Kaduna, Dec. 10, 2018 (NAN) The Commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Maj.-Gen. Adeniye Oyebade,says genetics technology remain key component of global food security, healthcare, peace and prosperity for foreseeable future.
He made the remark on Monday in Kaduna,North west during the 42th Annual Conference of Genetics Society of Nigeria with the theme « Genetics and Nation Building. »
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the annual conference, a collaboration with NDA Department of Biological Sciences, opened on Dec 9, expected to end on Dec 13.
According to him, new advances in the modern field of genetics and genetics technology have had and are still having impact toward improving food and security in many parts of the world.
He said « genetics technology has improved healthcare services, better diagnosis and treatment of diseases, cleaner energy and large-scale production of industrial products. »
Oyebade advised Africa to adopt advances in genetics technology to solve the myriad of problems that plagued the continent over the years.
He added that « the problems of food insufficiency, malnutrition, diseases such as malaria, AIDS, Ebola, tuberculosis and cholera could be tackled through henetics technology. »
Citing UN projection for West Africa that Nigeria will be the world’s third most populous country by 2050, he advised that applying genetic technology solutions to food insecurity challenges would help to eradicate hunger, malnutrition and job creation.
The commandant said genetics technology had wide applications in the military, from the enormous potential offered by stem cell and gene therapy application to fit the treatment of injured military personnel.
He further explained that the development of effective drugs and vaccines to protect troops against pathogens associated with battlefield, biological warfare and other threats targeted specifically at the men and woman of the armed forces were other benefits of genetics technology.
The National President of Genetics Society of Nigeria, Prof. Emmanuel Kwon-Ndung, said that the conference would enable the society to explore the prospects and dimension of how genetics could contribute to nation building.Kwon-Ndung noted that the umbrella body had been devoted to the science and practice of geneticists in applied agriculture,
the environment and health issues.
He said that members of the society were involved in critical basic and applied reaserch in animal and human genetics,
as well as in applied genetics of environmental sustainability and management of diverse climatic changes confronting the ecosystem.
« I am therefore pleased that in the next few days, we will be learning of breakthroughs in these areas of reaserch endeavors from our various professional experts, » he added.Prof. Efiom Ene-Obong of Genetic and Biotechnology Department, University of Calabar, presented a paper titled « Genetics and Nation Building » during the conference.
The society inuagurated a Board of Trustees under the leadership of Prof. Shehu Garki, the present Vice-Chancellor of Al-Qalam University in Katsina State. (NAN)
