School of Science, RK University, Rajkot organized the “Two Days hands on Workshop on Molecular Biology Techniques” sponsored by Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GSBTM) at department of Microbiology. The chief guest for the event was Dr. Madhavi Joshi, Joint Director, Gujarat Biotechnology Research Center (GBRC). A knowledgeable session on PCR and its application was delivered by Dr. Joshi during which she, along with giving the basic concept of PCR technology, also told about latest advancements of the technique like droplet digital PCR and capillary PCR. She also talked about the Next generation sequencing technique and its application in diagnosis of diseases for society welfare. 

Around fifty students from diverse backgrounds like Microbiology, Biotechnology and Biochemistry belonging to different institutes of Junagadh, Rajkot, and Surat participated in the workshop. The workshop was ideal for life science students and professionals who want to explore better opportunities in the field of microbiology, biotechnology, biochemistry or molecular biology. In these two days there were four different practical sessions during which students performed DNA isolation techniques from bacteria by manual method, agarose gel electrophoresis to see DNA, SDS PAGE technique for protein visualization, and PCR technique for DNA amplification. The uniqueness of this workshop was that each and every participant performed all the experiments by themselves under the guidance of in-house experts. They practiced steps like casting the agarose gel and SDS PAGE gel, loading of DNA sample into the gel, staining and visualization of protein bands in polyacrylamide gel, programming and running PCR.

During the Foldscope session the frugal innovation was introduced to the participants that included assembly, sample preparation and photo-documentation using the paper-based microscope called Foldscope which is sponsored by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. During the valedictory ceremony, the participants eagerly shared their experience and were highly satisfied with the techniques they learned during the workshop.