Workshop on Molecular Diagnostics and Bioinformatics

GIS - April 27: Some 20 participants from the Central Health laboratory and the Forensic Sciences Laboratory amongst others, attended a five-day workshop on Molecular Diagnostics and Bioinformatics, at the School of Nursing at Victoria Hospital, Candos. This workshop which ends today was organized by the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life in collaboration with the University of Westminster, the University of Mauritius and the Association of Biomedical Analysis.

The participants were introduced to the concept of Bioinformatics which is the merging of IT technology and molecular biology. Bioinformatics has been the key to the tremendous progress in identifying genes for different types of diseases like diabetes and hypertension, the development of vaccines and also during the SARS epidemic.

The workshop aims at creating a pool of local scientists capable of carrying out laboratory investigations using modern techniques such as conventional and real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). PCR is a molecular biology technique that has been used in the diagnosis of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and most recently Chikungunya and emerging viruses such as Avian Flu.

Two international experts from the University of Westminster, namely Prof. Pamela Greenwell and Dr. Sanjiv Rughooputh, conducted the workshop. The two resource persons provided insights into the theory and application of bioinformatics and discussed their usefulness and potential in the medical field.