +91 11 26596109, Fax: +91 11 26582282Web: www.iitd.ac.in