Dr. Siddharth TiwariDr. Siddharth Tiwari is a Scientist-F at National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Mohali, Punjab, India. He received his doctoral degree in 2008 from CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI), Lucknow, UP, India. His area of specialization includes plant tissue culture, molecular biology, and genetic engineering. During his doctoral research, Dr. Tiwari made significant contributions, including the development of a groundnut-seed-expressed edible vaccine against cholera and rabies, for which he received the BioAsia Innovation Young Scientist Award in 2010. Additionally, he developed insect-resistant transgenic groundnut against the polyphagous foliage insect Spodoptera litura, earning him the 97th Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) Young Scientist Award in 2010. He joined DBT-NABI in July 2010 and presently serving as a Scientist-F. Dr. Tiwari’s research focuses on the metabolic engineering of staple crops like banana and wheat, utilizing transgenic and genome editing. He is the pioneer in banana genome editing and developed nutritionally enriched banana. He has published over 55 research articles, delivered over 100 invited lectures, and supervised 7 PhD students and over 60 graduate/post-graduate trainees in various disciplines of plant biotechnology. He has edited one book and was elected as a fellow of the prestigious Plant Tissue Culture Association of India. Dr. Baljeet SinghDr. Baljeet Singh is a distinguished scientist and researcher in the field of plant molecular biology and genome editing. With a strong academic background and extensive research experience, he has been at the forefront of innovative projects aimed at enhancing crop biofortification. Currently serving as a project scientist at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), he is actively involved in a significant project titled “Development and Transfer of Technology from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia to India for Biofortification in Banana.” In this capacity, he is focused on the molecular characterization of transgenic events and the development of biofortified banana through genome editing. Previously, Dr. Singh worked on a project centered around “Targeted editing of potato genome to develop variety-specific true potato seed (TPS).” He has completed a PhD on the genome-wide association mapping for micronutrients in tetraploid potato. With a diverse research portfolio, Dr. Singh has contributed to various crop nutrition related projects at the prestigious ICAR – Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, India. Dr. Singh also excels in scientific writing, as demonstrated by a publication record that includes articles, reviews, and book chapters.
