Dr. Ilyas did not only get the in-depth knowledge of genome biology but have improved his research skills and significantly developed his knowledge of next generation sequencing and genomics. Most importantly, he broadened the scope of his science from gene to a broader understanding of the use of genetics, high throughput biotechnology, and sophisticated computation system to population and multi disease studies. He initiated a project using innovative molecular and computational approaches to detect ethnic and even tribal-specific mutations that may be the key to rare and common diseases, in collaboration with Harvard and University College London.
He has the honor to decode the first Pashtun genome and developed a pipeline for NGS data analysis during his doctorial research. The pipeline can be used for genealogical and disease studies which can make it a pipeline for personal genetic testing. More recently he has also developed the first Pakistani Genetic Variants Database (available at http://pgvdb.com), which is a user friendly public portal wherefrom genetic variation data in Pakistani populations can be obtained. Further, he developed a mobile app “GenoLoca” for locating genetic patients in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
During his first employment soon after completing PhD, he was selected as Director of the Centre for Human Genetics at Hazara University where he established two state of the art and fully equipt laboratories of molecular anthropology and genetic diseases lab in 2016.
Science popularization implies to bring science to the general public, to disseminate scientific knowledge and to foster a scientific way of thinking among people. In particular, science popularization refers to public understanding of science and public communication of research projects. Dr. Muhammad Ilyas regularly writes articles and columns in local newspapers and gave interviews on science to TV and radio channels for the general public. He has also published a book on genetics of Pashtuns transcribing his research findings in Urdu for general public. His book has also been translated into Pashtu as well. Moreover Dr. Ilyas is very passionate about teaching school students through STEM oriented education. He has conducted numerous seminars and workshops on STEM education in Swat valley where he gathered 1,036 students from elementary schools to set a record for the most people conducting a DNA isolation experiment simultaneously in Swat Science Festival 2018. Similarly, a group under his supervision presented an innovative idea (Najoomics) in DICE 2017 in NUST. Najoomics was about designing Personal Genomics card where individual’s DNA will be printed on it along with other information and accounts. The idea was appreciated and stood 7th in Pakistan. He also mentored a group from Sir Syed University Karachi who developed a computational tool (MediOMICS) for screening individual’s genome for drug efficacy.
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas remained active in his student life serving as Editor-in-Chief of NAYS and Founding President of RSG-Pakistan for ISCB. Currently, he has been member of Advisory Board Biotechnology for Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Steering Committee member of PAPGI Asian Genomes Consortium and Provincial Secretary for Congress of Molecular Biology. Currently he is member of American Society of Human Genetics and International Society for Computational Biology.