The Department of Environmental Sciences, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (AAUR) has initiated a research project on environmental impacts of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). These views were expressed by Project Director of National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB), Dr Yusuf Zafar.
While delivering a keynote address at a special seminar organised by the department on "Environmental Aspects of Gene Technology". Highlighting the need of environmental risk assessments, Dr Zafar said no institution in the country had done such a comprehensive research work.
"If we want to jump on the bandwagon of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, we must have highly trained manpower in the field of environmental risk assessment prior to release of GMOs in the market and environment, a pre-requisite of Cartagena Biodiversity Protocol," he said. He said the country's population was increasing at a very fast rate and to ensure food security in the country, we need GMOs to meet the population pressures.
He said that the AAUR had taken lead in this domain and the development of human resource in this subject is going to be very important for future oriented. "GMOs cannot be released into the environment without pre-testing because they may cause a lot of environmental problems. The cotton production has covered a large area while the risk assessment should be done to monitor its environmental impacts. This century is going to be a century of gene revolution". Earlier, Chairman of the Department of Environmental Sciences Professor Dr Tariq Mahmood introduced the subject to the audience and highlighted the need of the day of putting a lot of effort in this field.
He thanked Dr Zafar for co-operating with the students of environmental sciences. The seminar was also attended by the Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Mahmood Khan, Dean Faculty of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife Dr Sarwat Naz Mirza, senior officers of the university and a large number of students.
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