Press Reports

14th December, 2022, Hyderabad: The Hon’ble Lt Governor of Ladakh, Shri Radha Krishna Mathur visited CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) on 14th Dec, 2022. During his visit, he visited some of the cutting-edge microscopy and genomics facilities at the institute. He learned about the research capabilities of CCMB and the various contributions the institute has made to society. This included DNA fingerprinting, wildlife conservation, improved rice varieties, COVID-19 mitigation efforts across CSIR, in addition to the various training programs and entrepreneurial ventures at CCMB.

A large part of the discussion was around how Pashmina wool, famed for its quality and is obtained from Changthangi goats across Ladakh, especially Changthang, is often adulterated with other forms of wool. CCMB is working to develop technologies to identify the animal origins of many kinds of wool sold in India.

Shri Mathur suggested that the technologies should be certified and developed for site usage. He said this will be useful for domestic and international customers. He also assured of helping CCMB in procuring authentic samples of different kinds of wool from different parts of Ladakh, of goats of different ages.

CCMB Director, Dr Vinay K Nandicoori said, “We are working on finding a reliable and affordable technique to differentiate between different kinds of wool. Lt Governor’s help in procuring appropriate and reliable sources of wool will be immensely valuable as testing standards for us.”