In a country where biotechnology is often reduced to either vaccine press releases or biotech-pharma stock tips, VIT Chennai's Biotech Conclave 2026, presented with The Hindu, is attempting something rarer: a conversation about translation.
Conceived as a student-centric platform for higher secondary students, undergraduates and researchers, the conclave's opening line from Vice President G.V. Selvam is telling: "Through this conclave, VIT Chennai aims to encourage students to see biotechnology not only as a field of study, but as a pathway to innovation, enterprise and meaningful service to humanity."
The lineup reflects that. Suchitra Ella, co-founder of Bharat Biotech and CII president-designate, will inaugurate. Sessions move from gene-based technologies moving from lab to clinic with G. Jayaraman of VIT and Kalpana Gowrishankar of Apollo Hospitals, to India's emergence as a global biopharma hub with M.M. Balamurali of VIT and Vasan Sambandamurthy of Bugworks Research, and Maneesh Paul of Microvioma discussing anti-infective Enmetazobactam.
Three themes stand out. One, convergence: deputy director Shridevi S. from VIT's Centre for NeuroInformatics discussing tech-bio fusion with The Hindu's Zubeda Hamid. Two, funding: Ajay Mahipal of HealthKois will dissect the biotech funding landscape - critical when Indian biotech still lives on grants and struggles to scale. Three, ecosystem: K. VijayRaghavan of NCBS-TIFR will close by exploring India's research and innovation ecosystem with science editor Jacob Koshy.
At a time when life sciences are shaping everything from pandemic preparedness to agri-productivity, the conclave's value is not in announcements but in aspiration. It tells a Class 12 student in Chennai that biotech is not just NEET, but entrepreneurship.