In the Indian context, the discipline of biotechnology emerged from the intersection of the various streams of physical and biological sciences. During its inception stage, Biotechnology drew its tools, techniques and research questions from disciplines of Biochemistry, Genetics, Biochemical engineering, Physiology, and Chemistry. Beyond the hegemonic gene-centric approaches of ‘West’, chemical engineering coming together with biological sciences shaped the trajectory of biotechnology in India. Biochemical Engineering Research Centre (BERC henceforth) at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India came into existence as a research cluster with the assistance from Swiss and British collaboration in 1974. Within a few years, BERC emerged as a formidable force in the areas of Biochemical Engineering in the world. The center hosted two international conferences and led various committees on biofuels and non-conventional energy sources worldwide.
This exhibit aims to depict the epistemic culture of innovation and counter-hegemonic trajectory of biotechnology in India, beyond the dominant gene-centric approaches. The exhibit aims to emphasize the role of BERC by making alterations in object-culture such as choice of technologies and design, selection of raw material and socio-cultural context of research, which eventually changed the epistemic trajectory of the discipline as a whole in the country. Through the curatorial process, exhibit further aim to complicate the dichotomous and hegemonic nature of so-called ‘Western’ and/over ‘Eastern’ sciences.
In the modern biotechnological paradigm, the ‘West’ has been the source and site for knowledge production. The collaboration between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology(SFIT), Zurich and BERC, IIT Delhi was one of its first kind experience in the field of scientific and technological research in the country. In this collaboration, two institutions had full-fledged cooperation for research and training in the area of Biochemical Engineering. Establishment of BERC was a significant event not only in terms of establishing connectivity with the ‘West,’ but also in translating the western inputs in the field of Biochemical Engineering based on the Indian context. BERC translated the biochemical research from food processing to renewable energy resources. It translated the methods and processes of biochemical engineering for the bioconversion of cellulosic substances into renewable energy. The success of the translation should be credited to technological alterations and tweaking of ‘object-culture’ in Biochemical Engineering.
In the traditional sense, the epistemic relationship between the ‘East’ and ‘West’ are defined through various theoretical themes ‘Science and Empire,’ ‘Science and Colonialism’ and ‘Center and Periphery.’
One way of prising the black box open is to inquire, not merely at the direction of the flow of knowledge, but also at the process whereby knowledge is exchanged. As Latour constructed that if one changes the investigation from the transmission to either ‘redefinition’, ‘exchange’ and ‘translation’ the passive recipients of knowledge would turn into an active agent. It was important to look into the process of knowledge exchange and enquire into the process of attenuation, alteration and translation taking place between the ‘Centre’ and Periphery.’
Engineering aspect, in terms of the fermentation process, has always been part of microbiology and biochemical researches. Till 1960 there was no specialised research program on fermentation technology/biochemical engineering. Three significant institutes and universities, namely Jadavpur University, Kolkata; Harcourt Butler Technical Institute( HBTI) now HBTU, a deemed university, Kanpur and University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT) now a deemed university known as Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai started a full-fledged bachelors degree in technology in food and fermentation technology/biochemical engineering between 1963-1965. All three institutes and universities have the colonial legacy of providing engineering education in Chemical Engineering from the pre-independence era. The new discipline of Biochemical Engineering emerged at the peripheries of Chemical Engineering and Microbiology.
The new interdisciplinary branch was swiftly growing and getting recognition in academic circles as a separate discipline. IIT Delhi within two years of setting up the Centre for Biochemical Research diversified into three divisions i) biochemical division ii) biomedical division iii) biosciences. Initially, with the assistance of British collaboration with British Council and later with Swiss collaboration with Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, the centre made inroads in biochemical research. In 1973, IIT Delhi hosted a three-week winter school in collaboration with British Council and SFIT, Zurich. The twenty-one lecturers and forty-six participants attended it. Prof. A. Fiechter and Prof N Blakebrough from the University of Birmingham, Prof. Henry Zawistowski from Imperial College were a few big names among the delegates from Switzerland and the UK, who attended the winter school. Prof. T.K. Ghose, Prof. A. Fiechter, Prof. N Blakebrough, a year before, edited a book on biochemical engineering titled as ‘Advances in Biochemical Engineering’ in 1971.
In the centre-periphery relationship, there exists a sphere of patronage and a sphere of competition. The relationship between the ‘West’ and ‘East’ in the context of biochemical research in its initial stages revealed the different levels of patronage. Through international collaborations, biochemical research started to move beyond from the spheres of patronage to the realms of competition.
Moving away from the mandate of scaling up the food and fermentation-based projects; BERC translated the biochemical research from food processing to renewable energy resources. It translated the methods and processes of biochemical engineering for the bioconversion of cellulosic substances into renewable energy. New elements were introduced to the system, and the success of this transaction was purely based on the technological alterations and by tweaking of the object culture of biochemical engineering.
BERC very smarty stitches new ties and ventured into the newer research avenues that put them on the global map as a potential solution provider to the energy crisis. Centre had aligned itself on the national agenda of ‘Fuel for Biomass’ and pick the research areas that are internationally relevant at that time such as hydrogen, Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG), and biofuels.
BERC attempted to fuse genetic research with Biochemical Engineering. It worked on the improvement of microbial strains using traditional methods of genetic mutations. Eventually, The centre developed two mutant strains of Trichoderma Reesei, D1/6 and E-12 for bioconversion of cellulosic material at pilot-scale. Both the strains drew much appreciation worldwide in the field of biofuels. The centre also developed a constitutive mutant named as C-5. The centre without venturing into the fundamental research approached the subject matter of biochemical research from the technological side. It was an alteration in object-culture that provided them with new epistemic dimensions about the biochemical researches. Genetics and new molecular biological techniques were introduced for the improvement of the strains of Trichoderma Reesei. The exhibit wanted to highlight the technological implication that paved the way for novel epistemic avenues in biotechnological research in India.
Biochemical engineering got extra push due to some extraordinary circumstances that took place in 1943. India experienced the great famines in the early ’40s. Almost, 2-3 million people lost their lives due to starvation during these famines. The socio-economic context and humanitarian crisis in the region compelled the scientists to take up research in applied sciences. At least for the time being, there was less focus on the fundamental research. These efforts culminated in the form of large scale revolutions in the fields of agriculture and dairy products. They are known as a ‘Green Revolution’ and ‘Operation Flood’ respectively in the country. The external demand generated by these large scale revolutions brought the focus on Biochemical Engineering as an emerging disciple in life sciences. Applied research programs such as Biochemical Engineering viewed as potential field research that can provide solutions to the crisis