Tag: Department of Biology

Health

Prof C Durga Rao receives a grant to enhance vaccine efficacy at a reduced cost…

Mar 31, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #and Associate Dean, #Andhra Pradesh, #Department of Biology, #Department of Biotechnology, #Government of India, #Prof C Durga Rao (Principal Investigator), #Professor, #Sciences, #SRM University-AP

Prof C Durga Rao (Principal Investigator), Professor, Department of Biology, and Associate Dean, Sciences,Department of Biology, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh has received a total outlay of Rs. 1,10,52,941/- from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, to work on the project titled “Understanding the molecular basis for the extreme differential level of expression of genes from human and animal rotaviruses in gene-transfected cells: Implications for improving the growth of human vaccine strains”. Using the grant, the professor will be spawning the appropriate facilities to perform cell culture and virus-related research at SRM University-AP.

Understanding how a virus overpowers the host resistance mechanisms and seizes the host cellular processes for its own growth is very challenging and is essential for the development of not only efficient viral vaccines but also for antiviral therapeutic strategies. Prof Durga Rao informs, “Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe and acute dehydrating diarrhoea in infants and children below 5 years of age. Efforts by us and Dr Bhan, former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, led to the discovery and development of the first made in India rotavirus vaccine, produced by Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad.”

In the earlier project, Professor Rao observed that while some human rotaviral proteins could be expressed at high levels when the cloned genes were introduced into mammalian cells, other proteins could not be expressed at detectable levels. However, the virus expresses copious amounts of all its proteins when it infects the cells. Prof

Durga Rao further shares, “Within a few hours of infection, each virus employs several ploys in the infected cell to subvert the cellular defence and regulatory mechanisms and captures the host for its own progeny production.”
Based on the earlier observations, this project will advance to unravel the tricks employed by the virus, and viral transactions in the infected cells. The outcome of the project will have implications for genetically engineering the poorly growing human vaccine strains for their efficient growth in cell culture, leading to reduced cost of not only rotavirus vaccines, but also other viral vaccines.

News

SRM AP faculty receives the prestigious grant by DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance

Aug 3, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #‘Early Career Fellowship’ grant, #Assistant Professor, #Department of Biology, #Dr. Sutharsan Govindarajan, #SRM University-AP

Dr. Sutharsan Govindarajan, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, SRM University-AP has been awarded the prestigious ‘Early Career Fellowship’ grant by DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance, funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom. The fellowship supports outstanding young scientists to pursue high-quality research in the field of biomedical science and establish themselves as independent researchers in India. Dr. Sutharsan sought a total research grant of 1.1 crore for a period of 5 years as a DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Early career fellow. The India Alliance grants are highly competitive and are based on the profile of the applicant and the novelty and the importance of the proposed research. Nationwide only less than 10 Early Career grants are awarded every year. Dr Sutharsan is a highly accomplished scientist, having published research articles in highly reputed journals, including the most prestigious Nature and Nature Microbiology. Through this fellowship, Dr. Sutharsan will establish an independent research laboratory at SRM University – AP with the support of Prof. Jayaseelan, Head, Department of Biology, and the fellowship supervisor of the project.

In this project, Dr. Sutharsan plans to venture and explore the biology of a novel class of bacteriophages called Jumbo-phages. “Bacteriophages, which are the most abundant biological entities on the planet, are viruses that infect bacteria but do not harm humans. Jumbo-phages, as the name suggests, are giant viruses with large genome. A sneak peek into their lifestyle during my postdoctoral research led me,  to realize that these phages build fascinating complex structures inside the bacteria they infect. Such complex structures are well known to be formed in eukaryotic cells like human cells but was not thought to be made by bacteriophages, which have evolved billions of years before eukaryotes. Thus, studying how such cellular structures are formed by jumbo-phages provides a unique opportunity to investigate the origin of complex life” informs Dr. Sutharsan. He also explains that the proposed research has several biotechnological applications such as phage therapy and synthetic biology.

Dr. Sutharsan further shares, “This is one the best fellowships a young scientist can obtain in India. It is an honour, prestige and a recognition for the scientist as well as to the University. In the next 5 years, I anticipate major fundamental discoveries in the field of bacteriophage biology and evolution”.