What is CSIR?
The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is the premier industrial R&D organization of India. CSIR was constituted in 1942 by a resolution of the then Central Legislative Assembly. It is an autonomous body registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860.CSIR aims to provide industrial competitiveness, social welfare, a strong S&T base for strategic sectors and advancement of fundamental knowledge. Today CSIR is recognized as one of the world's largest publicly funded R&D organizations having linkages to academia, R&D organizations and industry ...more

What is Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD)?
Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) is a CSIR-led global initiative with the vision to provide affordable healthcare to the developing world. Its aim is to discover drugs for tropical infectious diseases which draw limited attention of established pharmaceutical enterprises. OSDD charts a novel course in drug discovery process by bringing in openness and collaborative spirit enabling researchers across the globe to work together to solve key challenges in drug discovery. This collaborative approach will keep the cost of discovery and thereby making drugs affordable.

OSDD provides a collaborative platform for scientists, doctors, technocrats, software professionals, students and others with diverse expertise to facilitate the drug discovery process. OSDD portal, www.osdd.net is the platform for such collaboration.

Who first thought of OSDD?
OSDD was conceived by Prof. Samir K. Brahmachari the present Director General of CSIR. The programme was officially launched by Shri. Kapil Sibal Hon`ble Ministry of Science and Technology, India on 15th September 2008.

What does Open Source mean?
Open source is a development methodology that harnesses the power of distributed peer-review and transparency of the project. The term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, LINUX OS and more recently, in biology with the Human Genome Sequencing Project (HUGO initiative). Open source is expected to provide better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to closed-door activities which increase the drug discovery cost to a great extent ... more

What are the types of computational resources integrated in OSDD?
OSDD aims to create a collaborative online platform for exchange of ideas, data and resources. Such a platform would exploit the advantages of the so-called web 2.0 technologies. At the moment following resources are available-


i.   Sysborg 2.0: A Wiki based genome annotation service.
ii.  Computational Resources for Drug Discovery (CRDD) is a platform for open source tools for drug discovery.
iii. TBrowse: Integrative genomics map of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
iv. OSDDPUB: Open Access Repository Document Repository
v.  OpenScience: Metadata archive and Search engine for Open Access theses and dissertations

Many other tools and resources will be integrated in the future.

What is Computation Resource for Drug Discovery (CRDD)?
CRDD is the key module of OSDD and is designed with the objective to provide computational resources related to drug discovery on a single platform. This module is available at http://crdd.osdd.net.

What does the OSDD logo signify?
The Logo, its shapes, and the colors have been deliberately used in various arrangements to signify the freedom of expression, radical thinking, youthfulness, controlled chaos and moreover, to indicate, how many small things can co-create something path-breaking. That is, how collaborative efforts can add more meaning to and provide simple solutions for complex problems.

The shapes in Blue and Green are simple cut-outs which graphically denote the Letters O, S, D, D (Abbreviation for Open Source Drug Discovery).

1st Shape: O - stands for Open. It is inspired by Zero--India's contribution to the world. The shape in itself is without end-endless; indicating mankind's eternal pursuit for perfection.
2nd Shape: S - stands for Source. It is inspired by a simplistic view of a drop of water (life). The shape is a combination of two shapes (straight and inverted) to signify resourceful collaboration, a melting pot of ideas.
3rd Shape: D - stands for Drugs. It is inspired by a big stylized bubble. The shape in itself stands
for an Idea; the answer to a problem; a drug.
4th Shape: D - stands for Discovery. It is inspired by a bubble for creation and the growing of Ideas. It has a well defined perpendicular corner indicating strong foundation for a growing Idea; a systematic discovery- process.

Green and blue are definitive colors used for indicating Life, Energy and Growth. Pristine white borders are used to exhibit the sanctity and clarity of purpose

What are the disease targets of OSDD?
The first target for drug discovery is tuberculosis (TB) as it is one of the leading causes of death in the developing nations.

Why Tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is a disease that kills three Indians every 2 minutes. Nearly 2 billion people are infected, i.e., 1 in 3 of global population. 1.7 million people died from TB in 2006. This is equal to 4,500 deaths a day (WHO 2008).

TB is the leading cause of death from bacterial infection. It is spread from person to person, and is a particular threat for nosocomial transmission, with a potentially lethal impact on health care workers.

But why OSDD? Why not the convention route to new drugs?

For life-style diseases, pharmaceutical companies actively scout advances in basic research in search of new and potentially lucrative drug targets. This is not the case with Tuberculosis which is mainly a disease affecting the developing and the poverty-stricken countries.. Thus, development of a TB drug pipeline is essential after decades of lack of attention in this area. Early stage drug discovery is a key bottleneck in the pipeline to find novel drugs for TB; and OSDD has the potential to surmount the problem.

The OSDD concept aims to bring in the power of genomics, computational technologies and participation of young and brilliant talent from Universities and Industrial partners with a strong inclination to apply a concerted effort to address this dreaded scourge.

Why is the cost of conventional drug discovery so high?
The market size is a major driving force in the way major pharmaceutical companies select the human disease for new drug discovery programmes . The discovery and development of a new drug costs approximately US$ 250-800 million and takes about 12 years.

Most pharmaceutical companies do not invest money in diseases of the third world primarily due to the small market size represented by potential buyers. Secondly, the prohibitive cost of IPR protection and maintenance, and confidentiality of drug development are not conducive to bringing together the best brains of the world to work together with industry. A decentralized web based community wide effort, where students, scientists and technocrats, universities, institutes and corporations could work together for a common cause could bring down the cost of drug discovery significantly by knowledge sharing and constructive collaboration. OSDD aims to discover new chemical entities and to make them generic as soon as they are discovered, thus expediting the process of drug discovery.

Who is funding OSDD?
Government of India, through CSIR is funding OSDD. The Government of India has committed Rs. 150 crores (US $35 million) towards this project. About Rs. 46 crores (US $12 million) has already been released by the Government of India. OSDD also seeks to raise funds from multilateral/bilateral agencies and philanthropists. The funds raised would be used for conducting Quality Control activities and tests. It would also be used to reward contributors and fund scholarships.

The OSDD movement requires strong commitment from sponsors (both individuals and corporates) to contribute significantly as part of their corporate social responsibility.

How is OSDD project managed?
The OSDD project is managed online. All project documents and tracking are done through the OSDD portal. All Principal Investigators report directly to the Project Director online. The core-OSDD team meets monthly. The Chief mentor reviews the progress of the platform quarterly along with the Board of mentors.

Who are OSDD partners?
a. ILS has become a partner of CSIR on open source drug discovery (OSDD) program to work on TB under the leadership of Dr. K Anil Kumar.

b. National JALMA Institute of Leprosy and other Mycobacterial Diseases of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are providing authentic strains of Mycobacterium to the researchers for experiments.

c. CSIR Laboratories across India:
• Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi
• Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh.
• National Chemical Laborartory (NCL), Pune.
• Central Drug Research Center (CDRI), Lucknow.
• IICB and others.

d. CAMBIA: Cambia is an independent non-profit institute creating new technologies, tools and paradigms to promote change and enable innovation.

e. Universities and Academic Institutes
• Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
• Anna University – K B Chandrasekhar, Chennai 
• Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad and others

e. Industries/Private partners
• Sun Microsystems : http://research.sun.com
• Infosys : www.infosys.com
• TCG Lifesciences : www.tcgls.com
• LeadInvent : www.leadinvent.com
• AstraZeneca : www.astrazenecaindia.com

What can be contributed?
There are multiple ways of contributing to the OSDD effort. These include:
• In-kind donation of databases
• Laboratory access and/or sharing of technological capabilities
• Computing time/bandwidth/compute- resources
• Acknowledging OSDD contributors by way on monetary or in-kind rewards.
• Contribution of resources/datasets/molecule libraries.
There are innumerous ways of contributing. Please feel free to contact us at info@osdd.net.

What constitutes a contribution?
An idea, software, an article or molecules that help in expediting the process of drug discovery will be treated as a contribution. The entire process of drug discovery is divided into problems which are thrown open to the entire community to solve. Each of these solutions will be peer-reviewed. The contributors will get rewards in form of credit points for correctly solving the problems.

In addition, challenges will also be posted frequently on the website and appropriate rewards will be given for correct solutions. Thus the OSDD model is similar to the innocentive model.

Is monetary contribution possible?
Yes, monetary contributions are possible. But conditions apply. Please contact the OSDD Helpdesk for more details.

Who can contribute?
The strength of OSDD model is that it is Open to all. University and college students, and established scientists alike can contribute. All we seek is a person with a burning desire to solve challenging problems in drug discovery. We also believe that young bright students may suggest a brilliant idea to fight Tuberculosis and hence, we have an OpenIdeaSpace on the portal. We welcome all those who are ready to share their time/resources.

How can I contribute?
You may contribute in your area of expertise. This may range from in silico target identification to protein purification or even clinical trials. 
Formally, you need to register and also see the "terms and conditions" of OSDD http://sysborgtb.osdd.net/bin/view/TWiki/TWikiRegistration . Once you register, you will be able to navigate through SysborgTB http://sysborgtb.osdd.net . This would allow you to view and contribute to the projects on OpenProjectSpace. Please see student, researcher and organization zones on www.osdd.net for more details.

Do I need to register before I can contribute?
Yes. This will help us in tracking your contribution and in assigning credit points. There are four levels of Membership cards based on the points acquired. These are Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each type of card endows the contributer with certain sets of rights, privileges and responsibilities.

What can I contribute as a researcher?
http://www.osdd.net/Home/researcher-2

What can I contribute as a student?
http://www.osdd.net/Home/student-corner

Can I contribute my M.Sc or Ph.D thesis/ presentations?
You are welcome to contribute your presentation/thesis or any other document at OpenScience, provided you hold the copyright of the document and your action(s) are not in conflict with the policies of your organization. Please read the Terms and Conditions carefully.

Do I need to have special training or expertise in any research area before I contribute?
The answer is both "yes" and "no". Your ability to contribute meaningfully is more or less decided by the type of challenge posted. If your skills and expertise match those that would be required to successfully solve the problem(s), we would be delighted to have you onboard. Keep your eyes open for the 'Challenges' that will be regularly posted online on the OSDD website www.osdd.net.

Can I join OSDD as part of my summer training programme?
Yes. You may go through the "how to guide" available at: http://sysborgtb.osdd.net/bin/view/Main/HowToForSummerStudents for more information on using Open Project Space for applying to projects. Each project has been posted by a virtual project mentor whose details are available online. Please note that Open Project Space is open to registered users only and hence, you must register and agree to the terms and conditions before you can view. Students may work and report online.

Who will judge my contribution? What is the process?
Each contribution will be tracked and attributed. The contribution may be judged either by the community or by the reviewers.

How will my contribution be acknowledged or rewarded?
Once the peer-review acknowledges the successful solving of a problem, the contributors would get rewards in the form of Credit Points. Also, appropriate prizes will be announced for the best solutions. 

Will I get a certificate acknowledging my contribution?
Yes, on completion of the project, the student(s) projects would be reviewed by the OSDD team comprised of experts. The work done will be certified as a project under OSDD.

Will I be paid if I contribute?
Not all contributions are remunerated in money. The payment to contributions is decided on a case-to-case basis. It is dependent on the complexity of the problem/challenge and is decided upon by the OSDD review committee or the sponsor who would like to associate monetary rewards to specific challenges.

How can I join OSDD?
To join, users have to register at http://sysborgtb.osdd.net. Every user will have a profile on the OSDD portal where they can upload information, credentials and a photograph. The registration process is simple and free.

What is the eligibility for joining OSDD?
Anyone can join OSDD. Contributions are expected from students/researchers/ clinicians, etc with domain knowledge. But we also believe that young bright students may suggest a brilliant idea to fight Tuberculosis and hence we have an OpenIdeaSpace on the portal. We suggest you to register and have a look at the on-going projects and discussions. 

What is the deadline for registration?
There is no deadline for registration. You may also ask your friends to join it too. We look forward to your active participation in OSDD.

After registration on OSDD, what I have to do?
Once you are registered and authenticated, you are free to access the resources on the OSDD portal. As of now there are more than 1600 registered participants and more than 100 projects. Please go to OpenProjectSpace and read the projects posted by various scientists from all over the world. You can choose any project which you wish to join and contact the concerned Project Manager.

What is OpenScience?
OpenScience is an online Metadata archive and Search engine for Open Access thesis and dissertations.

What is TBrowse?
TBrowse is an integrative genomics resource encompassing more than a million data points from nearly fifty different resources in the standard Generic Feature Format (GFF).

What is SysBorgTB?
SysBorg stands for Systems Biology of the Organism (Mycobacterium tuberculosis). It is a Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome annotation service. SysBorgTB is a Wiki based OSDD collaboration system and CyberInfrastructure for collaborative research. To know more about it please visit: http://sysborgtb.osdd.net/bin/view/Main/WebHome.

What is OpenIdeaSpace?
OpenIdeaSpace is a collaborative multi-user blog for users to post ideas and to discuss methodologies and possible solutions to the problems. To know more about it please visit: http://sysborgtb.osdd.net/bin/view/OpenIdeas/WebHome.

What is OpenBookmarks?
OpenBookmarks is a social Bookmarking tool, which is a collaborative platform for bookmarking web based resources for drug discovery.

What is OpenLabNoteBook?
OpenLabNotebook is used for experimental data sharing. To know more about it please visit http://sysborgtb.osdd.net/bin/view/OpenLabNotebook/WebHome.

What is OpenProjectSpace?
OpenProjectSpace is for scientists/researchers to post and manage projects online. To know more about it please visit: http://sysborgtb.osdd.net/bin/view/OpenProjectSpace/WebHome.

What is Twiki?
SysBorgTB is based on a structured Wiki called Twiki. TWiki is a flexible, powerful, secure, yet simple web-based collaboration platform.

Is there only online work?
As you know that drug discovery is a multi-disciplinary area involving experts from biology, chemistry, bioinformatics, etc. This means that in OSDD we will go through the drug discovery pipeline which involves extensive wet-lab experiments in addition to bioinformatics analysis. OSDD portal provides a platform for the OSDD community to share and collaborate. The results of the wet-lab experiments too are managed and shared online.

Can we use the lab facilities for the project?
If lab facilities are required as per the project description on OpenProjectSpace, arrangements will be made to provide them.

How can we contact the Project Manager of the project we are interested in?
Please log in at http://sysborgtb.osdd.net and click on "OpenProjectSpace" located on the left side of the screen. Then click on "All projects on this web" and you can view all the projects. Click on on-going projects and post your interest in the discussion box. Alternatively, you may also email the Project Manager of the project. You can view the discussions on the topic and also click on the name of the Project Manager and check out his details. Once you click on the name of the mentor you will be able to see his/her email address.

How can one send an article and a link to databases, with an idea related to OSDD? Simply by sending an Email or via OSDD website?
You may provide link to your article and the database using the OpenBookmarks page on OSDD. Simultaneously, post your idea on the OpenIdeas page on the portal. You may find a small 30 seconds movie on the website demonstrating the steps involved in uploading your articles and ideas.

Can I share or donate my IP to OSDD?
Yes, you are welcome to donate your intellectual property as long as you hold exclusive rights and are ready to provide non-exclusive rights for use as part of the OSDD program. Please contact the IPR cell of OSDD (info@osdd.net).

How OSDD is planning to involve college students in real life drug discovery?
OSDD advertised an Open Call for participation of Colleges/University departments. Several applications were received from across the country in response to this Open Call. This amply demonstrated the interest the academic and scientific community has in solving pressing real life challenges. Though we would have liked to enlist all the institutions as partners, a short listing had to be done to select those colleges who could be partners in OSDD in the current phase due to financial and other constraints. For this purpose a committee was set up which went through the applications in detail and short listed institutions which OSDD may engage in drug discovery activities in the initial phase itself. 

The list of institutions is given below:

Selected Colleges
1. International College for Girls, Jaipur, Rajasthan
2. Miranda House, Delhi
3. Loyola College, Chennai, TamilNadu
4. Acharya Narendra Dev College, Delhi
5. Al Shifa College of Pharmacy, Perintalmanna, Kerala
6. Shri Ram College of Pharmacy, Karnal, Haryana
7. HPT Arts & RYK Science College, Nashik, Maharashtra
8. St. Joseph's College Post Graduate Research and Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka

Selected University Departments
1. Centre for Advanced Research in Indian System of Medicine (CARISM), Sastra University, Thanjavur, TamilNadu
2. School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
3. Department of Biotechnology, University of Calcutta, West Bengal
4. Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur, Rajasthan
5. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Vidysagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal
6. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala
7. University of Saurashtra, Gujarat

Bioinformatics
1. GM Institute of Technology, Davangere, Karnataka
2. PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu
3. KVM College of Engineering and Information Technology, Cherthala, Kerala
4. Shri Andal Alagar College of Engineering, Kanchipuram, TamilNadu
5. Avinashlingam University for Women, Coimbatore, TamilNadu
6. School of Life Sciences, Sambalpur University, Sambalpur, Orissa

How to find the number of registered participants on the OSDD portal?
The list of registered participants on OSDD portal is available at http://sysborgtb.osdd.net/bin/view/Main/TWikiUsers.

What are the terms and conditions to access/use resources at OSDD?
The access to the OSDD portal is bound by an OSDD license. The license may be seen here. To be a member of the OSDD community one has to agree to the terms and conditions as per this license. 

Are there other similar programs ?
The Tropical Disease Initiative Programme, initiated by WHO, is a similar programme.  

What if I want to meet you in person?
OSDD personnel available at the CSIR headquarters, Anusandhan Bhavan, 2, Rafi Marg, New Delhi , India 110 001.

Can I ask you a question?
Yes. Please do contact the OSDD helpdesk at info@osdd.net if you have a query regarding the project.