The Research Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (RCGEB) is a research unit of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the FYR of Macedonia founded 1986/1987. The main goal of the RCGEB is to promote genetic engineering and biotechnology in the FYR of Macedonia through research, education and training. Within the RCGEB, the National Rererence Laboratory for Hemoglobinopathies, founded in 1970, is acting.

Since 1995 this laboratory became an International Reference Laboratory for Hemoglobinopathies and International Hemoglobin Information Centre (www.manu.edu.mk/icgib). Since 1998 the RCGEB is the coordinator of Postgraduate studies on molecular biology and genetic engineering, organized by the University "Ss. Ciril and Methodius", Skopje.

Since its establishment, the primary interest of the RCGEB has been molecular basis of the most common monogenic diseases: Thalassemias and other hemoglobinopathies, Cystic fibrosis, Hemophilia, Duchenne and Backer muscular dystrophy, Spinal muscular atrophy, Huntington’s disease, Cystinuria, Fragile X mental retardation syndrome, Non-syndromic hearing loss, Genetics of male infertility and other less common monogenic diseases. The RCGEB collaborators have also been studying the molecular basis of colon cancer and breast cancer, as well as the molecular epidemiology of Hepatitis C virus and Hepatitis C virus, Human papilloma virus and Chlamidia trachomatis infection. RCGEB is the first institution in the FYR Macedonia that started to use the techniques of recombinant DNA technology in the diagnosis and prevention of inherited, malignant and infectious diseases and in forensic medicine. The DNA methods for prenatal diagnosis of the most common monogenic diseases and chromosomal aneuploidies, determination of the origin of biological materials were in use in the RCGEB since its foundation.

RCGEB has participated in many quality control programs for molecular DNA testing of the most common inherited diseases (External Quality Assessment scheme for Cystic Fibrosis, etc), as well as for quality assessment of forensic DNA (IQAS organized by Cellmark diagnostics). During the past 20 years more than 30 research projects dealing with molecular characterization of monogenic diseases, molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases, molecular basis of the most common malignancies, DNA markers for human identification, were completed or are in progress in the RCGEB.

The financing of the activities of the RCGEB is primarily through research projects and services to medical institutions. The main sources of the grants were the former YU-USA Joint Funds for Science, The US Ministry of Agriculture, The US Ministry of Health, former Federal Secretariat for development, FEBS, UNESCO/UNDP, Faculty of Medicine Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, National Health Fund, Ministry of Science, etc. Most of the funds were allocated for equipment, materials, chemicals and expendables for the needs of the projects.