- Dr. K. Janušauskas’s Genetics Laboratory
- Scientific Twin Centre (Cytogenetics Laboratory)
- Visual Neurophysiology Laboratory
Head of the Laboratory
Prof. Dr. Renata Bižienė
Email: renata.biziene@lsmu.lt
In 1987, the Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Cytogenetics was established at the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy, which was reorganised into K. Janušauskas’s Animal Genetics Laboratory in 1997 after the opening of a new molecular genetics unit. The founder of the Laboratory was Associate Professor Kazimieras Janušauskas (born 1939-1999). Thanks to his initiative, the cytogenetic and molecular studies of agricultural animals in Lithuania were started, an Animal Genetics Laboratory and a Gene Bank for agricultural animals were established, and the study and conservation of indigenous Lithuanian livestock began. The Genetics Laboratory was headed by Assoc. Prof. Kazimieras Janušauskas in 1993-1999. In 1999-2017, the Laboratory was headed by Prof. Ilona Miceikienė. In 2000, the Genetics Laboratory was named after K.Janušauskas. Dr. K. Janušauskas’s Animal Genetics Laboratory was established the “DNA Bank for Domestic Animals and Birds”. The DNA Bank collects DNA samples of species and breeds of domestic animals and birds reared in Lithuania. In 2011, following the merger of the Medical Academy and Veterinary Academy, Dr. K. Janušauskas’s Animal Genetics Laboratory became part of the Institute of Biological Systems and Genetic Research. As a result of the broadening of the research areas, since 1 November 2014, Dr. K. Janušauskas’s Animal Genetics Laboratory has been called K. Janušauskas’s Genetics Laboratory.
The mission of the Laboratory is to use the latest genetic methods to increase the efficiency of selection and animal productivity, improve the quality of milk and meat, study genetic defects and hereditary diseases in breeding animals, trace the origin of agricultural animals, carry out research on the genetic resources of agricultural animals, carry out research on human genetic markers, accumulate genetic material in the DNA Bank, and carry out fundamental and applied research. The laboratory has state-of-the-art cytogenetics and molecular genetics equipment. The Laboratory’s specialists have many years of experience in the research, conservation and promotion of Lithuanian national livestock breeds, and have participated in the preparation of the Programme for the Utilisation and Conservation of Lithuanian National Animal Resources.
Head of the Laboratory
Lecturer Loreta Šalomskienė
Email: loreta.salomskiene@lsmu.lt
In 1970, a Cytogenetics Laboratory was established at the Department of Biology. The work carried out became widely known and recognized in Lithuania and other countries. The laboratory was headed by Prof. A. Sinkus, who had interned and worked at the Universities of Vienna and Ulm. In 2004, the Twin Centre was established at the Biology Department of KMU, which now operates at the Institute of Biological Systems and Genetic Research. The Twin Centre is a joint unit of genetic research, studies and services, operating on a public basis. It includes the following units of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences: the Institute of Biological Systems and Genetic Research, the Department of Paediatrics, Department of Orthodontics, Diabetes Laboratory of the Institute of Endocrinology, the Automation of Cardiovascular Investigation Laboratory of the Institute of Cardiology, and the Department of Gastroenterology. The Centre conducts the investigations of inheritance of multifactorial pathology using the classical twin design. In 2011-2016, the Twin Centre was headed by Professor Ilona Teodora Miceikienė. Since November 2016, lecturer Loreta Šalomskienė has been the head of the Twin Centre.
Head of the Laboratory
Prof. Habil. Dr. Aleksandr Bulatov
Email: aleksandr.bulatov@lsmu.lt
Investigations of visual perception issues have been carried out successfully for more than 45 years. The researchers have been using state-of-the-art research designs to study the principles of the structure and activity of individual receptive fields and their systems in the cortical and subcortical visual areas; investigating the perception of the shape, size, brightness, and colour of objects; explained the neurophysiological nature of colour constancy and invariance, and the patterns of the anisotropy of the visual field; and mathematically modelled the properties of various phenomena in the visual perception. In 1991, the researchers at the Laboratory actively participated in the preparation of the European Conference on Visual Perception ECVP-1991 in Lithuania. In 1993, the work of the researchers at the Department was positively evaluated by the official International Quality Commission, which acknowledged that important scientific projects were being carried out here. The monograph “Colour Spatial Vision” (Lith. “Erdvinis spalvų regėjimas”) was published in cooperation with foreign colleagues. In 1993, Prof. A. Bertulis was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize. For the last 20 years, the researchers at the Laboratory have continued research on the perception of the size, shape, steepness and curvature of visual objects. An important part of modern research is the continuous development of mathematical models of geometric length illusions in order to explain the distortions in the perception of the localisation of visual objects by relying on the properties of the centroid detection procedures of neural excitations.