Under the patronage of Chancellor of the University of Basrah Prof Dr. Saad Shaheen Hamadi and under the supervision of the Dean of the College of Medicine Prof. Dr. Khalil Ismail Alhamdi, the Department of Microbiology / College of Medicine / University of Basrah held a workshop entitled (PCR Primer Design) for the period from 21-22 / September / 2020. The workshop was attended by the dean of the college and his deputy for (scientific and administrative affairs) and the faculty members of the Department of Microbiology and a number of other lecturers in the college. In addition, about 40 participants attended from various colleges of Basrah University and other universities. All attendees expressed their interaction with the valuable scientific information included in the workshop. They had a strong desire to hold a series of scientific workshops and seminars during the current year because of their great importance in developing the field of research at the university.

The aim of the workshop was to learn how to access the Nucleotide Sequence Database at NCBI and to use these sequences in designing the primers used in the PCR technique. In addition to assessing the quality of the designed primers through the application of special mathematical equations, the detection of potential problems in the PCR technique resulting from the selection of inappropriate primers and finding basic solutions to these problems.

The workshop included theoretical and electronic application lectures on the computer presented by Assistant Professor Dr. Firas Taha Mansour in cooperation with Assistant Professor Dr. Nibras Salem and members of the faculty of the Department of Microbiology. The first day included a theoretical lecture entitled general properties of primers, followed by a practical application of the method for finding nucleotide sequences in GenBank. The second day included a theoretical lecture that focused on the method of designing primers in simple steps, followed by a practical application on the computer. The workshop was concluded with the recommendation of the members of the Microbiology Department and the attendees, which is to set up a laboratory in the college to manufacture primers for the purpose of equipping Basrah University and other universities with these primers instead of manufacturing them outside Iraq. The Deanship of the College expressed its full support for the establishment of this laboratory.