CCMB mourns loss of Lalji Singh

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) expressed grief over the death of its former director Lalji Singh, the father of DNA fingerprinting in India.

CCMB Director Dr Rakesh K. Mishra and other scientists on Monday paid rich tributes to Singh, who headed the premier research and development organization for 11 years.

Singh, who had a long association with Hyderabad, passed away after suffering a massive heart attack at the Varanasi airport late on Sunday night. He was 70.

"Dr Lalji Singh will be remembered by CCMB forever for his extra-ordinary contribution to science and for bringing the institution to a great height. His contribution to DNA fingerprinting and wildlife forensic, that are still continuing to have tremendous impact on our society, the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and wildlife, will be remembered by the nation," said Mishra.

His work on the structure and origin of the Indian population has not only made a great international impact, but will also go a long way in our future health policy and will have invaluable social implications. CCMB family draws inspiration from his great work, leadership and personality, he added.

Lalji Singh joined CCMB in 1987 and became its director in 1998. He was also the officer-on-special-duty (OSD) at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) here between 1995 and 1999.

Singh showed his research expertise in the fields including molecular basis of sex determination, DNA fingerprinting, wildlife conservation, silkworm genome analysis, human genome and ancient DNA studies

He also found various institutes and laboratories including Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) and Genome Foundation, that aims to diagnose and treat genetic disorders affecting the underprivileged people, especially in rural India.

Hailing from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, he served as the Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University between 2011-2014.

For the CCMB family, this was the second major loss this year. CCMB's founder director P. M. Bhargava died here in August.

--IANS

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