priyankakachhavatimesgroupcom chandigarh in karnal which houses the national dairy research institute ndri a certain variety of cow milk is sold at rs 10 per litre more than the regular variety of milk the milk has been found to contain a2 betacasein protein indicated by some studies to be better for the human body when compared to the a1 protein a mutated version that developed over thousands of years with indications that the a1 variety causes diabetes coronary and brain disorders weakens immunity and also that indigenous cattle in india produce milk with the a2 variety researchers at panjab university pu are gearing up for a twofold task to establish the authenticity of both these ideas in association with the national bureau of animal genetic resources nbagr and ndri pu will conduct a multiintuitional research project that will identify health benefits of a2 versus a1 milk proteins when a1 degrades it generates the peptide bcm7 which may be the cause of several problems associated with the protein we will be studying milk from indigenous cattle and also whether there is a difference between these two varieties said rajat sandhir a professor of biochemistry at the university there are more variants of these proteins and we could stumble upon newer varieties during the research he added the project will also include development of rapid testing kits that can be used by milk suppliers to find which of these proteins is present in a certain variety while nbagr will research on indian cattle found in various geographical locations through dnabased tests ndri will look at the proteins pu will be researching on the health benefits by administering the proteins to animals and conduct immune testing sandhir will be part of the project along with dr monika sodhi from nbagr and dr ashok mohanty from ndri an amount of rs 27 crore has been sanctioned under the national agricultural science fund nasf of indian council of agricultural research icar new delhi to conduct the study the project is one of the first that would identify different beta casein gene variants across indian native exotic and crossbred cattle populations box a1 versus a2 proteins the debate on a1 vs a2 has been initiated by new zealand researchers who claimed that a1 milk leads to diseases like diabetes cancer and weakens the immune system the prevalence of the a1 and a2 betacasein protein varies in various cattle types it is believed that a1 milk is harmful compared to a2 milk till date there has not been enough evidence to demonstrate that a1 milk is harmful compared to a2 milk some reports suggest that the indigenous cattle have a2 milk proteins that suggest milk from native indian cow is better box sports star has endorsed a2 milk english rugby star danny cipriani who was found to be milk intolerant endorses the a2 variety of milk and serves as the official brand ambassador for the brand produced by a new zealand firm cipriani who