The Department of Biotechnology, Central University of Kashmir (CUK) Thursday organised a national webinar on “Synthetic biology: Concepts to Applications” at its Science Campus here.

Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir, Registrar, Prof. M Afzal Zargar, former Dean, School of Biotechnology, JNU, Prof. Pawan K Dhar, faculty members and students attended the webinar.

Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir in his speech, asked the participants to instill scientific aptitude in themselves. He hoped that the lecture will act as an inspiration to the students, researchers and young faculty members.

Addressing the participants, the expert, Prof. Pawan K Dhar, gave a detailed overview of synthetic biology and its role in different fields of Science. He discussed how  we can explore junk and noncoding DNA for therapeutic purposes and also how biological engineering has the potential in improving our current understanding of the cell, generating novel therapeutic agents and how it holds potential with regard to research in coming decades. Prof. Dhar also extended the support for active collaboration between the two universities. His lecture was followed by the question and answer session.

Registrar, Prof. M Afzal Zargar, stressed on the importance of synthetic biology and its role in improving technology in biological sciences. He highlighted the importance of the emerging field and encouraged the students to show positive interests in it.

Earlier, Head, Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Abid Hamid Dar, introduced the speaker Prof. Dhar, and welcomed the online participants. He emphasized that the lecture must have left a deep and fruitful impression on the minds of participating students, scholars and scientists  across the country.

Dean, School of Life Sciences Prof. M. Yusuf and faculties from the department of Chemistry, Zoology and Botany also attended the programme.