Guwahati, April 12 : A short term course on “Plant Tissue Culture and Micropropagation – Methods and Application (Lab to Land Techniques)” has been conducted recently by the Department of Applied Biology, University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) in collaboration with Department of Biotechnology, Gauhati University at USTM campus here from 28 th March to 10 th April.
A considerable number of researchers and students from all over the North East participated in the short-term course.
In the inaugural session was addressed by Prof. Kanan Pakshirajan, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati. A recipient of many awards, Prof. Pakshirajan spoke on the benefit and importance of plant tissue culture in research work.
Prof. G.D Sharma spoke on how this short program on PTC wouldl help students to get an idea on how the rare plants can be conserved. Dr. R.K. Sharma talked about how micropropagation would help to raise endangered medicinal plants and to enhance the secondary metabolites.
During this 11-day short-term course many eminent speakers from across the country delivered lectures. The speakers included Dr. Penna suprasanna, Senior scientist, Nuclear Aquiculture and Biotechnology Division BARC and visiting faculty at Dept of Applied biology, USTM, Manjeet Talukdar, Technical unit of Biotechnology, Division of Crop Science, ICAR – NER Barapani, Dr. Abhijeeta Nanda, SRF, unit of biotechnology division of crop science, ICAR- NER Barapani, Dr. Narendran M Nair, Head R & D (Commercial Tissue Culture and Nursery) Seven Star Fruits Pvt. Ltd. Maharashtra, Dr. Judith Mary Lam , Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biotechnology, St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, Dr. Shally Sultana, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biotechnology, Pandu College, Guwahati, Dr. Mausumi Saikia, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Herbal Science, Anandaram Dhekial Phukan College, Nagaon, Dr. Saikat Gantait, Assitant Professor, Dept. of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani West Bengal.