Istanbul University Veterinary Faculty Research and Application Center, which has the largest volume of potential patients in Europe and Turkey, treats more than 45 thousand animals annually.

Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Prof. Dr. M. Ragıp Kılıçarslan and academic member of the Department of Reproduction and Artificial Semination Prof. Dr. Mithat Evecen evaluated the most recent projects and developments of IU Veterinary Faculty.

The IU Veterinary Faculty, where many accreditations with the European Union take place, Wildlife Research and Protection Club (VAŞAK) carries out its mission and lots of works from artificial semination to the latest projects in the field of cloning are done, continues to be among the best veterinary faculties in Europe with its 24/7 service. In the faculty that previously signed protocols with many public institutions such as The Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs and the General Commandership of Gendarmerie under the institution of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), both physicians and students display a very active image in every sense.

We Take Care of The Crippled Animals Until They Pass Away

Prof. Dr. Kılıçarslan who indicated that according to the works of VAŞAK the faculty takes care of all kinds of injured animals whether they were brought by the citizens or the officers of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, stated that the cured animals are released into their natural habitat. Emphasizing that IU Veterinary Faculty is at the same time a rehabilitation center, Prof. Dr. Kılıçarslan said, “If they do not recover and become disabled, their care will continue here until death”.

The European Union Acknowledges Us

Prof. Dr. Kılıçarslan stated that the IU Veterinary Faculty’s education was accredited by the European Union Veterinary Educational Institutions last year and that they had been inspected in terms of their theoretical and practical education and substructure and superstructure. He said, “This will provide tremendous contributions to the education of our students in the future when they want to go abroad.”

Extinct Animals Can Be Brought Back to Life

Indicating that the aim of the artificial insemination is to increase the population of the endangered animals, Prof. Dr. Kılıçarslan said, “Perhaps in the future, it will be possible for us to bring the extinct animals back to life using only their remains” and also added that the offsprings of the offsprings of Efe, the first clone calf that was born alive, have been born.

A Sperm Can Be Brought to Turkey Only If We Approve of it

One of the veterinarians of the Department of Reproduction and Artificial Insemination, Prof. Dr. Mithat Evecen stated that the spermatology laboratory and the embryo transfer and cloning laboratories in Istanbul University are one of the few laboratories in Turkey and that sperms imported from abroad are examined and reported there. He said, “Only if we approve of it, the sperm can be brought to Turkey".

Drugs Worth 30 Thousand Dollars May Cost Only 1 Dollar

Emphasizing that it is aimed to supply cheap and abundant amounts of biological material from transgenic animals to humans, Prof. Dr. Evecen described the transgene, which was performed in Turkey for the first time, as "artificially providing an animal with a gene that is not found in its own genome and making that animal live with that gene”. Stating that these studies might help transfer the genes resistant to the disease and that human transplantation might be possible in the the next step, Prof. Dr. Evecen said, "There are very expensive cancer drugs on the market at the moment, and if we can produce them from sheep or cow milk, drugs worth 30 thousand pounds may cost only 1 dollar".

Story by Tuğçe AYÇİN

Pictures by Beste BUDAN

Translated by Eda AYDEMİR

IU Department of Press and Public Relations