A major scientist with a worldwide reputation
Currently, the process of internationalization of higher education is becoming an integral part of the educational policy of Kazakhstan. Due to the development of the processes of globalization and internationalization of the economy and business, higher education puts forward the need to train professional specialists capable of working productively in the changing conditions of the global market.
To form the competitiveness and increase the attractiveness of Kazakhstani universities, one of the main tasks of the university is to attract foreign professors to lecture, to develop prerequisites for the formation of a citizen of the world by attracting foreign students to read. One of the visiting professors, a world-renowned scientist, Doctor of Biological Sciences, professor of the Oregon National Primate Research Center, professor of the US Stem Cell Center Shukhrat Mitalipov has been lecturing at the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University since last year.
The lectures of one of the most influential scientists in the world, who heads the Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, the pioneer of many studies on nuclear transplantation Shukhrat Mitalipov, students always listen with great interest. His leadership lecture was attended by the teaching staff of the University, students of the Faculties of Biology and Biotechnology, Chemistry and Chemical Technologies, Medicine and Healthcare, as well as scientists of the Scientific Center for Anti-Infectious Drugs "Research Institute of Biological Safety Problems", the Institute of Genetics and Physiology, the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry named after M.A.Aitkhozhin, SPC Microbiology and Virology and others .
Shukhrat Mitalipov is a native of Almaty. He graduated from the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy in Moscow, and then completed postgraduate studies at the Medical and Genetic Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, then defended his doctoral thesis at the Institute of Human Genetics of the Medical and Genetic Research Center of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Russian Federation. He managed to achieve amazing results in science. Shukhrat Mitalipov and his sister Maya have developed a method of treating hereditary diseases by replacing defective maternal DNA with healthy donor DNA, having tested it on a dozen macaques. In fact, they were the first to "edit" the genome of a human embryo. Earlier, it was in the laboratory of the Oregon Health University that the method of conception of a "child from three parents" was first tested, which also allows you to get rid of some genetic diseases.
– I have been living in the USA since 1995. Currently, I am the director of the Center for Gene and Cell Therapy at the University of Oregon. It is a medical university, considered one of the largest enterprises in the state of Oregon. We have more than 20 thousand employees. In general, this is a complex that includes approximately half of all hospitals in the state. In addition, there is a faculty that trains doctors. And the third part of the complex is a number of research institutes and research centers. We created one of the research centers in 2010, which is mainly engaged in the development of gene cell therapy, specifically on germ cells. Therefore, we were singled out separately, and we report directly to the president of the university. Our Center includes 6 laboratories and an IVF clinic. Our main direction is the reprogramming of somatic cells, gametes and embryos of cells," says the scientist, "I am very happy to cooperate with the flagship university of Kazakhstan, which is located in my hometown, and the rector and I have also agreed to create a Kazakh–American joint research center here.
Professor Shukhrat Mitalipov is one of the top ten major scientists in the world. He wants to share with our scientists about his projects and ongoing research, the main trends in medical gene editing of the human germ line.
Kairzhan TUREZHANOV
