ESTIC 2026 Curtain Raiser Held at ICGEB New Delhi

The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, hosted the curtain raiser of the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC 2026). The event carried a special session on System and Synthetic Biology and on what these fields can do for research, biotechnology and innovation in the country. Prof. Gobardhan Das, Member of NITI Aayog, was the Chief Guest.

Who took part

Besides the Chief Guest, the gathering was addressed by Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT); Dr. Dhananjay Kumar Tiwary, Scientist-H at DBT and Managing Director of BIRAC; and Dr. Ramesh V. Sonti, Director of ICGEB New Delhi. Dr. Sonti gave an overview of the conclave and said DBT would steer a session on Systems and Synthetic Biology at the main event.

What ESTIC 2026 is

The conclave is a national platform run by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under the guidance of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. It is set for 27 to 29 October 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, and is meant to bring scientists, policymakers, industry leaders, researchers and deep-tech innovators together. The programme spans 12 thematic areas, among them System and Synthetic Biology, advanced manufacturing, energy technologies, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and advanced healthcare, and supports the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

What the speakers said

Dr. Tiwary pointed to uses of the two fields in healthcare, biomanufacturing and biodesign, noted the part artificial intelligence plays in speeding up biological research, and spoke of the opening the BioE3 Policy creates for the biotechnology sector. Dr. Gokhale drew on the discovery and mass production of penicillin to argue that a finding matters most once it is turned into a scalable solution available to society, and said biology was entering a second revolution. Prof. Das cited the development of COVID-19 vaccines as proof that basic biological work can save lives, and said India could become a global biotechnology leader.

Facts at a glance

ICGEB New Delhi works on infectious diseases, vaccines and diagnostics, plant biotechnology, bioenergy and bioinformatics, and trains researchers in the life sciences.