Research centres - RCGEB
Research Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
The Research Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (RCGEB) was established in 1987 as a scientific unit of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
The Centre’s basic aim is the advancement of scientific knowledge in the fields of protein chemistry, molecular biology, genetic engineering and
biotechnology trough research, practical education courses for young scientific personnel and postgraduate studies.
The Centre posseces up to-date and sophisticated equipment.
In the Centre there are employed:
1 full professor, 2 senior scientific associates, 1 scientific associate, 1 assistant, 1 junior assistant and 3 professional assistant.
There are usually from 3 to 5 young scientists from Macedonia or abroad at the Centre working on their master or doctoral theses.
In the past 20 years the Centre has worked on over twenty scientific research projects in the fields of molecular characterization of the most frequent monogenetic hereditary diseases in Macedonia and the neighboring countries, the molecular epidemiology of infective diseases, the molecular bases of the most frequent malignant diseases, DNK markers in human identification, genetic examination of the Ohrid trout etc.
The following programes and projects are curremtly ongoing:
1. Genetic factors of male infertility, (2006–2008), funded by the Ministry of education and scince of Republic of Macedonia.
2. Molecular basis of nonsyndromic deafness in Republic of Macedonia, (2006–2008),funded by Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
3. Molecular basis of breast cancer, (2007–2009), funded by Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Since 2001 the Centre has been publishing the international journal Balkan Journal of Medical Genetics (BJMG).
The Centre was the first institution in the Republic of Macedonia to begin using recombinant DNK technology in the diagnosis and prevention of hereditary malignant and infective diseases and in forensic medicine. The Centre acted as a focal point for ICGEB from Trieste from 1994 to 1998.
It is also a part of the European Molecular Quality Network for inspecting and controlling the quality of inspections during molecular characterization of the most frequent hereditary diseases, as well as of the International Quality Assessment Scheme (IQAS), a network for confirming the quality and accuracy of analyses carried out in forensic medicine.
The Centre is also an International Reference Laboratory for hemoglobinopathy and International Information Center on hemoglobin. In the past twenty years the Centre has educated young scientific personnel to meet its own needs and also those of
other scientific institutions.
The RCGEB is the educational base of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje for postgraduate students in molecular biology and genetic engineering.
The Centre cooperates with numerous institutions in the Republic of Macedonia, with medical institutions in the neighbouring countries and with a total of more than 30 scientific institutions in 20 countries.