Prof. Jaswinder Singh of McGill University, Canada visited Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana to initiate a collaborative research work on Genome Editing using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR; pronounced as “crisper”) technology at the university. CRISPR is a technology used to edit genes of plants and animals inside the cells to add, delete or alter the DNA for desirable results.
College of Animal Biotechnology organized a lecture of Prof. Jaswinder Singh on Genome Editing for Food Security and Environmental Sustainability (GEFSES). Prof. Singh being the Director of the multi-institutional Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)- Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program of GEFSES, narrated role of CRISPR technology in plant and animal sciences. He emphasized roles of CRISPR in generating new varieties of cereals and millets in revolutionizing crop production which are suitable for disease tolerance and sustainable food production. His talk was followed by the suggestions of creating a Centre of Excellence in CRISPR system for veterinary and animal sciences at GADVASU to create disease resistance animals for sustainable animal food production. Prof. Singh said, his department and experts of other departments working in CRISPR at McGill, will provide expertise, training, and support to CRISPR center of GADVASU and work together for its success.
He visited different laboratories of the college and enquired about the work initiated in advanced areas of animal health and production at COABT.
Dr. Yashpal Singh Malik, Dean, College of Animal Biotechnology (COABT), put forward the formal welcome to Prof. Singh and the fully-packed overwhelming audiences and students who came to the lecture. In his inaugural address, Dr. Malik elaborated that the college students and faculty will be trained in CRISPR and join hands in creating the Centre of Excellence facility at GADVASU.
Dr. JPS Gill, the Director of Research, GADVASU, talked about the Objectives of NSERC - CREATE program. Dr. Gill said, GADVASU is running a CREATE program on “Genome editing for food security and environmental sustainability (GEFSES),” whose objective is to train students and post-docs in genome editing for enhancing food security and environmental sustainability. He encouraged greater participation of students in CREATE training program. He briefed on the mission of creating a Centre of Excellence in CRISPR at GADVASU and committed to supporting faculty and students who will be working in this area.
