India gets first of its kind Centre of Excellence for DNA Forensics

Gandhinagar: Thermo Fisher Scientific in technical collaboration with National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) has set up the Centre of Excellence for DNA Forensics at the NFSU campus in Gujarat, India.

A first-of-its-kind in India, the centre, was inaugurated formally by Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Co-operation, Govt. of India in the presence of Harsh Sanghavi, Minister of State (Home) and Minister of Revenue, Govt. of Gujarat, Jitubhai Vaghani, Education, Science and Technology Minister, Govt. of Gujarat, Rajendra Trivedi, Minister of Law and Justice, Govt. of Gujarat and Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Union Home Secretary, Govt. of India.

Also present for the inauguration were Dr. J.M. Vyas, Vice Chancellor, NFSU, Amit Chopra, Managing Director, India and South Asia, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jagjit Singh Anthak, Director, Genetic Sciences Group and Specialty Diagnostics Group, Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has equipped the facility with its entire DNA workflow which includes sophisticated systems for DNA extraction, real-time PCR instruments, DNA sequencers/ genetic analyzers, next-generation sequencers and rapid DNA technologies along with consumables, software and validation services.

Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Co-operation, Govt. of India inaugurated India’s first Centre of Excellence for DNA Forensics set up by National Forensic Sciences University in technical collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific

The centre has been created to facilitate training and education for the students of NFSU and across forensic labs, and for law enforcement experts (police, judiciary).

“We are proud to be a technical partner to set up this centre of excellence for DNA Forensics, the first in the country, in collaboration with NFSU. Our end-to-end workflows underscored by robust technologies and application expertise, streamline human identification analysis. These highly accurate systems aid experts with investigative leads for making evidence-based decisions. Through our association with institutes such as NFSU, we remain committed to our Mission to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer”, said Amit Chopra, Managing Director, India, and South Asia, Thermo Fisher Scientific.

The NFSU-Thermo Fisher Centre of Excellence for DNA Forensics will eventually be hallmarked as a model set up for DNA casework and databasing workflows for nationwide adoption.