Animal Biotechnology Centre inaugurated at Shuhama

The Centre of Animal Biotechnology of Faculty at Veterinary Sciences Shuhama has been established. The Centre was inaugurated by Vice-Chancellor, Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural, Science and Technology (SKUAST), Kashmir, Prof. Anwar Alam.
Prof. Alam on this occasion urged for adopting the cutting-edge research methodologies of bio-technology as solution to the problems in agriculture for sustainability. He also emphasized the need for having highly skilled and trained human resource in bio-technology in the State.
Director and Coordinator of the Centre, Dr. Syed Sajjad Hussain said the purpose of the Centre is to address the acute dearth of the human resource in the animal biotechnology sector. He said with the establishment of the Animal Biotechnology Centre, the focus area of research would be on Reproductive Biotechnology for faster multiplication of the elite germplasm, Allele mining for economically important traits, Molecular characterization of the genetic resources, Animal disease vaccines and molecular diagnostics (v) Genomics and manipulations of animal pathogens (vi) Development of bioinformatic tools and (vii) Drug development and pharmaco genomics.
Earlier, Prof. Shakil A Wani informed that funding for the Centre worth over Rs. 3 crore has been arranged from externally funded research programs like Allele Mining for Stress Tolerance (ICAR), and Bioinformatics Infrastructural Facility (DBT, Union Ministry of Science and Technology). A highly trained and experienced scientific staff has been associated with the Centre. All the Veterinary Faculty members and students were present on the occasion.