A collaborative initiative of the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC) & Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) - with the support of IT BT & ST Dept., Government of Karnataka, a portal for scientific information for scientists & the public has been launched, called Covid-Kosha.

"Covid-19 continues to cause deaths globally. A single online centre for all scientific information can enhance the speed and efficiency of communication among scientists, health professionals, policymakers and the public. We developed such a unique information source, the Covid-Kosha. The beta version of this database is now available at ‘covidkosha.org’  OR resource.ibab.ac.in/covidkosha. The database is a result of a collaborative effort between IBAB, BBC and BdataA. Efforts are on to expand the collaborations", said Kshitish K Acharya, Faculty Scientist, IBAB, & Founder, BdataA, Bengaluru.

The main features of this database include a painstaking compilation of scientific information, multi-lingual versions, new software for data analysis, and access to all other standard online sources of scientific information related to Covid-19. There are plans to create additional features in the database.

"To maintain the database and develop more useful features, we need further support – financially and otherwise”, Acharya added.