The Department of Genetics, consisting of Prof. Dr. Gordana Dimeska, Assoc. Prof. Slobodan Tofiloski and Senior Laboratory Assistant Prof. Lozenka Ivanova, conductс research in the following areas: cytogenetics, genotoxicity and mutagenesis, behavioral and population genetics.
The Department conducts cytogenetic and cytotaxonomic research on individual genera from the flora of the Republic of Macedonia. In collaboration with researchers from abroad, results of complex research on the genus Crocus from the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro have been published. In addition, research in the field of mutagenesis has been greatly expanded, which includes studies of induced mutations with ionizing radiation of various origins, heavy metals, fungicides, pesticides and hormones, as well as comparative field research on the effects of heavy metal pollution on wild plants, in clean environments and in the immediate vicinity of industrial pollutants, in water, soil and air. The Department has also introduced Drosophila melanogaster and Zebrafish as models for performing classical hybridization experiments and monitoring specific mutations and phenotypes. Recently, Zebrafish has also been established as a model for monitoring certain characteristics from a behavioral genetic aspect.
In cooperation with medical institutions, the Department also processes certain population parameters for studies of common and rare heritable diseases in the Macedonian population. Also, within the Department, studies are being conducted from the perspective of behavioral and psychiatric molecular genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders.