As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our lives in more ways than one. We are all staying at home, following precautionary measures like wearing masks, sanitizing and maintaining social distance. There is a lot of effort worldwide in understanding the SARS-CoV-2 and how it infects the body. What is so special about this virus, and what makes it so hard for our immune system to clear the virus?

The Department of Life Science of Mount Carmel College, Autonomous, organized a webinar, “Invincible Corona” on 27th October 2020. This webinar featured Prof. Vimala Francis, former Dean of Undergraduate Studies in Science, and former Professor of Zoology, Mount Carmel College. Prof. Vimala is well-known for her command over her chosen subject and makes learning an enjoyable experience.

The webinar began with the history of COVID-19, when, where and how it was discovered, the structure of a virus, about the family of Coronaviruses, and the hosts of SARS-CoV-2. The entry of the virus into the body and the mechanism of binding to the target cells in the respiratory pathway was explained in great detail. Following which, the details of what the virus does to the body upon entry, its effect on the immune system and its manifestation in a variety of symptoms were elucidated. Some of the potential drug types and their targets, the strategies for vaccine production and the probable side effects of the drugs and vaccines were thrown light on.

This was followed by a Q&A session which also helped clear doubts and misconceptions of the attendees. The talk was based on the latest research papers about the SARS-CoV-2. The need to follow the safety precautions, time and again was emphasized.

The attendees expressed their appreciation for the simplicity and crispness of the talk, which made it easy for people from even a non-science background to understand.

The webinar was organized efficiently by the Department of Life Science headed by Dr Suba Manuel.

Hello!

For the benefit of students across India who wish to pursue a career in research, I shall be sharing my experiences at two graduate studies interviews in Biology.

This is not intended as an advice, but rather as a means to share my experience with the hope that it could be of use to aspiring students.

I will be speaking about my experiences of the JGEEBILS 2020 examination, and my interview experiences at TIFR-Hyderebad and NCBS, Bengaluru.

Phase 1: The JGEEBILS examination :

The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a Deemed University under the Dept. of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India. With its main centre at Mumbai and centres across India, it offers research opportunities for talented and motivated students in various fields of Science.

The first step in the Graduate School Admission at TIFR is the nationwide entrance examination. For Biology, it is called JGEEBILS (Joint Graduate Entrance Examination for Biology and Interdisciplinary Life Sciences), for admission to its PhD programs (for masters level students) and Int.PhD or MSc programs (for bachelors level students). This MCQ test is conducted in December every year across India. The test covers basic concepts in Biology, Physics, Chemistry and a little Mathematics. This is so that students from backgrounds other that Biology can attempt the paper according to their fields of strength. The score of this test is also accepted by other institutes such as a few of the IISERs, CCMB, NII and NBRC.

There is no clear cut syllabus for this paper. All it requires is a basic understanding of the subjects, and the questions are asked testing your understanding of concepts in an application-oriented manner. If you are studying Biology in your degree, then a little brush-up of plus two level physics, chemistry and mathematics will suffice. You can find the previous years’ question papers with their answer keys online. This was what I did for the preparation. The test is conducted in a computer-based test mode.

I was able to attempt more or less an equal number of questions from the 4 sections (General, Physics, Chemistry and Biology). The test also has a provision for negative marking. Hence, do not attempt a question if you’re not sure about it. It sounds easy, but difficult in practice.

Phase 2: Submitting applications to the Centres

Around the first week of January, you receive an email if you have qualified the test. Your score or rank in the test is not disclosed to you. The cut-off is decided by the participating institutions every year. You will receive instructions on submitting an application package to the following institutions of your choice: DBS, TIFR (Mumbai), NCBS/InStem (Bengaluru), TCIS-TIFR (Hyderabad) and ICTS (Bengaluru). Each institution will decide a deadline for the receipt of complete applications. (usually it’s earlier for DBS and later for the other centres).

Your application package will include personal information, academic background, two referee reports and the most important aspect, the Statement of Interest.

This is the challenging part, where you have to think of an original research problem in any field of Science, and come up with a proposal to solve it. This need not have any connection with the research you intend to do. This is just for them to know if you are capable of thinking and approaching a problem like a researcher.

Think of the fields that interest you. What are the problems that have not been solved as of now? What are the relations between phenomena that have not been explored? Developing a drug or novel molecular technique or diagnostic technique? Science is an infinite ocean. If you choose a problem, approach it openly- try out new techniques and varied approaches. You can talk to people in the field to seek more clarity.

To broaden your interests, you can attend outreach programs/ public lectures symposia /seminars /conferences to get a wider perspective.

Phase 3: The Interview

The institutions will use various criteria such as your score in the entrance test, academic background, extracurriculars, referee reports and your SoI. You will be contacted directly by the concerned institutions if you have been shortlisted for an interview.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our interviews were conducted online and we didn’t visit the campuses. However, if things go on fine in your case, you’ll get a chance to visit the campuses, find out about life at the campus from the students, visit labs and interact with PIs.

The TIFR-H interview was scheduled for 19-22 May. This was my very first interview and naturally, it seemed to be a new experience for me. I focused on brushing up some of the concepts that I learnt, reading the SoI thoroughly and trying some critical thinking questions.

The interviews start with an introductory session about the research at the Centre and the faculty and their fields of interest. Interviews at TIFR-H are of a single round.

The panel that interviewed me had 5 panelists. My SoI was the starting point of the questions, but the questions revolved around the topics covered in the same. I was asked questions like ‘how many microorganisms are found in the human body and its percentage by volume’, how ants remain in a trail and questions relating to hypotheses. Since I was part of a project on cataloguing spider diversity in our college campus, I was asked a few questions regarding it. I was also asked a math question, to plot the graphs of sin x, sin^2(x) and sin(x^2). When I got stuck with the graphs, the panel gave me cues to arrive at my answer, which I arrived at slowly. Since I had mentioned about reading ‘Origin of Species’ by Darwin, I was asked a few questions about the same, such as how multicellular forms would have evolved, and the advantages and disadvantages of a social organization. After this, I was allowed to leave.

Interviews at NCBS, Bengaluru

The NCBS interviews were scheduled from June 3^rd to 5^th.

The interviews began with an introductory webinar explaining the history of NCBS, with a few insights into campus life, and a few of the PIs presented a brief outline of the ongoing research in their laboratories. All through the interview, PIs have only one word to say- RELAX. This is because the interview here is not a test or an assessment. It is just for them to get to know you. The interview will be conducted in those areas you are most interested and comfortable in. They are on the lookout for people from different backgrounds. They want to see if you have some basic knowledge of your field, the ability to think about an unfamiliar question, and whether you really seem to have the stamina to do a PhD.

The first round was with a panel comprising three members. The initial few questions were basic biology questions like, the difference between bacterial and fungal cell, factors that determine bacterial growth etc. This was followed by a numerical on bacterial DNA replication. Further questions included structure of a gene and some questions based on transcription. On the whole, this session lasted for around 30 minutes.

If at any point of time, you feel uncomfortable with the questions, or you are not aware of the field, you can always convey this to the panel. The panels are created to comprise as diverse topics of specialization as possible.

The second round was longer, for about 45 minutes. There were 4 members in the panel. After a few basic questions- related to probability and DNA replication, I was asked a few questions based on the SoI in the application package. It really helps to be thorough with your SoI, including the references. Also be prepared with alternative ideas or strategies. What started out as a general discussion on the topics that I find fascinating in Biology, turned out to become an interactive session. This way, the panel might just initiate a discussion with you and take it forward from there. Hence, the key is not to prepare by cramming a lot of material, but to be thorough with whatever you already know, and to be able to apply it to a question.

It helps if you have visited the website, a few of the faculty webpages and maybe, read up the Annual Report of the institution if available. You can always mention, “I read this in the annual report/paper/website”. It really pays when you have done this homework.

All in all, these experiences made us realize what doing science really is- it is not just a subject that has to be learnt, but a work in progress where an inquisitive mind and openness plays a vital role.

I hope this was informative for you. If you have any doubts, feel free to contact me.

With best wishes,

Shubha.

While digging through the archives, I came across this article written by me about an experience that is still close to my heart, and I thought of sharing it with you all here.

This was an article written by me which was featured in the in-house newsletter of the Department of Zoology, Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru- “Zoologic 2018”.

Read on to know more!

InSearch-  A one-day symposium on insects in research

My Experience

As a young child, I was very fascinated by insects! Playing with insect toys, reading books on insects, visiting the Insect Zoo in San Francisco, just increased my curiosity to know more about these creatures. I was fortunate to have attended this symposium on insects that only made me more curious and awestruck by the immense capabilities these little creatures possess.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore conducted a one-day symposium on insects in research- “InSearch” on the 5^th of January 2018. The idea to organize this symposium stemmed from the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine 2017, which was awarded to three researchers who used fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster as a tool to unravel the molecular basis of body clocks. The symposium was organized by Dr.Sheeba Vasu, from the Neuroscience Unit, JNCASR and featured some exciting talks that celebrated the role that insects play in the understanding of various biological phenomena.

The first talk was by Dr.Raghavendra Gadagkar, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, who discussed the evolution of social behavior in ants, wasps and bees, with a special focus on the paper wasp species, Ropalidia marginata. The experiments conducted by Dr Gadagkar and his students and the inferences obtained, gave us an insight into queen succession and nest foundation in the wasp colony. The next talk was by Dr K N Ganeshaiah, UAS, Bengaluru which focused on the evaluation of fig quality by pollinating wasps. Next, Namrata Gundaiah, from the Mechanical Engineering department, IISc, enlightened us on the mechanics of the mandibles of wood boring beetles.

Dr Ranganath, IISc introduced us to how Drosophila can be a versatile model to teach and learn concepts in biology. The next session, by Dr.Sheeba Vasu was on the much awaited topic, ‘A Nobel for Clocks and Flies’ highlighting various aspects of the circadian clock rhythm in Drosophila.

Dr Rohini Balakrishnan, IISc spoke about the acoustic communication in crickets, and their ability to discriminate and orient towards a specific sound, which was important for them to be able to mate. Dr Megha from NCBS, spoke on how development of the flies can be affected under nutritional stress. Dr Brockman, from NCBS, spoke of the molecular mechanisms underlying daily foraging in honeybees.

The last session of the day was about the research conducted in JNCASR using Drosophila in the Vascular biology, Evolutionary Biology, Chronobiology and Neurobiology laboratories, which included lab visits for the student participants.

In a nutshell, the symposium served to be an enriching learning experience. We also realized that science is a never-ending journey interlinking all branches and fields of science, it is the journey that matters and not the destination, which will unravel itself!

( P.S : My heartfelt gratitude to my teachers who encouraged me to be a part of this event, and giving me an opportunity to share my experience with everyone.

Until next time, stay safe!)

This semester, one of our papers consists of Development Biology along with Behavioural Biology (Ethology). Development Biology is pretty interesting- we get to know so much about the development of animals. At times it is so overwhelming to see how the entire development process takes place- from the single-celled zygote to the morula, blastula, gastrula, neurula till the formation of the adult. It is such a complex coordinated process. Development biology raises so many crucial questions that have made their way into fields like cell biology, molecular biology, anatomy, immunology, and even evolution.

The process of evolution is backed by embryological evidence- how most organisms share a common development pattern up to a certain stage, and not to forget Haeckel’s Biogenetic Law- “Ontogeny recapitulates Phylogeny”. That is, the development stages of an organism will trace through its entire phylogenetic history, from its single-celled stage (unicellular forms) to a multicellular stage (metazoan) and so on. This is the most beautiful confluence of Development Biology and Evolution!

Today in college, I was looking at a caterpillar crawling on the ground. And I remembered watching a video yesterday on Coursera about Evo-devo which so beautifully explains it concerning the classes of Phylum Arthropoda. It is part of a course Evolution Today, offered by the University of Leiden

https://www.coursera.org/lecture/evolution-today/evo-devo-W82qP

Insects (like ants and flies) have legs only on their thorax, whereas forms like millipedes (Class Diplopoda) and centipedes (Class Chilopoda) have legs throughout the body length. As explained in the video, the development of legs is influenced by a gene Distalless which expresses a protein in the regions destined to become the legs. In the other regions, there is a repressor Abdominal A which binds to the regulatory sequence in the gene, hence the Distalles gene cannot be expressed. In millipedes and centipedes, the gene is expressed in all the segments (of the thorax and abdomen) but in insects, only in the thorax.

Just like the tadpole of the frog resembles the fish, the caterpillar of the butterfly or moth resembles the millipede or centipede, or even the annelid (due to its segmented body). There are many more examples from the animal kingdom!

This teaches me that development biology, like any other field, is as vast as the ocean and has so many unanswered questions. Decoding the development of organisms is surely a mystery, but as the development biologist Hans Spemann, famous for his transplantation experiments in embryos, stated in 1927,

“We stand in the presence of riddles, but not without the hope of solving them. And riddles with the hope of solution- what more can a scientist desire?“

The Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists organized their first conference on 24th and 25th October 2019 at JNCASR, Bengaluru. The conference featured about 20 speakers in the field of ecology and evolution and also several poster presentations over the 2 days.

Each speaker showed different and novel perspectives that really left the audience awestruck each time. New concepts were introduced, some existing ones contradicted, reflecting the fact that science also changes and evolves with time!

I learnt a lot more than I did in our evolution curriculum back at college. And that’s how enriching the conference was. I can say it was the best conference experience I have ever had! It was an experience that no curriculum or syllabus can give.

All the well-known and renowned researchers in the field of ecology and evolution were all under one roof. They answered the innumerable questions from the participants, even over tea, lunch and dinner.The poster presentations gave us an insight into the wide range of research in India concerning ecology, evolution and ethology.

This was the first time that I had an avid interest to check out as many posters as possible. Six posters were given special awards sponsored by the Resonance:Journal of Science Education and Journal of Genetics, and two by ISEB.

I express my heartfelt gratitude to Prof TNC Vidya of JNCASR and all the members of ISEB who made this possible,as it is a herculean task to bring so many speakers from all over India, and also many students, researchers and faculty together. A special mention to the students of the Evolutionary Biology Unit of JNCASR for their instrumental role in the smooth functioning of the conference.And a special mention of the food, which was the cherry on the cake!

ISEB is indeed creating a #RevolutionThroughEvolution! We learnt that evolution is not a discipline per se, but is a way of thought. Anyone in biology can and should appreciate evolution for what it is. Though a society only recently formed, it is really changing the evolutionary biology scene in India! Looking forward to more such events in the future.

The Nobel Prize was, and is considered to be one of the most coveted prizes of all. In the words of Alfred Nobel, who established the Prize, the prize is instituted for those who confer the ‘greatest benefit to mankind’.

In the field of science,or in any other field,there is so much more to a Nobel Prize which goes deep into the significance of the discovery or invention to the related field.

Earlier, I used to hear about the Nobel Laureates in the various fields of science, and their work , and I never took too much effort to really understand what the work really implied or signified. But, attending a couple of talks in 2018 about the Nobel Prizes in Physiology and Medicine, and Chemistry, made me realize the greatness of the work that made the laureates deserving of a Nobel.

The Management of MES Degree College, Bengaluru hosted the second edition of the Nobel Insight Lecture Series from 17th to 21st December 2018. Eminent personalities in the respective fields were invited to give insight talks on what the research leading to the Nobel Prize actually means to their field. A second expert also presided over each of the sessions, which enhanced the experience. The lecture series was attended by many students and teachers who were interested to know more about the Nobel-winning research.

The work of James Allison and Honjo, the laureates in Physiology and Medicine, who worked on a novel application of immunotherapy for cancer treatment, really proved that their Nobel Prize was well deserved, as they have made a contribution towards saving mankind from succumbing to the ’emperor of maladies’. Theirs was a journey to finding a solution for cancer that was plaguing humanity at large.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 was awarded for two revolutionary discoveries, ‘the directed evolution of enzymes’ and the ‘phage display of peptides and antibodies’. It was indeed ‘Revolution in Evolution’, as they hold the key to several revolutions in the field of science.

Such lectures made me realize the need to develop a keen interest to understand and appreciate the Nobel-winning discoveries to come. And that the Nobel prize is not the end of a journey to discovering something big, but with it comes the responsibility of contributing to the betterment of mankind, as envisaged by Alfred Nobel himself.

To many more such enlightening lectures…….

[ More about the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistryhttps://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2018/summary/

Physiology and Medicine

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2018/press-release/ ]

The Bangalore Life Sciences Cluster (BLiSC) comprising of three biology research institutes in Bangalore- NCBS, InStem and CCAMP, is curating a two-month long exhibition of the research work happening at NCBS- LabCulture. As part of this, a discussion on the role of arts in science was conducted on the 19th of July 2019, at the NCBS campus. The panel comprised of scientists (PIs), students, and also artists who elaborated on how science and art go together and are not separate entities. Citing instances from their research experiences, the panel members spoke about what brought them to science and how they brought in the element of creativity into their research. The need to highlight the social responsibility of a scientist (or an artist) was also stressed on.

Personally speaking, the aesthetics of science appeals to the artist and the technicalities and the nuances appeal to the scientist. It could also be vice-versa! Many of us have been drawn to science by just its beauty and fascination, such as a color change occuring during a chemical reaction, or looking at the structural organisation in living systems, and we delve into the mechanisms by which these phenomena occur.

Artists look at science in a different way and maybe, this can be used to solve problems using solutions that artists are able to look at. Being a student of biology, and also training in classical dance and music, I feel that learning even the performing arts makes me approach something in a different way. Be it motor proteins walking on a microtubule, or molecules vibrating in a spectrometer, we see rhythm, aesthetics and structure in almost everything we see, and it gives us a better understanding of whatever we learn.

In this aspect, we really enjoyed looking at science from this perspective. Kudos to the #LabCulture team for putting together this session and bringing to the table an important aspect of doing science, and we look forward to more such events in the future!

The famous evolutionary biologist, Theodosius Dobzhansky’s statement on evolution, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” puts in a nutshell how important evolutionary biology is to understand biology as a whole, no matter how insignificant or outdated it sounds. In fact, the problems trying to be solved today using cell and molecular biology can be understood and solved better using the principles of evolutionary biology.

As I sat down one day to think about a field of research or a research problem to tackle, I thought of how cancer biology can be understood in the context of evolution- how a cell would have evolved to divide uncontrollably, escape apoptosis (programmed cell death) and exhibit other properties. And as usual, I turned to the Internet for insights. And then, I came across this interview on Cancer Today which was just what I was looking for. The interview features James DeGregori, who is a molecular biologist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Illinois, USA. He and his colleagues have developed a model, called adaptive oncogenesis, which aims to view cancer through the lens of evolutionary biology.

While we normally attribute cancerous properties of cells to mutations (damages or errors) in their DNA, this model opines that the microenvironment surrounding cells is as significant in the development of cancer. With age, and with the accumulation of various substances, the microenvironment changes, and this becomes favorable for cells to acquire cancerous properties.

But, how can one explain cancers like leukemia that are prevalent in babies and kids? DeGregori asserts that childhood leukemia is more prevalent in a developed country like USA than in countries like sub-Saharan Africa and the Carribean nations. The hygiene hypothesis states that in developed countries, due to stringent hygienic conditions, the immune system is not exposed to pathogens and other ‘insults’ during their early years. As they get older, their immune systems start to overreact, a small trigger can elicit an intense inflammatory response which could create a microenvironment for oncogenesis.

Come to think of it, how counter-intuitive does this sound? When we get so paranoid about cleanliness and hygiene, especially for babies- we sanitize and sterilize even their toys, we use hand-sanitizers overtly and so on. We see kids who grow up on the construction sites amidst all the mud, smoke, cement, dust and so on, and we wonder how robust their immune systems are! This does not mean that we should stop bothering about hygiene- yes, hygiene is important, but it is important not to get overboard on it. All of us as kids have gone running or cycling and have fallen down and bruised our knees and elbows. It prepared us to avoid such injuries to the best extent possible. Similarly, we need to pose challenges to our immune system, little by little, one step at a time, so that we can prepare our immune system to fight off stronger pathogens.

The link to the full interview can be found below-

https://www.cancertodaymag.org/Pages/Summer2017/The-Evolution-of-Cancer-James-Degregori-microenvironment.aspx

Welcome to My Musings on Science- a platform for me to express my thoughts on things that I encounter in my journey of doing science.

I am Shubha, an undergraduate student in Biology and a passenger in this journey.

Science is a vast and expansive ocean, a constant journey which is never-ending, and it is important for us to relish every experience and enjoy the journey. Listening to, interacting with, and reading about many experienced scientists, researchers and professors in the field has exposed me to so much beyond my college curriculum and I have begun to realize this truth in every turn of my journey.

I have always wanted to take concepts and understand them in great depth, but given the workload on a college student, it becomes difficult to do this always. However, realizations (or epiphanies!), putting pieces together, linking several concepts, and applying what I have learned to understanding every now and then makes the process of doing science so mind-boggling. And this is a platform for me to share these experiences with everyone.

I hope that you all enjoy this series much as I did in sharing it with you!

Shubha.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton