KARACHI: The newly procured human genome mapping machine at the Jamil-ur-Rahman Centre for Genome Research, University of Karachi, will help scientists for better diagnosis and treatment of fatal diseases like cancer.
Former Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman and former Science and Technology Minister Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman expressed these views while delivering the opening lecture at the three-day workshop on `Next Generation DNA Sequencing Data Analysis’ being held at LEJ National Science Information Centre, University of Karachi on Monday.
Prof Atta-ur-Rahman said, “The field of genetics is also finding wide applications in health-related research with a growing understanding of genetic diseases”.
He said that the Next Generation DNA Sequencing (NGS) technology has revolutionised the field of genomics; using NGS, an entire human genome could be sequenced within a single day, adding, that this technology has tremendous applications in biomedicine, agriculture, and biotechnology.
He said that Jamil-ur-Rahman Centre was set up as a part of PCMD to strengthen the ongoing molecular medicine research efforts and to train the manpower in this cutting edge area of biology.
`The centre was named after my father, late Jamil-ur-Rahman’, he further stated.
He said that he had announced the donation for the centre when he received the Engro Excellence Award of Rs five million on January 14, 2011.
At the end of the opening ceremony, Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan presented the vote of thanks.
The machine was procured at a cost of Rs 30 million at Jamil-ur-Rahman Centre which was set up as a part of Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, University of Karachi.
The participants from the various universities of the different cities will be trained in the workshop by Dr Waseem Haider of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad, Dr M Kamran Azim and Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan of International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), Karachi University.
The workshop is designed for early career life scientists, post-doctoral fellows, MPhil and PhD students, and corporate professionals working in the areas of genomics and bioinformatics.
