Monday, May 12, 2008, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 5, 1429    

Workshop on Molecular Techniques in Research concludes
Participants call for bio-safety officers at schools

Islamabad—A five-day International Workshop on Molecular Techniques in Biological Research has concluded at Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (AAUR) here.
Major recommendations of the workshop were to develop a focused group for each molecular techniques and establishment of highly interactive environment among group members.
It was also felt that there is an urgent need for modernization of scientific laboratories, implementation of highest bio-safety and ethical standards.
The need for a bio-safety officer for each educations institution was also recommended by the participants. The individual should be well-trained and responsible for the maintenance of safe laboratory practices in every institution in the country.
Dr. Kausar Abdullah Malik, Member Planning Commission of Pakistan was the chief guest at the concluding session.
Addressing the participants, Dr. Kausar said that biotechnology is one of the priority areas which have been identified by the government and government is aware about the importance of this particular sector.
He said over a last five to six years liberal support/financial support or investment has been made for this particular sector and over one billion rupees have been inducted for creating the infrastructure for supporting different institutes for biotechnology research activities.
He hoped that the workshop would not only give broad-based exposure to the participants but also help them in their research endeavors.
Earlier, Vice Chancellor, AAUR Dr. Khalid Mahmood Khan appreciated the organizers who have conducted such a good and successful workshop and gave a platform to the learned people to share their knowledge.
He expressed the hoped that participants would have gathered knowledge from the workshop and will practice in their respective area.
Dr. Khalid said holding of such workshops is very essential as these provide an opportunity to know about in depth the main issues.
He also praised the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and National Commission on Biotechnology for providing financial assistance for this workshop.
The molecular techniques discussed maintenance of plants and animal cell cultures, electrophoresis techniques for DNA and proteins manipulations and further refinements of these techniques for obtaining reliable and high quality data.
The participants had an opportunity of in-hand experience in running electrophoresis gels, polymerase chain reaction, real-time PCR, centrifugation and complementary molecular techniques.
The workshop was organized by the department of Biochemistry AAUR in collaboration with Higher Education Commission and National Commission on Biotechnology.—APP