Varanasi: The Banaras Hindu University and Hyderabad-based CSIR-CCMB (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research- Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology) have jointly launched a study into Ladakh’s biodiversity. In this regard, a joint team of both the institutions recently visited Ladakh and met relevant experts and administrators.
The team, comprising 11 members from BHU and two from CSIR-CCMB, would search for the footprints of the first settlers and also identify and document the local genetic diseases and their causal mutations.
Prof Gyaneshwer Chaubey, a team member from Cytogenetics laboratory of the department of Zoology, Institute of Sciences, BHU, said that Ladakh is the highest inhabited region of India and has unique biodiversity. “With a population of nearly three lakh people, Ladakh is an example of long-term human occupation. Geographically, it is situated at the trinexus junction of three distinct geographic ancestries – South Asian, Central Asian and East Asian.”
He said that the joint team visited various regions of Ladakh, mapped the settlements of the Changpa tribe, collected the samples of hot water streams and Pangong lake water, and visited the residential school for Nomadic children. “They met Prof SK Mehta, VC of Leh University, who expressed signing an MoU”, he said, adding that the archaeologist Dr Sachin Tiwari studied the petroglyphs scattered in Ladakh and mapped the settlements of the Changpa tribe.
The other members included Dr Sachin Tiwari, Dr Chandana Basu, Dr Rahul Mishra, Urgyan Chorol, Prajjval Pratap Singh, Anshika Shrivastava, Debashruti Das, Auddiditiya Bandopadhyay, Rudra Pandey, Vanya Singh, all from BHU; Prof. Vasant Shinde and Dr Nagarjuna from CSIR-CCMB, and local collaborators including Padma Shri Dr Tsering Norboo and directors of Himalayan Institute of Archaeology and Allied Sciences Dr Sonam Splanzin and Dr Stanzen.
The team, comprising 11 members from BHU and two from CSIR-CCMB, would search for the footprints of the first settlers and also identify and document the local genetic diseases and their causal mutations.
Prof Gyaneshwer Chaubey, a team member from Cytogenetics laboratory of the department of Zoology, Institute of Sciences, BHU, said that Ladakh is the highest inhabited region of India and has unique biodiversity. “With a population of nearly three lakh people, Ladakh is an example of long-term human occupation. Geographically, it is situated at the trinexus junction of three distinct geographic ancestries – South Asian, Central Asian and East Asian.”
He said that the joint team visited various regions of Ladakh, mapped the settlements of the Changpa tribe, collected the samples of hot water streams and Pangong lake water, and visited the residential school for Nomadic children. “They met Prof SK Mehta, VC of Leh University, who expressed signing an MoU”, he said, adding that the archaeologist Dr Sachin Tiwari studied the petroglyphs scattered in Ladakh and mapped the settlements of the Changpa tribe.
The other members included Dr Sachin Tiwari, Dr Chandana Basu, Dr Rahul Mishra, Urgyan Chorol, Prajjval Pratap Singh, Anshika Shrivastava, Debashruti Das, Auddiditiya Bandopadhyay, Rudra Pandey, Vanya Singh, all from BHU; Prof. Vasant Shinde and Dr Nagarjuna from CSIR-CCMB, and local collaborators including Padma Shri Dr Tsering Norboo and directors of Himalayan Institute of Archaeology and Allied Sciences Dr Sonam Splanzin and Dr Stanzen.