Hi readers!
On February 12th, 2025, Pakistan Nuclear Society and Women in Nuclear (WIN), organized an International conference in collaboration with Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The them was unique as it was titled “Opportunities for women in nuclear sciences and emerging technologies” and very timely indeed.
I was specifically invited to this conference being the holder of civil award “Pride of Performance” .
From this platform, I was restituted with “shield of honor”. It was an unbelievable and unforgettable moment for a person who stands retired for the last 12 years nevertheless, I am, and my work was remembered by my organization: a recognition that cannot be assessed in words and I am extremely grateful for this gesture.
I am the person who was symbolically born in PAEC because I started working in the organization when I was doing master’s degree research (1976). After completing the research and the degree, I started working regularly (1978) in NIAB, Faisalabad and remained there till 2007 (29 years) when I was transferred to PAEC Head Office as Director (technical) and then to Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS: a university under the umbrella of PAEC) as Director (Academic Plaining) in 2011.
From PIEAS, I retired in 2012 after which I never worked for any other organization. So I remained an undivided part of PAEC and still I am for which I am very proud of.
During 29 years at NIAB, Faisalabad, I worked as scientist on Improvement of wheat, cotton and rice for stressed environments through the use of mutation breeding, and transferring genetic material residing in wild relatives through the one and only wide hybridization program that reached to excellence in 1994 (when I was decorated jointly by PARC and US-National Academy of Sciences (US-NAS) with Award for excellence to increase agricultural productivity in Pakistan) on the basis of work that I did to produce wheat and rice germplasm tolerant to salinity and water deficiency (a term introduced for the first time alongside drought) and par excellence in 2008 when I was decorated with President’s Award for Pride of performance for evolving DURAGEN: a wheat germplasm 6000 years after the evolution of present day bread wheat. It was tolerant to both salinity and water deficiency.
My work indirectly put me under the title of women in nuclear (WIN) and I am a proud WINer because Women in nuclear are actually working indirectly with the low and safe doses of radiation emitted after nuclear reaction. I know many, including myself, who has spent years for creation of variation in crops through induced mutation via radiation. I used to get seeds, go to a health physicist who is a lady managing the radiation sources. In the gamma beam, she place the seeds on a disc, seal the door, switch the source on from outside the concreate room, the source comes up, irradiate the seed and go down again at the safe place. In the gamma cell, she put the seed in a container, send it down the well where the source is placed in water, switch the source on from outside the secure room, the source irradiate the seeds which are then pulled out. As Biotechnologists I used ethidium bromide which is carcinogenic as it chelate with DNA making it visible under the UV light,
PAEC is managing over 20 cancer hospitals with a must-have radio oncology department. 100s of ladies are working there starting from Medical Officer to Director General so, there is nothing to worry about the word nuclear. It is completely safe, effective, and essential for the cure of certain life-threatening diseases and for creation variation in crops which sometime are not possible by any other means and women in nuclear are doing this noble job with dedication and sincerity for which I am the personal witness.
See you next week. Take care, bye.
