Chennai: The IIT Madras, in collaboration with Herbalife International India has inaugurated the Herbalife IIT Madras Centre of Excellence on plant cell fermentation technology, which is the country's first dedicated facility for translational research and innovation in plant cell fermentation.
The Herbalife-IIT Madras CoE is envisioned as a national hub for sustainable innovation, research and development and translational research in plant cell fermentation technology, an official release here on Thursday said.
The Centre aims to enable sustainable and scalable production of herbal biomass, develop enriched herbal extracts and high-value phytochemicals, and bridge the gap between laboratory discoveries and industrial applications.
By integrating advanced upstream cultivation systems with state-of-the-art downstream processing and metabolomics platforms, the centre seeks to promote technology transfer, foster innovation and entrepreneurship, and build skilled manpower in this emerging domain.
Speaking on the partnership with Herbalife, Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, said, "At the centre, we are now confident of pushing the boundaries of plant cell bioprocessing to translate into solutions for societal impact. We believe this center will not only strengthen India's self-reliance in sustainable bio-manufacturing, but also create new opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship and global leadership in next-generation plant-derived products".
He said the centre is expected to catalyse national and international academia-industry collaborations, facilitate intellectual property generation and technology transfer, nurture start-ups, and reduce import dependence through environmentally sustainable production systems.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.