KASC organized lecture on ‘CRISPR-Cas 9 A Prelude’

Kongunadu Arts and Science college in association with Indian science congress organized a guest lecture on ‘CRISPR-Cas 9 A Prelude’.

Kalpana Surendranath, senior lecturer in molecular biology and microbiology, leader of Genome engineering lab, University of Westminster, was the resource person of the event.

While ON Paramasivan FRCS, treasurer, felicitated the chief guest and delivered the presidential address, S Paulsamy dean of research and development delivered the welcome address.

The lecturer outlined the current state-of-the-art use of genome editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, its basic principles; to understand biological pathways, to create cellular and animal models of disease; to develop new therapies, and its endless applications in various fields.

Kalpana also discussed the focus of many companies and start-ups on applications such as human health, agriculture and animal breeding, and a number of clinical trials are currently underway for the future with this transformative technology.

She further talked about various programs like internships, open day, trainings, workshops, Gene Editors and the UG-PG-PhD pipeline organized in her laboratory.

She also visited the Biotechnology department and conveyed that the lab is equipped with all the necessary equipment to conduct advanced research in Biotechnology. She has offered to conduct a workshop on the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology under her guidance this year.

Vote of thanks was delivered by AU Thangavelu, head of the biotechnology department. About 150 students attended the lecture.