The group tries to address the research questions in areas of Applied Biodiversity with special reference to bioresources of Northeast India using an integrative approach.
Extn. No.: 3203
The research interests of this laboratory include Biomedical Engineering, Seri-biodiversity, Seri-bioinformatics and Bio-entrepreneurship.
Extn No.: 3204
The labdevelops PAT technology for recombinant therapeutic proteins and value addedcompounds such as biopolymers, organic acids etc. PAT is defined as 'System fordesigning (process development), analysing and controlling manufacturingprocess, based on timely measurements of critical quality and performanceattributes of raw material, in process materials and processes with the goal ofensuring final product quality'. PAT methodology envisages the identificationof Critical Process Parameters (CPPs) and Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs)for every process. The CPPs are the indication of the overall reliability thata process proceed in the desired direction. Therefore their monitoring and controlestablishes the uniform product quality. 'Quality by design' in the PATemphasizes that monitoring to be accomplished not only during the process, butshould begin from raw material characterization, its processing, upstreamprocess, product recovery, downstream process and till the polishing step.Therefore this reduces the much effort emphasized by regulatory authorities onensuring quality.
The laboratory focuses on the following research aspects: (i) Surface and interfacial science particularly in the area of Bio-interfaces and Biomaterials (Design of Biocompatible surfaces): The surfaces are modified using various Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAMs) and their interactions with water, bio macromolecules i.e. polymers, proteins and cells are studied, (ii) Protein’s adsorption and aggregation: The lab investigates the adsorption behavior and properties of various adsorbed proteins on surfaces with different wettabilities by forming mono, mixed and hybrid SAMs. The role of surface chemistry at the nanometer scale on aggregation of various therapeutic proteins is studied, (iii) Environmental Biotechnology: The lab focuses on 3Rs. Reduce waste generation, recycle the treated waste and reuse waste as by-product or recover energy from the waste.
Extn No.: 2245
Tissue engineering has emerged as a potential way to treat tissue damage or organ failure as a result of injury or disease. Our laboratory “Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Laboratory”, a DBT-Unit of Excellence, majorly focus on developing affordable lab grown tissue/organ replacements for human transplantation. The lab focus on the following areas of importance i.e. Cell Based Tissue Engineering of Grafts and Implants, Human Stem Cell Based Regenerative Medicine, Biomaterials, 3D Bioprinting, Drug Delivery Systems, 3D Disease Tissue Models, Bioinstrumentation
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The Lab is primarily engaged in design and optimization of various orthopaedic implants based on in vitro and in silico biomechanical testing/validations. Simulations for surgery and patient examinations training are also being envisaged at this laboratory
The laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular self-assembly and amyloid diseases, protein/peptide membrane interactions, and developing peptide based antibiotics.
The research interests of the lab include (i) Role of inflammatory pathways in cancer development, (ii) Identification of novel biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, (iii) Cancer drug discovery, and (iv) Development of transgenic and gene knockout mouse models for biomedical research.
Extn No.: 3220
The computational lab is used for carrying out the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Lab, a lab course of the B. Tech. curriculum.
Extn No.: 2241
The research in the lab is focused to understandthe speed and accuracy of translation using Computer Simulations. Usingexplicit solvent all atom molecular dynamics free energy simulations, the labstudies the protein-ligand, protein-RNA, RNA-RNA interactions and theirrelevance to biology. The lab is specially interested in translation factors,synthetases (aaRS), Ribosome etc.
Extn No.: 4245
The research interest of the lab include Environmental Biotechnology,Bioprocess Engineering,Biochemical Engineering
The lab’sresearch interest is in post-translational gene regulation by RNA bindingproteins. During alternative splicing introns are splicedout in various ways from the precursor RNA, resulting in one gene producingseveral different mRNAs and protein products. The process of alternativesplicing requires accurate selection of splice sites, which play a key factorin the generation of different transcripts. Several regulatory proteincomplexes take active part to aid in the selection of splice sites, like smallnuclear ribonucleoprotein complexes containing U1, U2, U4/U6 and U5 subunits.The serine/arginine-rich protein family members (SR proteins) and SR-relatedproteins (SR-rps) also have the capability to assist in the splice siteselection process. In addition, various other regulatory protein complexesmight be involved in the alternative splicing process. In this regard,understanding the role of the subunits existing in the apoptosis and splicingassociated protein (ASAP) complex during splice site selection are crucial tounderstand splicing dependent post-transcriptional steps of gene regulation.
Extn No.: 3217
The research interests of the lab include Biochemical Engineering, Biofuel, Bioprocess modeling, control, optimization, Metabolic engineering, Downstream processing, Membrane separation, Bioremediation.
Extn No: 3213
The research interests of the lab include enzyme applications, biotransformation, and biosensors.
Extn No.: 4244
Thelaboratory is used to conduct the experimental course of the B. Tech. and M.Tech. curricula.
Extn No.: 2234
The lab focuses on generation of transgene-freeinduced pluripotent stem cells for biomedical applications and understandingthe role of core stem cell-specific transcription factors in maintaining stemcell identity and function.
Extn No.: 3214
The laboratory employs a combination of approaches encompassing Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, Biochemical and Biophysical approaches and X-ray crystallography. The current research interest of the lab pertains to RNA Biology and Molecular Evolution.
The lab focuses on generation of transgene-freeinduced pluripotent stem cells for biomedical applications and understandingthe role of core stem cell-specific transcription factors in maintaining stemcell identity and function.
Extn No.: 2243
Molecular Informatics and Design Group integrates diverse disciplines of science and engineering in the design and development of advanced materials. The lab’s approach to a research problem is ‘idea centric’ with a clear emphasis on the design phase, adopting modeling and informatics tools. The lab experiments a reductionist approach in understanding the interaction between molecules resulting in assembled architectures at nano and micro scale, and further employ it in the design of future materials. An information based modeling approach has been employed in the design and generation of tumor homing and cell penetrating molecules to test their efficacy as future drug delivery vehicles
The research interests of the lab include (i) Molecular interaction of host-pathogen-vector of infectious diseases, (ii) Gene expression analysis of Spirochete, Leptospira interrrogansand Borrelia burgdorferi, (iii) Development of vaccine against outer membrane protein of Leptospira interrogansand Borrelia burgdorferi, and (iv) Vector borne diseases of Zoonotic importance.
Extn No.: 2236
The lab is interested in understanding the inter-connected cellular communication systems. Particularly, the lab is interested to know the effect of architecture, kinetics and integration of the molecular pathways on vital cellular processes. The lab uses experimental as well as theoretical tools to understand how information is carried and processed in such signaling networks. The lab is also involved in developing molecules that can target particular signal transduction pathway. Such a molecule can be used to modulate an aberrant pathway involved in a particular disease.
The lab is interested to understand the molecular mechanism of calcium signaling pathway using the model filamentous fungusNeurospora crassa. Calcium ion is a universal second messenger molecule that impacts almost all cell processes in eukaryotes. The lab hopes to extend its research to understand the role of calcium signaling in memory, learning, and other related areas in future.
The lab focusses on understanding the biogenesis of organelles and the inter-organelle communication within a cell. The lab tries to understand the effect of ageing on organelle biology and the role of organelles in cellular ageing.
Extn No.: 3215
The tree species with long generation cycle aremostly highly heterozygous in nature due to strict cross pollination and areconsidered to be recalcitrant (difficult to regenerate in vitro). The geneticimprovement of these plants and development of homozygous lines (pure) iseither very challenging or impossible using the conventional methods, becausethe cross pollination is a rule. This limitation has completely been overcomeby the research group of Dr Chaturvedi while working on two complex treespecies, Neem (Azadirachta indica) and Tea (Camellia species).Prof. Chaturvedi’s laboratory has alsoinvolved in developing Plant Cell Culture Technology as an alternative to wholeplant extraction for the production of secondary metabolites of medicinal andcommercial values. Although these compounds can also be isolated from naturallygrown whole plants, continued destruction of plants for the purpose may pose amajor threat to species getting extinct. Her research group is able toidentify, purify and isolate three main categories of bioactive metabolites:essential oils, coumarins and alkylamides, from in vitro elite cell lines ofmedicinal plants. Some of these compounds are complex triterpenoids which aredifficult to synthesize chemically. Thefocused research work in the laboratory are: (i) Mass multiplication bymicropropagation/clonal propagation of medicinally and economically valuableplants, (ii) In vitro haploid and doubled haploid plant production to generatehomozygous (pure) lines to produce hybrid vigour for improved plant yield,(iii) Triploid plant production to develop seedless variety, (iv) Somaticembryogenesis for synthetic seed production, (v) Protoplast isolation andregeneration for single cell cloning and isolation of mutants, (vi) Cytologicaland Histological studies of in vitro raised cultures to understand theirploidy, development and origin (vii) Cell biomass production in shake-flask forscreening, characterization and quantification of medicinally and commerciallyuseful plant metabolites and their scale-up in photo-bioreactors.
Extn No: 3212
The laboratoryworks in fungal biotechnology. The various aspects that are studied include (i)secondary metabolite production, (ii) developmentof hyper virulent strains of Metarhiziumanisopliae and Beauveria bassiana using scorpion and spider neurotoxins,(iii) gene stacking in entomopathogenic fungi.
Extn No.: 4246
The research interestsof the lab are Environmental Biotechnology, Biological removal and recovery of inorganic compounds from wastewaters, Biofuels and other Biotechnological Products: production, process design, kinetics and environmental applications.
Extn No.: 3222
Our lab investigates the structure, function and dynamics of proteins using techniques like UV-Visible spectroscopy and Fluorescence Spectroscopy. Recently our group has discovered a novel UV-Vis absorption band in proteins that are rich in charged amino acids like K, D, E, R and H called Protein Charge Transfer Spectra or ProCharTS.
Currently our lab has initiated work to investigate the role of histones, nucleosomes and chromatin in cellular functions using the above approaches.
Extn No.: 2246
Stem cell and cancer biology group focuses on the identification of factors affecting the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and the role of cancer microenvironment in cancer chemoresistance.
The lab uses the knowledge of various techniques such as molecular biology, structural biology (X-ray Crystallography) and biophysical and biochemical studies to understand the mechanism of different biological functions. In addition, the lab applies the molecular dynamics simulations to further corroborate the results obtained from various experiments. Currently, the lab is focusing on investigating into the mechanisms involved in protein translation initiation, ABC transporters and their role in multidrug resistance.
Extn No.: 3224
The laboratory focuses on the following research themes: (i) Hormone regulationof gene expression, (ii) Role of estrogen in breast tumor invasion and metastasis, (iii) Regulation of cystatin A expression and its role in breast cancer, (iv) HoxB2 in breast cancer, (v) GPR30/GPER-1 biology, (vi)Mechanisms of anticancer activity of EGCG, (vii) Karanjin and its biological effects
Pathogens,insects and abiotic stresses cause major losses in yield and quality of crops.The discoveries in basic plant research play a vital role in meeting thesechallenges by developing technologies to improve agriculture by introducingimportant traits to crop of interest. The lab employs integrated approaches toidentify genes with significant agronomic impact in both model (Arabidopsis)and crops (grain legumes and oil seeds), understand the mechanism by which theyfunction and using this knowledge, develop designer crops for diverse plantabiotic (drought, salinity and nutrient deficiency or toxicity) and biotic(viral and insect) stress conditions, useful for growers, industry andconsumers. Besides, the lab is working on biofortification in Asiatic grainlegumes for healthcare applications and manipulation of key oil biosynthesisgenes yield in Jatropha, a tropical perennial biofuel crop to improve oilquality and oil
The paramyxoviruses include viruses that are isolated from many species of terrestrial, avian and aquatic animals. The group includes many important pathogens of humans such asmeasles virus, human respiratory syncytial virus, human parainfluenza viruses, Nipah virus and Hendra virus and animals such as canine distemper virus and Newcastle disease virus. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is the prototype member of this family and isa leading cause of respiratory disease in avian species. It leads to huge economic losses to the poultry industry in India. The laboratory focuses mainly on understanding the biology of avian paramyxovirus and development of vaccine against them using reverse genetics system.
Extn No.: 3225