PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province inaugurated its first DNA laboratory at Khyber Medical College (KMC) on Tuesday.
Among the attendees at the ceremony were KP’s leading molecular biologists and the provincial government’s health secretary, Abid Majeed.
“When I joined Khyber Medical College in 2013, we only had a PCR machine, which is just one of the components of a DNA lab,” said KMC Principal Dr. Noorul Iman. “Today, our vision for a proper DNA-testing facility has materialized.”
Talking to Arab News, he said that the DNA lab had state-of-the-art American equipment and had cost Rs45 million ($405,900).
Asked how much the lab would charge for performing a DNA test, he said it would “hopefully be less than the Punjab Forensic Science Agency’s Rs25,000,” but added that no final pricing decision has yet been made.
Iman said the DNA lab should have been finished in 2013, but was delayed due to lack of funds. “However, the recent cases of child abuse in the province and other parts of the country have led to public awareness and probably influenced the provincial authorities’ decision to bankroll the project,” he said.
Jamil Khan, a molecular biologist who will be working at the lab, said he had previously worked at the National Forensic Science Agency, Islamabad and performed DNA tests in the wake of the 2007 Red Mosque operation in the federal capital and after the 2012 Baldia Town factory fire in Karachi.
Police Superintendent Shahzada Kokab Farooq told Arab News that, until now, law enforcement agencies in KP had to send samples to Lahore or Islamabad for DNA testing.
“DNA testing is required to identify individuals in various cases, such as suicide attacks, murders and sexual assaults,” he explained. “Setting up the lab in Peshawar will save time and make it easier for us to investigate important cases.”
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province opens first DNA laboratory
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province opens first DNA laboratory
Pakistan says $50 million meat export deal with Tajikistan nearing finalization
- Islamabad expects to finalize agreement soon after Dushanbe signals demand for 100,000 tons
- Pakistan is seeking to expand agricultural trade beyond rice, citrus and mango exports
ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan has expressed interest in importing 100,000 tons of Pakistani meat worth more than $50 million, with both governments expected to finalize a supply agreement soon, Pakistan’s food security ministry said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is trying to grow agriculture-based exports as it seeks regional markets for livestock and food commodities, while Tajikistan, a landlocked Central Asian state, has been expanding food imports to support domestic demand. Pakistan currently exports rice, citrus and mangoes to Dushanbe, though volumes remain small compared to national production, according to official figures.
The development came during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain and Ambassador of Tajikistan Yusuf Sharifzoda, where agricultural trade, livestock supply and food-security cooperation were discussed.
“Tajikistan intends to purchase 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan, an import valued at over USD 50 million,” the ambassador said, according to the ministry’s statement, assuring full facilitation and that Islamabad was prepared to meet the demand.
The statement said the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in meat and livestock, fresh fruit, vegetables, staple crops, agricultural research, pest management and standards compliance. Pakistan also proposed strengthening coordination on phytosanitary rules and establishing pest-free production zones to support long-term exports.
Pakistan and Tajikistan have long maintained political ties but bilateral food trade remains below potential: Pakistan produces 1.8 million tons of mangoes annually but exported just 0.7 metric tons to Tajikistan in 2024, while rice exports amounted to only 240 metric tons in 2022 out of national output of 9.3 million tons. Pakistan imports mainly ginned cotton from Tajikistan.
