Group Leader:

The group aims to use molecular biology techniques for better diagnosis, prognosis and personalized drug treatment for tuberculosis, genetic disorders and cancers. The following projects have been undertaken to fulfill this objective:

• Prevalence of Beijing Genotype in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates From Pakistan
• Characterization of mutations associated with rifampicin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Pakistan using Line Probe Hybridization method
• Characterization of Microdeletions in Y-Chromosome Associated with Male Infertility in Pakistani Population.
• RNA Interference Based Therapeutics for Diseases Prevalent in Pakistan.
• Improvement in the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) by the detection of Minimal Residual Disease (MRD).
• Detection of point mutations conferring natural and acquired Gleevec resistance in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) patients using Allele Specific Oligonucleotide (ASO) PCR.

Salient Facilities

• Automated chromosome analysis system

Support

The research work is supported by grants from the agencies named below:

• International Atomic Energy Agency
• Pakistan Science Foundation