PAU student bags PM fellowship

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 20

Rajveer Singh, a student of School of Agricultural Biotechnology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), has brought laurels to the university by bagging the prestigious Prime Minister Fellowship for his doctoral research. The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and private partner AP Organics limited (Dhuri Punjab), awards this fellowship for four years.

During his Ph D, Rajveer will work on the “Enhancement of rice bran oil quality through CRISPR/Cas9 based editing of Lipoxygenase 3 (LOX 3).” During rice milling due to rupturing of cells, free fatty acids (FFAs) are generated. These FFAs are converted into low-molecular-weight volatile products via hydroperoxides and subsequent oxidation and decomposition by lipoxygenase3 (LOX3), creating a stale flavour in the product. This makes the rice bran oil unfit for its consumption. The best approach to eliminate the effect of oxidative rancidity in rice bran oil is to knockout the function of LOX3 gene.

This would lead to maintain the nutritional value of rice bran oil; promises wider markets to rice millers and farmers, in addition to providing a healthy food product to the consumers.

Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU; Dr Gurinder Kaur Sangha, Dean, Postgraduate Studies; Dr NS Bains, Director of Research and Dr Parveen Chhuneja, Director, School of Agricultural Biotechnology, congratulated Rajveer Singh and his guide and wished them success in their future endeavours.