The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology is a member of the Eurasian REC and an academic partner of Ufa universities.
The main event of the visit was a popular science lecture by Mikhail Gelfand of the Russian bioinformatics, organized at the site of the Art-Square cultural center. The scientist told about the genomes of ancient people, which scientists managed to read, and about the DNA of modern man.
During his visit, Mikhail Gelfand also got acquainted with the laboratories of the Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics of the UFIC RAS and the work of the Republican Medical and Genetic Center.
"The Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics of the UFIC RAS has a very high level of scientific research in the field of human genetics. We are ready to expand cooperation and, I hope, we will jointly achieve high results," Mikhail Gelfand stressed.
Currently, Ufa scientists, under the leadership of the director of the Institute, Elsa Kamilevna Khusnutdinova, cooperate with the SKOLTECH Center for Life Sciences, headed by Mikhail Gelfand. They are conducting joint research within the framework of the technological project of the Eurasian REC to study the nasal microbiome in allergy sufferers and healthy people. Simply put, they study how to defeat pollinosis. It is expected that the results of the project will form the basis for the development of a new approach to allergen-specific immunotherapy.
Mikhail Gelfand highly appreciated the development of scientists of the Republican medical and genetic center. The director of the center, Ildar Minniakhmetov, spoke about the introduction of a new high-tech method for prenatal diagnosis of pregnant women. More than a thousand genes are being studied simultaneously using a new technology. Thus, it became possible to exclude more than 250 severe genetic diseases in the fetus.
"Bashkortostan is the only region of Russia where this examination according to indications is carried out for pregnant women free of charge at the expense of the republic's budget," said Ildar Minniakhmetov.
Recall that Bashkortostan has signed an agreement with Skoltech and fixed not only the institute's participation in the Eurasian REC, but also the opportunity to maximize the institute's experience in the development of universities in the republic - to adopt innovative and rich experience of relationships with employers and industrial partners.
Skoltech and the participating universities of the Eurasian REC are already working on the creation of joint laboratories and joint network educational programs with double diplomas, internships will be organized separately for young scientists at the Moscow Institute.