Biotecnika Times 5th November 2019 Edition - FREE Download

November 5th, 2019

Vol. 03

NO 103

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REVOLUTIONARY DEVICE FOR CO2 REMOVAL FROM AIR

BY MIT SCIENTISTS

FIRST-EVER INDIAN BRAIN ATLAS

BY IIIT SCIENTISTS

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November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

TIFR 2020 Exam Notification For MSc/Int.PhD/PhD Admissions – GS-2020 The notification for TIFR 2020 Exam Graduate School Admissions GS-2020 has been announced. The online application link has been activated.

CANDIDATES WANTING TO PURSUE THEIR HIGHER STUDIES IN FIELD OF BIOLOGY CAN CHECK OUT ALL OF THE DETAILS ON THE ELIGIBILITY, COURSE AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE GIVEN BELOW:

By Diluxi Arya

Research Opportunities for exceptionally talented and highly inspired students The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is India’s premier institution for sophisticated research in fundamental sciences. The Institute runs a graduate programme leading to the award of Ph.D., Integrated M.Sc.-Ph. D. in addition to M.Sc. degree in particular subjects. With its distinguished faculty, world-class facilities and a stimulating research environment, it is an ideal place for aspiring scientists to start their career.

The Graduate Programme at TIFR is classified into the following Subjects – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer & Systems Sciences (including Communications and Applied Probability) and Science Education. It is carried out at the Mumbai campus and different National Centres of TIFR. Eligibility: Candidates in the final year of qualifying degree can also apply.

Biology: Applicants will be shortlisted for interview based upon written test marks, Curriculum Vitae, letters of recommendation and Scientific write-up.

For PhD: Masters in Basic Science (M.Sc. Physics/ Chemistry/ Mathematics/ any branch of Biology) or any professional Master’s Degree (M.Pharma./ M.Tech.), or a > 4-year degree program (e.g. MBBS, BDS).

Students holding an M.Sc. degree in a non-Biology-allied discipline such as Chemistry/ Physics/ Mathematics/ Computer Science, and that want to obtain an M.Sc. in Biology, will be

offered the option of registering in Students may take the online test in the I-Ph. D. programme at the time of multiple subjects provided the timjoining. ings do not clash. Please submit a different application for each subject.

For I-Ph. D./ M.Sc.: Bachelors in any type of Basic Science (Physics/ Application Fee can be paid only Chemistry/Mathematics/any branch with online mode. of Biology) OR any type of 4-year degree programme that awards a “Bach- Application Fee (Non-Refundaelor’s degree” including B.Tech., ble): B.E., B.V.Sc., B.Pharma. (4-year course).

• Male Applicants: Rs 900/-.

• Female Candidates: Rs 300/-.

For M.Sc. (Wildlife Biology & Conservation): Indian nationals who Application fee can just be paid have a Bachelor’s degree in any disci- online with Internet banking/Debit/ pline (with a minimum of 50% in core Credit Card/UPI or other modes as subjects) and a solid rate of interest available on our payment gateway. in wildlife research and conservation.

Graduate nationals for Central, South Online Payment: and Southeast Asian countries, with comparable qualifications, are also After the on-line payment transacqualified to apply. tion is successful, please login to your account on our website by using your Applicants not holding a Master’s Application Sequent Number as your degree and admitted to a PhD/ Int. user id and check the payment status PhD program can receive an M.Sc. of your application. Normally, on the degree in some subjects by fulfilling internet payments are received withproposed requirements (see http:// in 2 working days and a auto email is www.tifr.res.in/~gsoffice for infor- sent out by the system acknowledging mation). the payment. If your transaction has been successful and your account has Application Procedure: been debited and you do not receive the acknowledgement email within 2 Students can apply online. Please working days, neither your payment follow appropriate link on this web status is upgraded in your account, site for filling up the application form. you may write to gsch@tifr.res.in.

Check out the instructions thoroughly prior to you start filling out the online Please note: application form. DO NOT MAKE MULTIPLE REGISTRATIONS FOR Instructions for downloading/ printTHE SAME SUBJECT. ing of Hall tickets will be intimated by email, only after receipt of appli-

cation fee/approval of fee waiver.

Application Fee Waiver: A waiver of the application fee on grounds of financial distress may be requested by a letter from the Principal or the Head of the Department validating the request. The letter/ recommendation from the Principal/ HOD must be on the official letterhead duly signed and stamped.

Students applying online might click the fee waiver option in the payment area of the application and upload the scanned copy of the recommendation letter to their registration profile.

Please note that fee waiver requests would be taken into consideration depending on the availability of seats in each Centre and can not be guaranteed.

Apply Online Before you pick a Ph.D. or Integrated PhD program in the basic enrollment form, please go through the eligibility criteria very carefully.

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istration where login credentials are given to finish the form.

After login, please click “Go to Application” link on the right-top corner of the page and complete the full application.

Before you start filling up the full application form ensure the following are ready with you: • Scanned image/electronic copy of your Passport size photo (preferably a jpg file below 80 kb in size). Applications with personal photos (selfies) or edited photos uploaded will certainly be turned down.

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• If you are applying under the Fee Waiver category, the scanned copy of the recommendation letter from the Principal/HOD of your college.

• If you are applying under the disability category, you will certainly need to upload the scanned copy of the disability certification.

If you intend to apply for multiple

subjects, you will need to provide dif- Students will be issued or will be ferent e-mail id for every application. enabled to download the Hall Ticket only if the payment of applicaYou may take a print of your appli- tion fee has been received/ fee waivcation after successful registration or er request is approved. save the same as a pdf file.

Contact Information: Applicants paying the application fee online will be directed to the pay- For Biology/Wildlife Biology & ment gateway. Adhere to the instruc- Conservation: tions carefully and complete the payment transaction. If the transaction is Admissions Section not finished as a result of technolog- National Centre for Biological ical reasons, you might login to your Sciences account and check the application/ UAS-GKVK Campus, Bellary Road, payment status. After the successful Bangalore 560065. conclusion of the transaction, please Tel: 080-23666404 login to your account and check the Fax: 080-23636662 payment status. If the payment is not Email: phd@ncbs.res.in. complete, you might attempt paying For Science Education: online again.

Normally, on the internet payments are received within 2 working days and an auto e-mail is sent by the system acknowledging the payment. If your transaction has been successful and your account has been debited and you do not obtain the acknowledgement email within 2 working days, neither your payment status is updated in your account, you may contact gsch@tifr.res.in.

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Monday – Friday 09:00 a.m. – 05:30 p.m.

Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays closed Important Dates Nationwide Entrance Examination: Sunday, December 8, 2019 Last date for application: November 23, 2019 GATE Scored based applications to Systems Science (including Communications and Applied Probability): Opens: February 5, 2020 Closes: Two weeks after GATE2020 results declared.

Results of the Nationwide Entrance Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Examination (shortlist for interEducation views): By end-January 2020.

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research GS2020 V.N. Purav Marg, Mankhurd Mumbai 400 088.

Link for online application has been Tel: 022- activated. Last date for application is 36/25567711/25554712/25555242 November 23, 2019. Only online payFax: 022-25566803 ment accepted for the application fee.

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First-Ever Indian Brain Atlas By IIIT Scientists Says ‘Indian Brain Is Smaller’ The average Indian brain is much smaller in height, width, and also in volume as compared to the western and eastern populations like the Chinese & Korean according to the first-ever ‘Indian Brain Atlas’ created by scientists of the International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad (IIITH).

THE DIFFERENCES OF THE INDIAN BRAIN FROM OTHER POPULATIONS ARE FOUND EVEN AT THE STRUCTURE LEVEL LIKE THE VOLUME OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS AND SO ON.

By Ria Roy

But the overall ‘IBA 100 is more’ comparable to the Chinese & Korean atlases than the distant Caucasian one, according to the study team led by a professor from the Centre for Visual Information Technology Jayanthi Sivaswamy.

Construction of the First-ever Indian human brain atlas was done in collaboration with the Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology, Sree Chitira Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.

Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) & International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ICBM) had created the first-ever digital human brain atlas in 1993 and had also released other brain atlases, widely used as a standard in the various neuroscience studies. However, these atlases and ‘standard’ brain templates were created using Caucasian brains. These are not ideal to analyze brain differences from other ethnicities such as the Indian population.

Medical images play a very big role in diagnosis and the idea of building our own first-ever Indian brain atlas came from a neuro-radiologist at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute, Trivandrum. He said that it is the MNI template that comes typically loaded in these MRI scanning machines, leaving them bereft of normative information, added Ms. Sivaswamy.

MRI images of the patients are compared with that of the pre-loaded MNI template to arrive at a diagnosis, and these templates are likely to lead to an incorrect diagnosis, she pointed out.

While even Chinese & Korean brain templates had been constructed, there was no corresponding template constructed for our Indian-specific population.

structed atlas was validated against dementia or Alzheimer’s, she said. the other atlases available for various Her student, Alphin Thottupattu is populations. collecting MRI scans to create brain atlases for different age groups, like She said that it was desirable to build 20-30, 30-40, 40-50 & 50-60 and to a larger atlas with a greater heteroge- track the brain and see how it ages neous mix of subjects to account for over time. diversity, even in terms of educational qualifications. But currently, the With the number of aged persons team’s focus is to understand the ag- increasing, there are more incidencing process itself. es of Alzheimers and Dementia. It is important to understand structurally Many changes take place in a brain what is normal too so that it is possiScans collected were from an equal due to advancing age, with the most ble to catch such conditions early on, number of healthy male & female sub- typical one being atrophy which she added. jects 21-30 years age group when the means shrinking of structures as it brain is said to be ‘mature’. The con- happens in the case of conditions like IIITH research team made a maiden effort at creating an Indian-specific brain atlas involving 50 subjects selected across genders. MRI scans of these subjects’ brains were taken at three different hospitals across three different scanners to rule out variations found in scanning machines.

After a successful pilot study, the research team recruited 100 willing participants in the construction of Indian Brain Atlas or ‘IBA 100’.

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MIT Engineers Develop Novel Way To Remove Carbon Dioxide From Air The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a new weapon in the fight against climate change. Scientists have created a new system that could remove carbon dioxide from a stream of air that can work at almost any concentration level, from power plant emissions to open air, according to Massachusetts Institute Technology News.

MIT SAID THIS NEW SYSTEM REQUIRES LESS ENERGY AND LESS MONEY TO OPERATE COMPARED TO THE OTHER METHODS, WHICH REQUIRE HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS LIKE THOSE FOUND IN THE FLUE EMISSIONS FROM FOSSIL FUEL-BASED POWER PLANTS.

By Ria Roy

The new device at the heart of the system behaves like a large battery.

It absorbs carbon dioxide from a gas stream that passes over its electrodes as it is being charged up. The device then blows out the pure carbon dioxide as it discharges.

The system’s inner-workings are detailed further by the researchers — MIT postdoc Sahag Voskian and professor T. Alan Hatton — in a paper called Faradaic Electro-swing Reactive Adsorption for CO2 Capture, which was published this month in the journal Energy and Environmental Science.

The researchers are striving to develop new technologies to tackle a range of environmental issues that avoid the need for thermal energy sources, changes in system pressure or addition of chemicals to complete the separation & release cycles, Hatton told MIT News. This CO2 capture technology is a clear demonstration of the

power of electrochemical approaches through. that require only small swings in voltage to drive the separations, he added. The MIT team has launched a company called Verdox to commercialize While operating, the device alter- the system, which could have applinates between charging & discharg- cations for the bottling of soft drinks ing. During a charging cycle, fresh air & the creation of plant food. blows through the system and during discharging, concentrated CO2 blows

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DUKE-NUS Scientists Finds Four New Strains of Adenovirus In the first large-scale research to identify adenovirus strains in Singapore, researchers led by Duke-NUS Medical School have discovered four new strains and found an increase in 2 strains linked to severe diseases.

HUMAN ADENOVIRUS INFECTIONS IN SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA HAVE CAUSED SEVERE RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS AMONG CHILDREN AND ADULTS IN RECENT YEARS.

By Rahul Mishra

Adenoviruses are a family of viruses with over fifty known strains that can infect people of all ages. The common cold, fever, and sore throat are among the symptoms brought about by different types of adenovirus strains. In a few cases, adenoviruses can cause severe respiratory symptoms, including pneumonia, or more life-threaten- Kristen Coleman, Ph.D., from the ing conditions, like organ failure, in Emerging Infectious Diseases Propatients with weakened immune sys- gramme at Duke-NUS Medical tems.

School, said that they detected four new HAdV strains closely related Researchers Find New Adenovi- to a strain isolated from an infant in rus Strains- The Study Beijing during an epidemic in 2012– 2013. Dr. Coleman is the study’s lead Researchers from Duke-NUS Medi- author. He highlighted that the results cal School tested more than 500 clin- also highlight an increase in HAdV ical samples from pediatric and adult types 4 and 7 among the pediatric patients from two large public hos- population over time. pitals in Singapore. The researchers used a genotyping algorithm to study He added that patients with weakhuman adenovirus (HAdV) infections ened immune systems and those with among patients.

HAdV types 2, 4, or 7 were more likely to experience severe disease.

Dr. Gregory Gray, a professor in the EID Programme at Duke-NUS and a member of the Duke Global Health Institute, said that the high prevalence and severity of HAdV type 4 infections identified in the study were intriguing.

countries considering the new Adeno Virus, to ensure control measures and conduct periodic and routine adenoviral genotype surveillance to collect the data needed to make informed decisions.

Human Adeno Virus was first disResearchers Find New Adenovi- covered in the 1950s. HAdV type 4 rus Strains- What’s Next? was primarily considered restricted to and controlled by the vaccine in Given the study findings, the scien- the United States military population, tists suggest public health officials with rare detections among civilians. and clinicians in Singapore to consider using antiviral therapies and adenovirus vaccines. Researchers also recommend Singapore and other

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Did You Know?

Plants Panic During Rain!

A team of international scientists consisting of The University of Western Australia’s School of Molecular Sciences, the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, and Lund University has made the surprising discovery that a plant’s reaction to rain is close to one of panic.

THE STUDY, REVEALED COMPLEX CHEMICAL SIGNALS ARE TRIGGERED WHEN WATER LANDS ON A PLANT TO HELP IT PREPARE FOR THE DANGERS OF RAIN.

By Rahul Mishra

UWA Professor Harvey Millar said after spraying plants with water and observing the effect, the researchers noticed a chain reaction in the plant caused by a protein called Myc2.

Plant’s Reaction To Rain- What’s The Phenomenon?

According to Professor Millar, when Myc2 is activated, thousands of genes spring into action, preparing the plant’s defenses. These warning signals travel from leaf to leaf and induce a range of protective effects.

contain bacteria, viruses, or fungal spores. A single droplet can spread these up to 10 meters to surrounding plants

Evidence also suggests that when He says that plants panic during rain it rains, the same signals spreading because rain is the leading cause of across leaves are transmitted to neardisease spreading between plants. by plants through the air.

When a raindrop splashes across a One of the chemicals produced is a leaf, tiny droplets of water ricochet hormone called jasmonic acid that is in all directions. These droplets can used to send signals between plants,

added Professor Millar.

Plant’s Reaction To Rain- More About the Study If a plant’s neighbors have their defense mechanisms turned on, they are less likely to spread disease, so it’s in their best interest for plants to cover the warning to nearby plants.

Professor Millar said it was clear that plants had an intriguing relationship

with water, with rain a significant carrier of the disease but also vital for a plant’s survival.

The study- Plant’s Reaction To Rain- was conducted in collaboration with SLU Umeå, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Ghent University, VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, La Trobe University, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Google Scientists Trains AI To Recognize Smells For years now, perfumers and researchers have struggled to predict the relationship between a molecule’s structure and its scent. Scientists can look at a wavelength of light & identify what color it is when it comes to fragrances, and researchers can’t only look at a molecule and detect its odor.

A RESEARCH TEAM FROM THE GOOGLE BRAIN TEAM ARE HOPING AI MIGHT CHANGE THE CONFUSION. IN A RESEARCH STUDY PUBLISHED ON ARXIV, THEY EXPLAIN HOW THEY’RE TRAINING AI TO RECOGNIZE SMELLS.

Did Google Achieve This?

The team used about two-thirds of the data set to train its AI to connect molecules with the descriptors they often receive. Google researchers then used the remaining scents to test the AI. Surprisingly, the AI passed.

By Rahul Mishra The AI’s algorithms were able to predict molecules’ smells based on their Google scientists created a data set structures. of nearly 5,000 molecules identified by perfumers, who labeled the mole- For the novice, any two people might cules with descriptions ranging from describe the same scent differently; “buttery” to “weedy” and “tropical.” for example, “woody” or “earthy.”

Sometimes molecules have the same Google Trains AI To Smell- How atoms and bonds, but they’re arranged as mirror images and have an entirely

non-identical smell. Things get even sniff out potentially deadly gas mixmore complex when you start com- tures, and IBM is experimenting with bining various scents.

AI-generated perfumes.

Google Trains AI To Smell- More On AI Research Still, Google researchers believe that training AI to associate specific molecules with their scents is an essential first step. It could have an impact on chemistry, the understanding of human nutrition, sensory neuroscience, and how we manufacture synthetic fragrance.

Google isn’t alone. In Russia, Artificial Intelligence is being used to

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Gene Discovery Solves 51 Year Old Pancreatitis Clinical Mystery The cause of the pancreatic inflammation- Pancreatitis- plaguing a rural Californian family has remained a medical mystery since it was first described 51 years ago.

Now a study by researchers from UC San Francisco and the University of Chicago has solved this clinical mystery: pointing to a novel gene mutation as the cause of the family’s inherited pancreatitis disease.

PANCREATITIS IS A DISEASE WHERE THE PANCREAS BECOMES INFLAMED, TRIGGERING SEVERE ABDOMINAL PAIN.

By Ria Roy

Long-term pancreatitis inflammation can cause the organ to stop functioning altogether, leading to diabetes, and in many cases, even to pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic Inflammation is most often caused by alcohol abuse, but several forms are also caused by genetic mutations.

In the year 2012, Mark Anderson, MD, Ph.D., who earned his doctorates at UChicago and is now an endocrinologist & professor at the UCSF Diabetes Center, saw a patient in his clinic with diabetes & pancreatitis.

The doctor explained that it ran in her patient’s family — in fact, they had been written up in a study for the Annals of Internal Medicine in the year 1968. Scientists at UCSF had documented Seventy-one members of the family — then living in a farming community around Northern California. Of the 18 people they examined, 6 were officially diagnosed with pancreatitis and another 5 were suspected of having the disease. This particular form of pancreatitis affecting the family was especially severe & struck at a very young age; Kids suffering from it were said to come inside from the fields & collapse onto the floor in pain.

At the time, the scientists suspected that it was an autosomal dominant form of the disease where it could be inherited through one mutated gene.

There was no way of proving this point back then — before the advent of the genetic sequencing — so this case was closed.

When Anderson and his research colleagues realized their patient’s connections to this classic study, they ordered genetic tests for the patient & several of her family members.

Working together with Scott Oakes, MD, a former pathologist at UCSF & cell biologist now on the faculty at the University of Chicago, they screened the family for the 5 known genetic mutations that can cause inherited

pancreatitis inflammation disease.

None of them actually matched, but a new gene mutation that produces a digestive enzyme called elastase 3B emerged as a possible culprit.

In the laboratory, the scientists used CRISPR-targeted gene editing to engineer mice that had either the normal or the mutated gene version for elastase 3B. Researchers say that the mutated form of the gene actually causes the pancreas to secrete an excess of the enzyme, which damages the pancreas as the enzyme begins to digest itself. After fifty-one years, scientists had an answer for what was really causing the unfortunate family’s misery.

This discovery was published in September in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Scott Oakes, who calls this as a work of “medical archaeology,” says it is also an opportunity to find new treatments and medications for inherited forms of pancreatitis, a notoriously difficult disease to treat.

And short of removing the pancreas — which has the equally problematic side effects of making patients diabetic — or performing a pancreas or islet cell transplant, scientists can mostly just help the patients manage their pain & symptoms.

Oakes added there are a lot of patients who still have what looks like inherited pancreatitis that does not have a genetic diagnosis — maybe some of these have genetic mutations in elastase 3B; So, it has immediate implications not only for this fami-

ly but potentially other families that Oakes echoed Anderson’s sentiment have pancreatic inflammation. about the advantages of working on such a problem at institutions like Understanding how this gene muta- UChicago & University of California tion works could lead to the solutions San Francisco, where physician-scifor more patients as well, Oakes said. entists can see patients one day and New drugs and medications could tar- work in a genetics laboratory the next. get the elastase 3B gene with an antibody or molecule that counteracts the This also reinforces the advantage of seeing patients and running a laboraextra enzymes produced. tory: We can let human genetics drive He added the presentation is so dra- our understanding of this pancreatitis matic it is possible that elastase 3B disease,” he added that there are a lot might be a good place to intervene in of families like this in the medical litregular, garden-variety pancreatitis erature where we still do not know the genetics. He thinks it is an exciting inflammation. time now to figure out how to do that.

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WHO Reports 2 of 3 Poliovirus Type Eradicated; Historic Step Towards Polio-Free World The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed a “historic step” toward a polio-free world on Thursday as an expert panel certified that the 2 of 3 types of the crippling poliovirus has been eradicated globally.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE GLOBAL COMMISSION FOR THE CERTIFICATION OF POLIOMYELITIS ERADICATION MEANS THAT ONLY WILD POLIOVIRUS TYPE 1 IS STILL CIRCULATING AFTER TYPE II WAS DECLARED ERADICATED IN THE YEAR 2015 AND TYPE III THIS WEEK.

By Ria Roy

Global polio infection cases have been cut by more than 99 % since 1988, but type 1 poliovirus is still endemic in Pakistan & Afghanistan, where polio has infected a total of 88 people this year. That is a resurgence from a record low global annual fig- against poliovirus infection. ure of 22 cases in the year 2017.

Polio invades the nervous system The eradication of wild poliovirus and it causes irreversible paralysis type III is a major milestone toward a within hours. It cannot be cured, but polio-free world, but we cannot relax, virus infection can be prevented by said the WHO regional director for vaccination & a dramatic reduction in cases worldwide in recent decades Africa, Matshidiso Moeti. it has been due to intense national & Chief executive of the GAVI vaccine regional immunization campaigns in alliance, Seth Berkley, said it was babies and children. “a tremendous victory in the fight

In unvaccinated populations, however, polioviruses can re-emerge & spread swiftly. Cases of vaccine-derived polio can also occur in places where immunity is low & sanitation is poor, as vaccinated people can excrete the virus, putting the unvaccinated at risk.

& caused the first 2 recorded polio cases there for 20 years.

Moeti urged governments to be vigilant: Countries must strengthen routine immunization to protect communities, ramp up routine surveillance so that it is possible to detect even the slightest risk of polio re-emerging, The Philippines last month said it she said in a statement. was planning an emergency vaccination campaign after polio re-surfaced

Researchers Discover The Role of Microproteins In Human Disease

Proteins are made up of chains of amino acids. An average human protein contains around 300 amino acids. Meanwhile, microproteins have less than 100 amino acids.

Salk scientists recently showed one such microprotein called PIGBOS- It is made up of 54 amino acids. PIGBOS contributes to mitigating cell stress. The study indicates that PIGBOS could be a target for human disease.

Salk scientists recently showed one such microprotein called PIGBOS- It is made up of 54 amino acids. PIGBOS contributes to mitigating cell stress. The study indicates that PIGBOS could be a target for human disease.

Microproteins Role In Human Disease- The Study on PIGBOS The research began when Salk postdoctoral scientist and first author of the study- Qian Chu detected PIGBOS in mitochondria. Mitochondria is a small organelle that powers essential cell functions. Chu wondered what PIGBOS’s role could be.

The team collaborated with co-corresponding author Uri Manor, director of the Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Core Facility at Salk. His team uses tools like fluorescent protein tags to locate proteins and see what they are doing in cells.

But Manor ran into a roadblock when he tried to attach a standard tag, called green fluorescent protein (GFP), to PIGBOS. The microprotein was too small relative to the size of Green Fluorescent Protein. Manor’s team of researchers solved this problem by trying a less conventional approach called split GFP, where they fused just a tiny part of GFP, called a beta-strand, to PIGBOS. Finally, the researchers could see

PIGBOS and study how it interacted with other proteins. As they mapped PIGBOS’s location, the team of researchers realized that it sits on the outer membrane of the mitochondria to make contact with proteins on other organelles. The researchers were surprised to see PIGBOS interacting with a protein called CLCC1, which is part of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).

BOS, the ER is more likely to experience anxiety, which leads to a chain of events where the cell tries to clear out harmful proteins. This is called the unfolded protein response. If the cell fails to eradicate these proteins, it will initiate a self-destruct sequence and die.

The scientists are interested in finding the roles of other mitochondrial proteins in ER stress, and in investigating how PIGBOS works in an anMicroproteins Role In Human imal model.

Disease- The Way Ahead The Salk team of scientists is also looking to characterize the vast liThe researchers found that PIGBOS brary of microproteins that may be protein communicates with CLCC1 crucial in cell biology. to regulate stress in the Endoplasmic Reticulum. In the absence of PIG-

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Solved: First Structure of Human Cotransporter Protein Family Member

In research that could someday improve treatments for epilepsy, UT Southwestern researchers have published the first 3D structure of a member of a large family of human cotransporter proteins that carry charged particles, ions, across the cell membrane.

THE POTASSIUM CHLORIDE CO-TRANSPORTER 1 (KCC1) STRUCTURE SOLVED IN THIS RESEARCH CARRIES POSITIVELY CHARGED POTASSIUM IONS (K+) AND ALSO NEGATIVELY CHARGED CHLORIDE (CL–) IONS ACROSS THE CELL MEMBRANES TO HELP REGULATE THE VOLUME OF THE CELL.

By Ria Roy

The protein structure solved is one of a large family of co-transporters found in many of the body’s tissues, particularly in the kidneys and the brain.

jin University, and Wuxi Biortus Biosciences Co. Ltd. One of the corresponding authors of the study is Dr. Jingtao Guo of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, who began the project while a postdoctoral researcher in the UTSW laboratory of Dr. Youxing Jiang, Professor of Physiology & Biophysics. Dr. Jiang holds the Rosewood Corporation Chair in Biomedical Science & is a W.W. Caruth, Other study participants included Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research at Mutations in this family of protein scientists at Vanderbilt University in UT Southwestern and an Investigator cotransporters can lead to diseases Nashville & from China’s Zhejiang of the Howard Hughes Medical Instisuch as hereditary epilepsy, including University School of Medicine, Tian- tute. one form that starts in infancy, said Dr. Xiao-chen Bai, the corresponding author of the Science study. Drugs that target co-transporters are currently used as diuretics to treat high blood pressure.

Despite extensive researches of cotransporters, the lack of high-resolution structures has hindered a deeper understanding of their actions. The researchers solved the structure using cryo-electron microscopy. Cryo-EM is an advanced technology in which samples are frozen at very low temperatures at speeds that prevents the formation of the ice crystals.

The cryo-EM method was the only way to determine the structure of an integral membrane protein such as this one. The team hopes this structure will facilitate the design of drugs that target this protein, said Dr. Bai, Assistant Professor of Biophysics and Cell Biology and a Virginia Murchison Linthicum Scholar in Medical Research as well as a Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar.

The proteins on the cellular membrane have been particularly resistant to X-ray crystallography. X-ray Crystallography is formerly considered the gold standard in structural biology technology before the cryo-EM method.

In the cryo-EM method, samples are viewed using robot-assisted microscopes that are twice as tall as a person. These microscopes contain high-tech electron detectors that work with powerful computers to record multiple images & apply advanced algorithms to interpret the data. UT Southwestern’s CryoEM Facility operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The research study received funding from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and Zhejiang University, and from CPRIT, The Welch Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Leducq Foundation.

The authors report no competing financial interests.

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Ancestral Home Of All Human Beings Discovered By Scientists Researchers have now pinpointed a fertile river valley in northern Botswana as the ancestral home of human beings.

THE EARLIEST ANATOMICALLY MODERN HUMANS AROSE 200,000 YEARS AGO IN A VAST WETLAND SOUTH OF THE ZAMBEZI RIVER WHICH WAS THE CRADLE OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS, A NEW RESEARCH STUDY HAS REVEALED.

By Ria Roy

This fertile river valley- lush region – which also covered parts of Namibia and Zimbabwe – was home to an enormous lake that sustained our ancestors for 70,000 years, according to the study published in the journal Nature.

Between 110,000 & 130,000 years ago, the climate started to change & fertile corridors opened up out of this fertile valley. And now for the first time, the population began to disperse, paving the way for modern human beings to migrate out of Africa, and ultimately, worldwide.

Lead scientist Professor Vanessa Hayes who is a geneticist at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia said that it has been clear for some time that anatomically modern human beings appeared in Africa roughly about 200,000 years ago.

these periodic shifts in climate would have opened green, vegetated corridors, first about 130,000 years ago to the northeast & then around 110,000 years ago to the southwest, allowing Geological evidence shows that the earliest ancestors to migrate away homeland region once housed Afri- from their homeland for the first time. ca’s largest ever lake system- Lake Makgadikgadi-which was double the Professor Hayes added that the team observed significant genetic diversize of the modern Lake Victoria. gence in the modern humans’ earliClimate computer model simula- est maternal sub-lineages that inditions indicated that the slow wobble cates our ancestors migrated out of of Earth’s axis” brought a periodic the homeland between 130,000 and 110,000 years ago. shift in rainfall” across this region.

The team then combined genetics with geology & climatic physics, to paint a picture of what the world looked like about 200,000 years ago.

3rd population remained in the homeland until today.

Scientists believe that the humans who migrated southwest flourished and experienced steady population growth. Researchers say this could be due to an adaptation to marine foraging.

These first migrants left behind a homeland population said, Professor Hayes.

Eventually adapting to the drying lands, maternal descendants of the homeland population can be found in Professor Axel Timmermann who is The first migrants ventured north- the greater Kalahari region today, he a climate scientist at Pusan National east, followed by a second wave of added.

What has been long debated till now University in South Korea, said that migrants who traveled southwest. A is the exact location of this emergence & subsequent dispersal of our earliest ancestors.

Professor Hayes and her team collected blood samples from study participants in Namibia & South Africa and they looked at their mitochondrial DNA. As mtDNA is passed almost exclusively from mother to child through the egg cell & its sequence remains the same over generations to generations, making mtDNA a useful tool for looking at maternal ancestry.

The research team focused their research on the L0 lineage that is the modern human’s earliest known population and compared the complete DNA code (mitogenome) from different individuals. Researchers also looked at other sub-lineages across various locations in Africa to see how closely were they related.

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NEWS

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

Researchers Develop Method For Separating Tissue Types In Tumor Samples A dense web of tissue can surround tumors in the pancreatic origin, hamper treatment, and sometimes acts as a barrier to the tumor’s spread.

SCIENTISTS WANT TO DISTINGUISH CANCEROUS TISSUE FROM THE SURROUNDING CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND CELLS KNOWN AS STROMA AS WELL AS FROM IMMUNE CELLS IN THE TUMOR’S ENVIRONMENT TO DRIVE PERSONALIZED TREATMENT STRATEGIES.

By Rahul Mishra

The University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers reported that they have designed a computational method for separating the different tissues in a particular sample.

Method To Separate Tumor Tis- method for separating tissue in a sample, called as DECODER. Using mulsues- The Study tiple cancer tissue samples from The Jen Jen Yeh, MD, professor of phar- Cancer Genome Atlas, they showed macology and surgery in the UNC that DECODER could differentiate School of Medicine, said that the team the standard signals across tumors. of researchers developed a way to de- Also, the researchers used DECODtermine what cellular compartments ER to deconstruct samples of pancremake up a tumor by deconstructing atic ductal adenocarcinoma- the most the tumor’s genomic data. Prof Jen is common type of pancreatic cancer. the vice-chair for research in the De- This allowed them to see the signals from compartments of immune, tupartment of Surgery. mor, or stroma.

Researchers described the new

Method To Separate Tumor Tissues- Applications of DECODER Ultimately, the goal of the researchers is to separate the tissue to further understand the unique biology of a patient’s tumor, as well as the tissue that surrounds cancer.

In her previous study, Prof Yeh and her team found the composition of the environment around a tumor is linked to treatment response. In a study published in Nature Genetics in 2015, scientists analyzed how genes are expressed in both the tumor and the

stroma and found there are two types of tumor, and two types of the stroma.

The researchers believe that DECODER has several other applications- including applying their tissue separation method in other tumors to help understand cancer and it’s microenvironment. Prof Yeh and her team are also planning to study whether DECODER can help them identify cancer for patients that have a tumor of unknown origin.

Researchers Use Green Tea As ‘Remote Control’ To Activate Diabetes Cell Therapies

A team of scientists with East China Normal University & First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University has now found that it is possible to use green tea as a control mechanism for activating cell therapies remotely. In their study paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the research team describes testing the use of green tea as a control mechanism and how well it worked. tination in the body. In this new effort by the team, the scientists looked into the possibility of using protocatechuic acid (PCA), which is a metabolite produced by the body when green tea

By Ria Roy is consumed, as a trigger for certain types of cell therapies.

GREEN TEA AND CELL THERAPIES; GREEN TEA USED AS CONTROL TRIGGER FOR ACTIVATING CELL THERAPIES REMOTELY

And as part of efforts to develop new treatments, medical researchers have been looking into cell-based therapies, means for delivering a given therapy to a targeted cell or tissues, must be available. One such technique under research is the use of the remote-control systems in which a drug triggers the release of the therapeutic agent when it actually reaches its des-

Researchers started by engineering human embryonic kidney cells to activate in the presence of Protocatechuic acid. The team found that PCA could actually be used as a switch to turn such cell activity on and off.

Scientists introduced the engineered cells into mice & fed them green tea.

The team report that doing so worked just as planned—when the mice drank the tea, the desired cells were activated. The team then studied whether green tea could also be used to improve targeting with CRISPR gene editing. Researchers found that it could by creating trigger-inducible expressions systems. Next, the scientists studied the use of green tea as a means for remotely controlling the cells implanted into diabetes patients in an attempt to restore the pancreatic function. Once again, the team found that it was, indeed, possible in mouse models—and also in diabetic monkeys.

The scientists note that using green tea as a control mechanism didn’t lead to any noticeable side effects such as an inflammatory response or increases in WBC counts. The team suggests their approach demonstrates that green tea can be used as a remote-control mechanism for use with a variety of cell therapies.

NEWS

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

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Facebook Launches New Preventive Health Tool Social Networking website, Facebook said it’s releasing a feature in the US that will show users a list of recommended checkups, screenings, and other health care services after they provide their age and gender.

TO ACCESS THE TOOL, WHICH IS AVAILABLE ONLY ON FACEBOOK’S MOBILE APP, USERS TYPE PREVENTIVE HEALTH IN THE SOCIAL NETWORK’S SEARCH BAR.

By Rahul Mishra

Facebook will also be promoting the tool in users’ News Feeds and allow people to share it with their family and friends.

Users can set reminders to schedule tests and search for affordable places to get primary care or flu shots. They will also be able to mark when their tests are completed.

The introduction of the new tool shows how Facebook is trying to become an even more significant part of its users’ daily lives, also as it grapples with privacy concerns. In June, the company announced it was expanding a tool that lets users sign up to be a blood donor to the US.

health tool for ad targeting.

More Details

Facebook won’t have access to user test results. If you set reminders or mark a screening as done, Facebook does collect that information. Still, it’s only available to the workers who maintain the product or the social network’s systems.

Facebook’s preventive health tool focuses on heart disease, cancer, along with the flu. The American Cancer Society (ACS), the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided resources for the Facebook tool. The social network plans to expand the healthcare feature to other countries in the future.

New Health Tool by Facebook- Dr. Freddy Abnousi, Facebook’s Privacy Concern head of health care research, said in an interview that the tool is meant to Facebook’s scandals surrounding amplify the message of health experts user privacy could make people wary who are encouraging people to get about using the new tool. The compa- preventive care. ny said it wouldn’t use the information users provide in this preventive New Health Tool by Facebook-

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, If every person in the US received the recommended preventive care, more than

100,000 lives could be saved annually.

A study led by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Maryland published in Health Affairs last year showed that only 8% of US adults older than 35 got all the highly recommended preventive health services such as blood pressure and cholesterol checks, individual cancer screenings and other tests.

According to the study, Some of the common reasons why people didn’t get preventive care include a lack of health insurance, not having a usual doctor or long wait times at clinics.

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NEWS

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

New Bioinformatics Tool – MHcut By Kyoto & Montreal Scientists A new bioinformatics tool, MHcut, invented by researchers in Kyoto, Japan, and Montreal, Canada, reveals that a natural repair system for DNA damage, microhomology-mediated end joining, is probably far more common in humans than initially assumed.

USING THE NEW BIOINFORMATICS TOOL MHCUT AND COMMERCIAL GENOME-EDITING TECHNOLOGY, THE SCIENTISTS CREATED MUTATIONS IN IPS CELLS WITH EXTRAORDINARY PRECISION TO MODEL DISEASES WITHOUT THE NEED FOR PATIENT SAMPLES.

By Rahul Mishra

The microhomology-mediated end-joining [MMEJ] repairs double-stranded breaks that are flanked by short identical sequences called microhomologies. It is a less appreciated repair system, and the laboratory of CiRA Associate Professor PR-Cas9 gene-editing technology Knut Woltjen has been studying this operate by exploiting natural DNA method to develop new gene-editing repair systems such as non-homolotechnology. gous end joining, homology-directed repair, and MMEJ. New Bioinformatics Tool MHcutThe Use Of The New Tool Woltjen’s team of researchers has shown in earlier work that MMEJ ofUsing the new bioinformatics tool fers higher precision than these other MHcut, Ph.D. student Janin Grajgene-editing systems. Now with MHcarek discovered that 57 percent of all cut, the new study shows scientists deletion mutations in the human gehow to identify deletion mutations in nome is flanked by microhomologous the human genome that can be recresequences that are at least three base ated with microhomology-mediated pairs long, a percentage much larger end-joining in the research laboratory. than expected by chance alone.

New Bioinformatics Tool MHcutGrajcarek believes that these deThe Research Methodology letions will enable new insights on the function of the genome. Popular To demonstrate this point, the lab gene-editing technologies like CRIS-

modified three genes in human iPS cells.

ALAS2 and FECH code enzymes for the heme synthesis pathway. Mutations in ALAS2 and FECH code cause photosensitivity of the skin and some cases, liver damage. DYSF regulates muscle repair, and its mutations are associated with muscular dystrophy.

After the mutations, the Woltjen group joined efforts with CiRA colleagues who are experts in generating muscle cells (for the DYSF mutation) and red blood cells (for the ALAS2 and FECH mutations) from iPS cells.

The edited cells demonstrated characteristics consistent with the disease in

patients.

According to Grajcarek, the success of the project was coincidental. Using fundamental software, she had discovered that microhomologies were surprisingly common in gene variants of the X chromosome, but to confirm this feature in all chromosomes required more sophisticated analysis.

The New Bioinformatics Tool MHcut is expected to make it easier to study diseases even when patients are rare or unavailable.

NEWS

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

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Scientists Unveiled Complex Potato Genome Researchers from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and scale-up Solynta, the inventor of hybrid potato breeding, have now published the most complete genome sequence for the potatoes to date.

A UNIQUE ASPECT IS THAT BOTH SEQUENCE AND THE PLANT MATERIAL ARE MADE AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH STUDIES (UNDER SPECIFIC CONDITIONS), WHICH MAY IN THE FUTURE RESULT IN A POTATO THAT IS MORE RESISTANT TO HEAT OR DROUGHT OR THAT HAS A GREATER RESISTANCE TO DISEASES.

By Ria Roy

Potato is one of the most important food crops all over the world.

Improvements to potato traits can, therefore, have a major impact worldwide. Reading the genome structure it is extremely tricky, however, as a regular potato consists of 4 genomes, which makes it difficult to determine the position of the genes. The recent study applied a diploid real potato plant with only 1 genome, a so-called homozygote, which makes it easier to read & compare the DNA base sequence. This potato plant, Solyntus, was produced as part of Solynta’s hybrid potato breeding program.

sequence of potato consisted of approximately 125,000 small segments.

The genome that is presented now comprises 185 large segments. And this is a significant improvement that was achieved via a combination of unique plant material, new sequencing & analysis techniques. While the previous genome sequence involved a wild variety of the potato, the team has now used an actual potato plant.

Researchers hope that their work will Richard Visser who is a professor eventually lead to a more efficient at the Department of Plant Breeding and faster potato breeding process, he at WUR is very enthusiastic about added. the new sequence of potato. He said that the previously available genome Solynta’s Research & Develop-

ment director Pim Lindhout is also pleased with the collaboration. He said this concrete result of a public-private partnership proves that researchers can describe & crossbreed new properties faster together.

2 years ago, researchers showed that we could make a potato plant that is disease-resistant within 2 years. This latest breakthrough means researchers can also explore and utilize other traits more quickly. He added that his team is convinced that this will lead to more sustainable potato production far sooner.

Various research study projects

within WUR use both the plant and the sequence, enabling researchers to link experimental results to the genetic code. The very accurate genome sequence allows faster & more focused breeding, as it is very easier to find in the DNA which cross-breeds with other varieties might be of interest, and where the exchange of genetic material between ‘father’ & ‘mother’ should ideally take place. This means researchers know at an early stage whether the potato has the desired traits, such as resistance to specific diseases.

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NEWS

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

Camena Bioscience Develops A Breakthrough Technology gSynth – For Accurate Synthetic DNA Production Synthetic biology company, Camena Bioscience, has introduced a substantial innovation in DNA synthesis precision with the invention of a cutting-edge technology called gSynth.

WITH THIS ENZYMATIC DE NOVO SYNTHESIS AND GENE ASSEMBLY TECHNIQUE, GSYNTH HAS THE ABILITY TO GENERATE 300 NUCLEOTIDE DNA PARTICLES WITH AN ACCURACY AS HIGH AS 90%.

By Rahul Mishra

This is a huge improvement in precision that will be fundamental for the advancement of artificial biology applications. The gSynth technology will have a wide variety of applications right from the pharmaceutical industry to agriculture.

Camena Bioscience Develops gSynth- How is gSynth useful? tions are holding back the manufacturing of lots of DNA sequences and The capacity to generate artificial also consequently brand-new synthetDNA is important for the examination ic biology applications. and design of brand-new organic pathways. Phosphoramidite synthesis has Lately, there has been a drive to been the gold-standard DNA synthe- create novel enzymatic DNA synthesis approach for many years, yet over sis innovations but, until now, such lengthy stretches of DNA, this meth- methods have proved to be inaccurate od is error-prone. For DNA series 200 and unreliable. nucleotides long, with the best nucleotide coupling effectiveness, only 30- Camena Bioscience Develops 40% of the material is the appropriate gSynth- The Advantages of gSynth full-length series. Additionally, some series, such as stretches of one base For synthetic biologists, DNA syn(homopolymers), are particularly thesis accuracy is critical as any kind challenging to produce. These limita- of error will affect downstream re-

sults. gSynth is an innovative enzymatic as well as modular setting up a technique that makes it possible for long as well as intricate DNA molecules to be accurately produced.

When the gSynth technology by Camena Bioscience was compared with phosphoramidite synthesis, gSynth has was found to be more accurate and precise. The following results were found: A comparison of around 300 nucleotide fragments found that phosphoramidite had an accuracy of around 27%. However, gSynth showed an

average accuracy of around 85.3%. gSynth showed accuracy in synthesizing homopolymers, which are very difficult to produce with conventional phosphoramidite synthesis. In this case, around 12.5% of phosphoramidite produced material was correct, compared to 89.2% with gSynth technology.

Steve Harvey CEO of Camena Bioscience said that conventional DNA synthesis has failed to meet the benchmark accuracy. He further added that he is excited about the new development and would further work towards improving technology.

CERTIFICATION COURSES

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

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Immunogenomics Certification Course “To enhance your skills and to make you stand out of the crowd while grabbing attention for Jobs or Internships, Biotecnika is now bringing you a new self-learning Certification course “Immunogenomics Certification Course ” IN THE MODERN ERA, IT HAS BECOME VITAL TO UNDERSTAND THE GENETIC BASIS OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM USING COLLECTION, INTEGRATION, AND INTERPRETATION. THIS WILL FORM A BASIS FOR THE RATIONAL DESIGN OF NEW IMMUNE INTERVENTIONS. The adaptive immune system is considered as one of the biggest sources of variations in human genes. Major sites being – millions of single nucleotide polymorphisms, the HLA locus, the chromosomal region to distinguishing self from non-self, the millions of uniquely randomized T- and B-cell receptor genes that encode our oscience graduates, postgraduate, immune repertoires, etc. research enthusiasts and industry persons who are interested to underImmunogenomics is a form of instand the complexities and interesting formation science with a long history. insights Immunogenomics has to proIt has come into existence using alvide. ready existent sequencing techniques, microarrays, mass spectrometry, Immunogenomics Certification NMR, chromatography, PCR, mass Course Contents: cytometry, data repositories, experimental designs, statistical methods, • Immunogenomics - An Introetc. There are certain knowledge duction and its branches, HLA gaps that can be filled using existand graft rejection ing knowledge and implementing it • Major Genetic disorders and in different manners. For example, their common therapeutic apmapping interactions between the proach microbiome and the host immunity • Immunogenomics in Ageing that determine the commensal versus • Immunogenomics in Cancer adversarial relationship is a new chal• Immunophenomics - Current lenge, and this work has now just beresearch trends and eminent labgun. The more important point is for oratories and companies associnow most of the immunogenomics is ated. being used only to investigate cancer.

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• What is an Online Self Learning Course?

An Online Self Learning Certification Course means you can log in any time and study at your own pace.

• How to get started with the Immunogenomics Certification Course?

Once you enroll for the awesome course, You will get the activation email almost immediately. start and finish the course at your own pace!

Start learning whenever you can.

There is no need to bend your schedule.

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Rs. 699.00 • How do I evaluate myself?

Time to test all the knowledge you have gained. Take the test at the end of the Immunogenomics self-learning course and evaluate yourself. Every Self Learning Course has a test at the end.

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To avail, the hard copy certificate, Take the test at the end of the course.

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Having any trouble? Get in touch with our team. Click on that Chat thingy or write to us cst@biotecnika. org or info@biotecnika.org

Once you master a session hit the Complete and Continue button on the top to begin your next session. Make sure you don’t skip through!

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Unlimited access until you decide to complete the course. But once you have given your certification test, the course ends. If you fail in the test, you can revise the course again

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CERTIFICATION COURSES

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

Food Safety Officer Certification + FSSAI JAE Exam Preparation Course Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.

HE FUNCTION OF FSSAI IS TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE PUBLIC HEALTH BY REGULATING AND SUPERVISING FOOD SAFETY The body has its headquarters in New Delhi. Besides there are 6 regional offices, 14 referral laboratories, 72 State/UT laboratories, and 112 laboratories, which are NABL accredited.

Looking at the increasing demand for food testing personnel and to encourage employment for the fresh postgraduates in the field of Food Industry/ Food testing laboratories, the Board conducts the Junior Analyst Exam. A point to be noted by the candidates here is that it is compulsory to qualify both the papers of JAE, including theory & practical examination. FSSAI conducts a theory exam followed by the practical exam in July and September, respectively.

A food analyst is required to have knowledge of chemical testing or analytical procedures, quantitative research methods, biological research techniques, quality assurance techniques, and government regulations.

All this can be easily covered & understood while one prepares for the FAE and JAE exams. This is how the candidates who have already cleared the FSSAI exam will have an upper hand compared to anyone else. We have been getting a lot of requests to start a course to help students qualify for this exam.

Thus we have released a Brand new Course for the FSSAI exam i.e, Food Safety Officer Certification + FSSAI JAE Exam Preparation Course.

All Life Science students, graduates, Bio-professionals who are interested to make their fundamentals strong are eligible to take up the course. We are super excited to bring you our Fssai junior food analyst self-learning Course. This course will help you create a rock-solid foundation.

Biotecnika introduces Food Safety Officer Certification + FSSAI JAE Exam Preparation Course to help Bio-students/professionals to enhance their knowledge on the FSSAI exam & also to grab the Job quickly

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FSSAI junior food analyst Self Learning Course Details are as Under: • Course Duration: 72 Lectures ( 108 Hours ) • Course Start Date: Its a Self Learning course so you can study at your own pace any time • Course End date: 180 Days from the date of enrollment • Class Timings: You can study at any time at your own pace since this is a self-learning course • Course Architects: Dr. Rashmi Sanyal, Dr. Preeti Saini & Dr. Priyanjana Ghosh • Course Instructors: Dr. Prabhakaran, Dr. Pallavi, Dr. Deepa, Dr Somhrita Pal • Course Director: Dr. Neha Suman FSSAI junior food analyst Self Learning course is exclusively for all Biotecnika members. Got Questions?

Chat with us or dial 080-5099-7000 Benefits of Attending the FSSAI junior food analyst Self Learning Course: • Course content Meets the industry standard • Attend online anywhere anytime • Interactive sessions with on spot doubt clearance • Timings are suitable as per the students and working professionals • A hard copy of Certificates will be provided on course comple-

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Eligibility for the FSSAI junior food analyst Self Learning Course : • All Life Science graduates, postgraduates, teaching & industry professionals along with research enthusiasts can apply.

• A basic level of knowledge about various concepts involved in life science and food science is required.

• Good internet speed & a laptop is required for live streaming FSSAI junior food analyst Self Learning Course FAQs- Biotecnika Self-learning Courses • What is an Online Self Learning Course?

An Online Self Learning Certification Course means you can log in any time and study at your own pace.

However, you must watch 90% of all the lessons to proceed to the next lesson and if you want a Hard copy certificate you must secure 90% Marks in the test, which will be available at the end of the course.

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Rs. 999.00 Once you enroll for the awesome course, You will get the activation email almost immediately. start and finish the course at your pace! Start learning whenever you can. There is no need to bend your schedule.

• How to unlock the next lesson of the FSSAI junior food analyst Course?

Once you master a session hit the Complete and Continue button on the top to begin your next session. Make sure you don’t skip through! Unless you complete the current lesson you cannot proceed to the next lesson • What is the time limit to complete the course?

The course is valid for 180 Days.

You can have unlimited access until you decide to complete the FSSAI junior food analyst course in this 180 days. But once you have given your certification test, the course ends. If you fail the test, you can revise the course again. Your course ends once you have given the test or 180 days are over ( whichever is earlier ) • How do I evaluate myself?

Time to test all the knowledge you have gained. Take the test at the end of the FSSAI junior food analyst course and evaluate yourself. Every Self Learning Course has a test at the end.

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CERTIFICATION COURSES

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

• How to get the hard copy certificate?

To avail, the hard copy certificate, Get 90% and above in test and Get Certified! The certificate will be sent to your doorstep. Now you know not to skip through the course.

• Whom do I contact for any fur-

ther queries?

No, BioTecNika does not provide any Job Assistance or Guarantee.

Having any trouble? Get in touch However you are free to apply for a with our team. Click on that Chat Job on BioTecNika’s Job Portal and thingy or write to us cst@biotecnika. certainly, employers will give more org or info@biotecnika.org weightage to you due to the reputation of BioTecNika and the Knowledge • Will BioTecNika Provide any possessed by you after the course. A Job Guarantee / Assistance?

Certification from BioTecNika is well respected and honored by most of the

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employers in the industry Our Mission: BioTecNika Revolution.

Our Vision: To Reach every Bio Professional in our country and help them build a strong career.

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SCHOLARSHIPS

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

CDFD Scientist Level Fellowships – Research Area of Genetics/Genomics & Biology

C

DFD is looking to sponsor a select few applicants who have expertise in the area of Structural Biology/ Systems biology/Synthetic Biology, Human Genetics/Human Genomics, Computational Biology. Check out all of the details on the same below: CENTRE FOR DNA FINGERPRINTING AND DIAGNOSTICS (An Autonomous Institute of the Dept. of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India) Inner Ring Road, Uppal, Hyderabad – 500039, Telangana, India Tel: -91-40-2721 6091 / 6086, Fax: -91-40-2721 6006 Website: http://cdfd.org.in APPLICATIONS ARE INVITED

BY CDFD FOR SPONSORSHIP OF VARIOUS SCIENTIST LEVEL FELLOWSHIPS CDFD intends to sponsor few candidates having excellent track record for DBT-Ramalingaswamy, DST-Ramanujan and India Alliance Intermediate Fellowship applications.

The applicants should have research expertise in the following areas. I) Structural Biology/Systems biology/ Synthetic Biology, ii) Human Genetics/Human Genomics, iii) Computational Biology/big data analysis. Only are expected to bring additional ex- low will be treated on par with other selected outstanding candidates will tra-mural funding within two years of applicants when evaluating for a regjoining. ular and independent Faculty position be sponsored for these fellowships. at CDFD. Institute will be providing start-up Depending on their performance, support and shared laboratory space. fellows will be considered for regu- The interested and eligible candiThe selected fellow will be allowed lar Faculty positions as and when the dates may send their application to to take PhD students jointly with a vacancy arises. The positions will be director@cdfd.org.in. regular Institute Faculty. Candidates determined based on the post-PhD research experience. However, the Fel-

ICGEB Life Sciences Fellowships for PhD – Arturo Falaschi 2020

T

he notification for the Life Sciences Arturo Falaschi PhD Fellowships 2020 has been announced. Interested candidates can check out all of the details on the scheme, the overview, application details, financial stability, timelines and all of the important links are given below: Arturo Falaschi PhD Fellowships ICGEB provides competitive Pre-doctoral Fellowships in Life Sciences to highly encouraged scientists wanting to pursue PhD research studies within a world-class scientific atmosphere. Fellowships include participation in a competitive research programme, accessibility to advanced facilities, participation in ICGEB Meetings, Seminars and Journal Clubs and a competitive stipend, and full coverage of tuition fees and health insurance.

To Apply: Applicants must contact the ICGEB Group Leader/PI of the choice with a motivation letter, to ascertain the availability of lab space and also to specify the research project proposal which will form an essential component of the application.

Eligibility: Applicants should be nationals of an ICGEB Member State.

Nationals of both India and South Africa, ICGEB Host Countries, Aren’t eligible to apply for ICGEB Fellowships within their home nation.

Degree requirements: • Applicants for ICGEB Trieste must hold a BSc (Honours) degree; applicants for ICGEB Cape Town and New Delhi must hold an MSc degree.

• Candidates need a fantastic working knowledge of the English language, supported by a proficiency certificate (TOEFL, Cambridge Certificate( or equal ). Not mandatory when scholastic education was undertaken in English.

• Candidates for Trieste, Italy has to be under age 32 years at the time of application (i.e. date of birth following 31/03/1988).

There’s no age limitation for applications such as ICGEB New Delhi and Cape Town.

1,020, Cape Town (South Africa): ings and Courses Is Usually provided ZAR 12,500. by the Group Leader / PI. Travel: the fellowship includes provision for travel expenses from the student’s home country to the ICGEB laboratory at the beginning of the fellowship along with a return travel provision upon completion of the fellowship.

ICGEB makes no financial provision, nor can it provide administrative support for family members of participants in the programme.

Submission: Please complete this application online. Additionally, please upload one pdf document comMedical health insurance coverage prising all requested attachments (see is provided for the duration of the fel- application form below). lowship.

Selection: Fiscal support: The university tuition fee is covered Duration: 3 years PhD course to- for the entire PhD registration period. All submitted applications will be transmitted to the respective ICGEB gether with the possibility of 1-year Visa/permit of stay application and expansion. renewal costs are reimbursed.

Monthly stipend: Trieste (Italy): Euro 1,300, New Delhi (India): US$ Support for participation in MeetNext Page>>>>

SCHOLARSHIPS

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

Liaison Officer in the country of which you are national for endorsement. The endorsement is a basic necessity for the Fellowship to be awarded. The ICGEB Fellowships Selection Committee will evaluate endorsed and complete applications received by the closing date. The principal criteria for

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selection include scientific excellence Accommodation ICGEB Trieste: rate. of this project, the qualities of the A Housing Service is conducted via • ICGEB Cape Town: Accommocandidate’s CV and potential benefit the Welcome Office — Friuli Venedation service is given to felfor your home country. The candi- zia Giulia. lows. Arrangements have condates will be notified of this outcome sented prior arrival. by email when possible following the • ICGEB New Delhi: A Guest House is run on campus, on a Closing Date for Applications: 31 final date for applications. twin-share basis, for a nominal March

Arturo Falaschi ICGEB Short-Term Postdoc Life Sciences Fellowship 2020

I

ndian nationals with a PhD life sciences background are eligible to apply for the Short-Term Postdoc Fellowships in Life Sciences under The Arturo Falaschi ICGEB Fellowship Programmes.

ICGEB Short-Term Postdoc Life Sciences Arturo Falaschi Fellowship dates have been announced. Check out all of the details on the same below: ICGEB offers Short-term fellowships for Postdoctoral studies in ICGEB Component laboratories to fund ongoing collaborative research between scientists from ICGEB Member States and research groups at ICGEB laboratories in Trieste, Italy, New Delhi, India and Cape Town, South Africa, with the aim of facilitating access to the latest research techniques and to strengthen capacity building.

To Apply: Applicants must contact the ICGEB Group Leader/PI of their choice with a motivation letter, to ascertain the availability of lab space and also to specify the research project proposal which will form an essential component of the application.

Eligibility: Applicants must be nationals of an ICGEB Member State and may not

apply for fellowships to be undertaken in their country of origin unless working abroad at the time of application.

Degree requirements: applicants should hold a recent PhD in Life Sciences or have at least 3 years of research experience.

Candidates must have a good working knowledge of the English language, supported by a proficiency certificate (TOEFL, Cambridge Certificate, or equivalent). Not required Visa/permit of stay application and when scholastic education has been renewal costs are reimbursed. undertaken in English.

ICGEB makes no financial provision, nor can it provide administraFinancial support Duration: tive support for family members of participants in the programme.

Duration: 1-6 months

The ICGEB Fellowships Selection Committee will evaluate complete applications received by the closing date. The candidates will be notified of the outcome by e-mail as soon as possible following the closing date for applications. The main criteria for selection include the scientific excelMonthly stipend: Trieste (Italy): Submission: Please complete this lence of the project, the qualities of the candidate’s CV and the potential Euro 2,000, New Delhi (India): US$ application online. benefit for the home country.

1,590, Cape Town (South Africa): Selection: ZAR 18,750.

Deadline: 31 March 2020 Travel: the fellowship includes provision for travel expenses from the participant’s home country to the ICGEB lab at the beginning of the felAccommodation: lowship and a return travel provision upon completion of the fellowship.

A Housing Service is run through the Welcome Office – ICGEB Trieste:

Medical health insurance coverage is provided for the duration of the fellowship.

Friuli Venezia Giulia.

ICGEB New Delhi:

A Guest House is run on campus, on a twin-share basis, for a nominal rate.

ICGEB Cape Town:

Accommodation support is provided to fellows. Arrangements are agreed prior arrival.

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SCHOLARSHIPS

November 5th, 2019 Vol. 03 NO 103

Master of Drug Discovery and Development Scholarship

V

ictoria University Wellington Master of Drug Discovery and Development Scholarship notification is put. Interested applicants can check out all of the details on the scholarship and more below: Study Area(s): Science Scholarship Level: Postgraduate; Masters by coursework Closing Date(s): 15 January Tenure: One year Award for: International Students Number offered: Varies (Please see additional information) Value: $15,000 towards tuition fees Description The Ferrier Research Institute is offering eligible international candidates the opportunity to apply for a scholarship to do a taught Master’s programme, the Master of Drug Discovery and Development at Victoria University of Wellington.

History The Ferrier Research Institute at Victoria University of Wellington, is leading the delivery of an exciting taught Master’s programme, the Master of Drug Discovery and Development. This programme will equip graduates with the tools to enter the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and agrichemical sectors. The programme has been designed in consultation with international leaders in the pharmaceutical and related fields. In addition to a research project, students will benefit from coursework in a series of interdisciplinary subjects ranging from medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical analytical chemistry and the formulation of drugs, to the regulatory framework in which pharmaceutical and similar companies operate and strategies to protect intellectual property. This degree is designed to provide students with a broad grasp of the pharmaceutical environment and can lead to PhD study in a related field.

Eligibility

The scholarship is open to all qualifying international students. International students refers to students who do not have New Zealand residency and who are not New Zealand citizens. Applicants must meet programme-specific eligibility criteria and university eligibility criteria. Applicants must obtain a suitable visa in order to study in New Zealand. The scholarship becomes payable on enrolment and must be used against tuition fees only.

Holders of this scholarship will be • Copies of academic transcripts expected to work on a research pro- • Degree certificates ject under supervision of a Ferrier • A CV Research Institute staff member, on • A letter of motivation a project approved by the Director of • Two referee reports (at least one from an academic/research suthe Ferrier Research Institute, or his pervisor of the candidate) delegated nominee. Selection criteria include academic performance, publications and/or conference proceed- Selection process ings, referee reports, and any other tangible demonstration of academic Successful candidates will be chosen by a selection panel of relevant or research ability.

Ferrier Research Institute staff.

Criteria Selection criteria include academic • Applicants must be international performance, publications and/or conference proceedings, referee reports, students.

• Applicants must have an under- and any other tangible demonstration graduate degree in Chemistry of academic or research ability. or a relevant life science subject such as Biochemistry, Biomedi- Additional information cal Science, Pharmacy, Pharmacology or other relevant subject, If there is no suitable candidate in with an average of at least a B+ any one year the scholarship will not be awarded. in 300-level Chemistry.

• Applicants must be intending to enrol in a taught Master’s pro- Holders of this scholarship will be gramme (Master of Drug Dis- expected to work on a research procovery and Development) at ject under supervision of a Ferrier Victoria University of Welling- Research Institute staff member, on a project approved by the Director of ton. the Ferrier Research Institute, or his delegated nominee.

Application process Applicants should submit their applications by email to Simon.Hinkley@vuw.ac.nz, including copies of complete academic transcripts, degree certificates, CV (including the contact details of at least two academic referees who are familiar with the candidate, e.g. university lecturers at 300 level or higher, supervisors of research projects, etc), letter of motivation and referee reports (at least one from an academic/research supervisor of the candidate).

Scholarship specific documentation

Regulations and conditions • A completed online application must be submitted by 4:30pm on the closing date. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted. Any required supporting documentation (including references) must also be received by 4:30pm on the closing date in order for the application to be considered.

• All offers of the Scholarship will be conditional upon the recipient being fully enrolled in a full-year programme (full-time will be at the level of points considered by

• • •

•

•

Studylink as full-time) within the stipulated criteria and tenure of the scholarship. No payment of the Scholarship will be made until this condition is met.

The Scholarship cannot be deferred to a later year.

The Scholarship may be held in conjunction with other awards.

Should the recipient withdraw from Victoria during the tenure of this scholarship or fail to achieve a satisfactory progress, partial repayment of the Scholarship will normally be expected. Recipients must advise the Scholarships Office if they intend to withdraw.

Recipients are expected to act as Ambassadors for Victoria University and participate in appropriate events or marketing if requested.

At the discretion of the Deciding Authority, the application of the terms and conditions of the Scholarship may be modified in special circumstances or to avoid hardship to any candidate for the Scholarship.

Contact For more information please email: Simon.Hinkley@vuw.ac.nz,

biotecnika.org

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