National Avian Forensic Laboratory

The NAFL was established by SACON in 2018 with financial support from MoEFCC. The NAFL has facilities for analysis of bird body parts and a repository of tissue/blood and feather reference materials to help identify avian species from their remains. The NAFL was developed to support law and enforcement agencies in controlling illegal bird trafficking and to help military and civil airports identify birds involved in bird–aircraft collisions. The NAFL is equipped with sophisticated as well as common laboratory equipment including a next generation DNA sequencer, a Sanger DNA Sequencer, a Covaris, a fragment analyser, horizontal and vertical gel electrophoresis systems, a centrifuge, a gel-documentation system, deep freezers (-80°C), a biosafety cabinet and thermal cyclers polymerase chain reaction machine. The NAFL also conducts training programmes in conservation genetics, DNA sequencing and identification of bird remains through DNA and feather structures of bird species for various user agencies.

The NAFL was dedicated to the nation on 28 September 2018 by Shri C. K. Mishra, IAS, Secretary, MoEFCC.

Facilities at NAFL:

1. Nucleic acid isolation facility
2. Nucleic acid quantification facility
3. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of nucleic acids
4. Microscopy and imaging facility
5. Electrophoresis and gel imaging facility
6. Automated fragment analysis facility
7. Low temperature/cryopreservation facility
8. Sanger sequencing facility
9. Next generation sequencing facility
10. Feather repository and feather microstructure analysis facility

Services at NAFL:

1. Bird species identification using single mitochondrial gene
2. Bird sex identification by CHDW and CHDZ gene
3. Nucleic acid QC using Nanodrop, Qubit and Fragment analyzer
4. Sanger sequencing using ABI 3500
5. Microsatellite discovery using NGS
6. NGS sequencing using Illumina NextSeq 550
7. Individual identification
8. On demand training for sample collection

Samples for Forensic Analysis and their preservation:

1. Blood – Cotton swab, ethanol, FTA card, Blood preserving fluid
2. Tissue- Salt, ethanol, Tissue preserving fluid
3. Skin- Ethanol, dry skin
4. Feather- Entire feather in zip lock bags with Silica beads
5. Eggs/ Egg shells- Ethanol, Dry condition
6. Claws- Entire  Claw in zip lock bag with silica beads
7. Bones- Dry bones in zip lock bags/fresh bones  in salt

Agencies that can benefit from Avian Forensics:

1. State Forest Departments
2. Wildlife Crime Control Bureau
3. Airports/Ports Authority of India
4. Indian Air Force
5. Central Zoo Authority (CZA)
6. Institutions involved in biodiversity conservation

Cost of Avian Forensic Services and equipment usages fee

S. No.	Name of the Activity	Price (Rs)/sample
Cost for Forensic Services
1	Bird species identification using single mitochondrial gene	4000.00
2	Bird sex identification by CHDW and  CHDZ gene	1500.00
3	Nucleic acid (DNA & RNA) QC using Nanodrop, Qubit-4 and Fragment analyzer	1000.0
4	DNA Sequencing (up to 700-800bp)	1000.0
5	Microsatellite discovery using NGS	400000.00
6	NGS sequencing using Illumina NextSeq 550	Application specific, need to be calculated based on request.
Equipment usage charges
7	Fragment Analyzer (AATI)	1500/run
8	Covaris M220™ Focused-ultrasonicator	1000/run
9	DeNovix DS-11FX Spectrophotometer (nanodrop)	50/sample
10	Qubit 4 Fluorometer	50/sample
11	RT-qPCR (ABI QuantStudio 3)	750/run/plate reading
12	PCR (ABI & Eppendorf)	500/run
13	Horizontal Gel-electrophoresis (Bio-Rad)	200/run
14	Vertical Gel-Electrophoresis (Bio-Rad)	300/run

National Avian Forensic Laboratory at SACON    

Contact in-charge Avian forensic laboratory to avail any of these listed services:

Dr. P. Pramod, Senior Principal Scientist

Dr. Ashutosh Singh, Scientist

National Avian Forensic Laboratory

Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History

Anaikatty, Coimbatore – 641108

Tamil Nadu, India

Ph.  +91-422-2203136, 151, 100,   Mob: 89588 83045

Fax:  +91-422-2657132

Email: pramodp.68@gov.in, apgsacon@gmail.com, salimalicentre@gmail.com