New director for CDFD

Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), an autonomous institute under Dept of Biotechnology situated in Uppal, has announced the appointment of Kumarasamy Thangaraj as its new director. Set up in 1996, CDFD is an autonomous organisation funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.

The institute provides services in areas of DNA fingerprinting, diagnostic tests for human genetic disorders and analysis of Basmati rice for purity, and is also engaged in basic research activities in different disciplines of modern biology. Before taking over as director of CDFD, he was a scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology since 1993. He is well known for his outstanding contributions in the field of population and medical genetics.

“I am humbled and honoured to be chosen to lead a truly great institution. It will be my endeavour to take CDFD further to greater heights,” said Dr. Thangaraj, whose genetic studies have shown that the enigmatic tribal populations of Andaman and Nicobar islands are the first modern humans who migrated out of Africa through southern coastal route about 65,000 years ago.

He also found that the present day Indian populations descend from two diverse groups and they have admixed during the past 2000 – 4000 years followed by strict endogamy, hence likely to have population-specific recessive disease. He also found certain deleterious genetic mutations that cause cardiovascular diseases; mitochondrial disorders; male infertility, and developmental sex disorders.

An elected fellow of leading Indian scientific academies, he has received several awards and honours from scientific academies. including; J C Bose Fellowship, Sun Pharma Research award, Distinguished Scientist Award, etc.

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