LUDHIANA: A two days international webinar on the successes and challenges of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in Veterinary Diagnostics was held at the College of Animal Biotechnology of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana .
These webinars were organised by the Institutional Development Plan (IDP) cell of GADVASU. Dr. Y S Malik, Dean, College of Animal Biotechnology informed that the key speaker Dr. Sunil Mor from University of Minnesota, USA and he is developing highly sensitive and specific molecular assays for rapid detection of emerging and zoonotic pathogens. While talking about NGS, Dr Mor said that the DNA sequencing has revolutionized the field of genomics and has impacted almost every field of biological research.
As a diagnostic test NGS helps in detecting previously unidentified microorganisms of outbreaks. NGS is further helpful in characterization of the whole genome sequence of a previously identified pathogen. Dr. Mor also emphasised on the point that NGS can be customised to address the specific need of a particular client. This technique is also useful in mapping and comparing the respiratory viromes of commercial chickens, backyard poultry, and migratory birds. He emphasized that during the current scenario of Birdflu, NGS can provide an added advantage in discovery and molecular strain-typing of new and emerging pathogens. While talking about Reo virus, he emphasized that apart from poultry, this virus plays pivotal role in the economics of the turkey industry. It causes arthritis and is one of the top ten diseases of US turkeys.
Talking about the series of webinar, Dr. Malik informed that knowledge-based approaches to detect, control and prevent endemic, emerging & zoonotic pathogens is dire need of the time. As the whole world is passing through the pandemic of COVID-19, therefore techniques like NGS and genome sequencing will help in early detection of pathogens and taking apt measures in combating such infections. Dr J S Bedi, Director, Centre for One Health, GADVASU, and Dr. Rajnish were the organizing secretaries for the webinar and they motivated the audience to be ready to face scientific challenges, keep themselves updated on the programmes going on. Dr. R S Sethi, Head, Department of Animal Biotechnology proposed the vote of thanks. Dr. Simrinder Singh Sodhi, Co-organizing secretary informed that around 100 people from scientific fraternity from India and abroad participated in the webinar. Dr. Sodhi told that this international webinar was live streamed on social platform Facebook.