31 Jan 2020
Report on Guest Lecture
Title of the talk: “Journey through the world of sequencing technology: connecting past, present & looking into future”
Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Sciences
Venue: APJ Abdul Kalam seminar Hall, Science block
Date: 31-01-2020
Time: 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M
The Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Sciences organized a guest lecture by Dr. Bony De Kumar, Director, Genomics core, School of Health and Medical Sciences, University of North Dakota, USA on 31.01.2020 at APJ Abdul Kalam Hall, Science Block. Dr. Bony De Kumar is an expert in bioinformatics, genomics and developmental biology. He has published several scientific articles in several peer reviewed journals of very high impact factor. His research work is published in reputed journals such as Proceeding of National academy of Sciences (PNAS), Genome research, Science reports, Blood, Cell Reports, Genes Dev etc.
Dr. Bony’s talk was focused on rapid strides made in DNA sequencing methods starting from first generation method to latest third generation sequencing platforms. He explained in detail about the fundamentals of first generation sequencing techniques including the most popular Sanger sequencing method. He explained in detail about sequencing methodology utilized to sequence the whole human genome which took more than 13 years to complete in 2003. After completion of human genome project, several next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies came to market which dramatically reduced the time required to sequence the whole genomes. Dr. Bony explained in detail about the several NGS platforms such as Illumina sequencing technology, Pacbio sequencer, and Nanopore sequencer. The major advantage of NGS techniques is multiplexing i.e. multiple samples can be sequenced in one run which reduces the cost of sequencing dramatically.
Dr. Bony explained in detail about the technologies behind the NGS which has brought revolution in the genomics field, molecular diagnostics and personalize medicine. NGS has created enormous career opportunities for students in the field of bioinformatics and biotechnology. Over all, students have gained immense knowledge about the modern sequencing technologies.
We would like to thank our honorable Chancellor, Dr. Shyama Raju sir for his enormous support and inspiration. We would also like to thank Vice Chancellor, Dr. S. Y. Kulkarni sir, Pro Vice Chancellor, Dr. Lakshman Kumar sir, Registrar, Dr. Dhanamjaya sir, Dean- Training, Placement and Planning officer, Dr. Ramesh sir, Dean – Research and Innovation, Dr. B. P. Divakar sir for their constant support and encouragement. We would like to express special thanks to Dr. Beena madam, Associate Dean, School of Applied Sciences, Shilpa madam, Renuka Madam, and all the faculties of Biotech department for their support and involvement in making this talk successful.
