AMU inks pact with UK-based colleges

BBSRC is a UK agency that funds academic research and training in non-clinical life sciences. BBSRC currently runs a programme — Combating Infectious Diseases of Livestock International Development (CIDLID).

Under the same programme,AMU along with other three universities would undertake research for liver fluke vaccine development.

AMU Registrar Prof V K Abdul Jaleel signed the MoU on behalf of Aligarh Muslim University on Friday. The two other UK-based universities that signed the MoU include Queen’s University of Belfast and Aberystwyth University.

Prof S M A Abidi,Department of Zoology,AMU,will be principal investigator while Dr M Khalid Saifullah of the same department will be the co-investigator in the three-year project. “In India,average infection rate in livestock from liver fluke is nearly 20 per cent,while in UP the figure is over 70 per cent,” said Prof S M A Abidi.

“The project is mainly aimed at identifying and validating new vaccines and drug targets using molecular biology tools to combat the liver fluke menace in livestock,” said AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar.

He added: “The project will provide an excellent opportunity to AMU faculty members as well as research scholars and students to interact with the world’s leading scientists in parasitology,” said Abrar.

Liver fluke,also called flatworm,can be found as parasites in liver,bile ducts and gallbladder of various mammals like cattle and it feeds on their blood. Liver fluke also enters the human body through infected vegetables.

In cattle having liver fluke infection,milk production drops by nearly 30 per cent. “There is an urgent need to create awareness among farmers to take preventive measures. Advanced technologies should be transferred to the farming community to improve health and productivity of the livestock,” said another AMU professor associated with the project.