LaCONES:
- LaCONES is an acronym for The Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species.
- Parent body: It is a dedicated Laboratory of CSIR’s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad.
- Objective: To use modern biotechnologies for conservation of endangered wildlife (It supports both the measures of conservation i.e. in situ and ex situ measures).
- Background:
- Project LaCONES was established in 1998 with support from (i) Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India, (ii) Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA), Delhi, (iii) Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and (iv) Government of Andhra Pradesh.
- The laboratory was itself established in 2007. It is India’s only dedicated laboratory for conservation of endangered species.
National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank:
- It is India’s first scientific wildlife genetic resource bank.
- The genetic bank located at LaCONES, will preserve genetic material of Indian species which could be utilised to resurrect an animal species in case it goes extinct.
- It would also facilitate exchange of genetic material between the Indian zoos for maintaining genetic diversity and implementing conservation programs.
