In order to further improve the level of medical education in Uttarakhand, a veterinary science university will be created in the near future in the State. The State Medical Education Minister Harak Singh Rawat said this at an international symposium on the past, present and future of genes and genomes organised by jointly by HNB Uttarakhand Medical Education University, Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST) and Sri Dev Suman Uttarakhand University in Dehradun on Wednesday.
Rawat said that research should be aimed at benefitting the people and making their life more convenient. Considering the important role to be played by gene therapy in the future, it would be practical to inform the youth in Uttarakhand on this subject, he said. UCOST director general Dr Rajendra Dobhal said that findings of research being undertaken on genetics would prove to be a boon for humanity. HNB Medical Education University vice chancellor Prof MC Pant said that genetic medicine is of vital importance for treatment of various serious diseases which increases the importance of research in this field. It has now become possible to treat serious diseases like cancer and heart disease through genetic medicine, he added.
Invited subject experts including Prof Dhavendra Kumar from Cardiff University, United Kingdom, Prof Andrew Read from Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine, Prof Mary Porteous from Institute of Human Genetics, Edinburgh, Scotland and Prof Perry Elliott from The Heart Hospital- University College, london spoke on various aspects of genetics. They stressed on the need for research to ascertain which particular gene is responsible for which disease so that effective treatment can be ensured.