Biotecnika newspaper 22 may 2018

May 22nd, 2018.

Vol. 02 NO 21

NEWS - PAGE 2

NEWS - PAGE 7 RETIRED DRUG’S SIDE-EFFECTS COULD HELP WITH HAIR LOSS

ORAL INSULIN FOUND SUCCESSFUL IN HUMAN CLINICAL TRIALS

SCHOLARSHIP - PAGE 8

ADMISSIONS - PAGE 10

PRIME MINISTER’S FELLOWSHIP SCHEME FOR DOCTORAL RESEARCH | 100 FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE

CANCER FIGHTING POTENTIAL

INTEGRATED MSC-PHD BIOTECHNOLOGY ADMISSION 2018 @ ILS, BHUBANESWAR

NEW WAY TO FIGHT CANCER Naturally produced by plants, vincamine, vinblastine and vincristine are very important clinic alkaloids used in a variety of treatment strategies including cancer.

By Disha Padmanabha

STUDY OPENS UP MADAGASCAR PLANT’S CANCER-FIGHTING POTENTIAL Vinblascine and vincristine are derived from the Madagascar periwinkle Catharanthus roseus and are regularly used in the chemotherapy of hematological malignancies such as lymphomas and leukemias.

In spite of its therapeutic importance, the plant’s complex chemical mechanisms to produce these alkaloids in not fully understood. Consequently, access to its life-extending chemistry is not any less complex – approximately 500 kg of dried leaves are required to produce 1g of vinblastine.

Now, scientists at the at the John Innes Centre, after a 15-year long investigation have, finally been able to point to the last missing genes in the genome of the periwinkle that are believed to be exclusively devoted to building these chemicals.

Their work identifies a particular enzyme shown to be dedicated to building vinblastine precursor chemicals, including catharanthine and tabersonine; which can be readily chemically coupled using synthetic biology tech-

time as the plant is producing other enzymes involved in vinblastine synthesis.

In total, the researchers enumerated 31 steps in the chemical chain from the primary chemical precursor to the final product, the alkaloid vinblastine. One molecule in the chain

so found to be very volatile because of which the team came to name it the “angry-line” instead of its true scientific name dihydroprecondylocarpine acetate.

niques to give vinblastine.

“Vinblastine is one of the of the most structurally complex medicinally active natural products in plants – which is why so many people in the last 60 years have been trying to get where we have got to in this study. I cannot believe we are finally here,” said Professor O’Connor.

“With this information we can now try to increase the amount of vinblastine produced either in the plant, or by placing synthetic genes into hosts such as yeast or plants.”

The team suspected that the missing enzymes helped transform a single compound into structures that form the frameworks for catharanthine and tabersonine to make vinblastine.

They then searched a database of the periwinkle RNA and identified them and discovered that they were both made at the same

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Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

Oral Insulin Found Successful in Human Clinical Trials A clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, Oramed Pharmaceuticals, has now announced the screening for diabetic patients as part of its 90-day dose-ranging Pivotal Phase 2b HbA1c clinical study of its oral insulin capsule, ORMD-0801.

A statistically significant improvement in HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin), a long-term indicator of blood sugar control, was detected in only 28 days of therapy with ORMD0801 at Oramed’s previous Phase 2 research.

The objective of this analysis is to quantify this impact over 90 days of therapy at several doses.

The study will enroll approximately 240 patients with type 2 diabetes at numerous centers across the U.S. The main end points are security assessing adverse and hypoglycemic events, and efficiency unique to HbA1c levels over 90 days of therapy. Secondary end points include steps of fasting

plasma glucose (FPG), post-prandial sugar (PPG degrees) through a mixed-meal tolerance test (MMTT) and pounds.

“This is our most important study to date,” says Oramed CEO Nadav Kidron. “A year from now we will better know the potential of our drug to control and maintain blood glucose levels and will have further proof of the longer-term benefits of taking an oral pill versus an injection.”

“Not only does oral insulin offer a more convenient alternative to needles, a therapy many patients are reluctant to begin,” explains Kidron, “but it also provides a more efficient and safer platform for delivering insulin by mimicking the body’s natural process of insulin going directly to the liver rather than via the bloodstream.”

By Disha Padmanabha

“We are very pleased to move forward with this important 90-day treatment study to measure the potential longer-term benefits of our oral insulin capsule on HbA1c in type 2

diabetics,” stated Oramed CEO, Nadav Kidron.

Stanford Scientists Modulate Gut Microbiome with the Help of Seaweed With the mounting information about the complexity and the broad influence gut microbes, seems like “you are what you eat,” has a bacterial component. Now, a new Stanford study has used animal models to demonstrate how the manipulation of these gut bacteria could potentially enhance our health or help fend off disease.

“We’re all endowed with a microbial community in our guts that assembled in a chaotic manner during our first few years of life,” says Justin Sonnenburg, an author on the new study. “Although we continue to acquire new strains throughout life, this acquisition is a poorly orchestrated and not-well-understood process. This study suggests it could be possible to reshape our microbiome in a deliberate manner to enhance health and fight disease.”

We are all living in the era of burgeoning field of probiotics consuming good strains of bacteria to keep healthy and deal with illnesses. The team in the current study intended to delve deeper into this idea and wanted to explore if these populations of microbes could, in some ways be altered, so as to dictate the composition of this population in a precise manner.

To investigate, Sonnenburg and his colleagues looked at a particular strain of gut bacteria with the capability to digest seaweed predominant in the Japanese cuisine and rare elsewhere. They then screened the bacterium to find a carbohydrate called porphyran. “The genes that allow a bacterium to digest porphyran are exceedingly rare among humans that don’t have seaweed as a common part of their diet,” explains Sonnenburg. “This allowed us to test whether we could circumvent the rules of complex ecosystems by creating a privileged niche that

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could favor a single microbe by allowing it to exist in the absence of competition from the 30 trillion other microbes in the gut.”

Further, the team introduced these microbial populations into animal models. Mice that were fed a regular diet of mouse chow, the porphyran-digesting strain was able to engraft in two groups of these animals to varying and limited degrees- one groups with human gut bacteria rejected the new strain completely.

Another group which was fed a porphyran-rich diet, produced results dramatically different- the bacteria engrafted robustly at similar levels in all the mice. Furthermore, the team was able to precisely calibrate the population size of the engrafted bacteria by increasing or decreasing the amount of the consumed seaweed.

“The results of this dilution experiment blew us away,” Sonnenburg said. “The direct effect of diet on the bacterial population was very clear.”

“We can use these gene modules to develop a vast toolkit to make therapeutic microbial treatments a reality,” Sonnenburg said.

“Porphyran-digesting genes and a diet rich in seaweed is the first pair, but there could potentially be hundreds more. We’d like to expand this simple paradigm into an array of dietary components and microbes.”

By Disha Padmanabha

Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

Bless Us! We Finally May Have a Cure for Common Cold Oh dear lord, the runny nose, sore throat and the general misery associated with cold?

Remember that? Well we may finally be able to beat them all!

The common cold is caused by a family of viruses with countless variants that that leave us achy, stuffy, sniffly, and sneezy. And this fact makes it almost impossible to become resistant to or vaccinated against all of them.

In addition to this, the viruses grow quickly, meaning that they could quickly obtain immunity to medication.

A group of scientists at Imperial College London has now generated a novel molecule that may block the evolution of multiple strains of the annoyingly common, common cold. Results from the early in vitro tests

with human cells displays exciting results, and the team expects to proceed to human and animal studies soon enough.

Lead researcher Professor Ed Tate, from the Department of Chemistry at Imperial, said: “The common cold is an inconvenience for most of us, but can cause serious complications in people with conditions like asthma and COPD. A drug like this could be extremely beneficial if given early in infection, and we are working on making a version that could be inhaled, so that it gets to the lungs quickly.”

The researchers, in the course of their investigation, focussed on a single protein- the

By Disha Padmanabha

N-myristoyltransferase (NMT)- that the notorious virus retrieves from the host cell in order to build its capsid facilitating its own replication anmd subsequent survival.

The team screened a huge volume of distinct compounds searching for a molecule which specifically targeted NMT. Discovering two particular chemicals, the group produced a new molecule named MP-1088, which specifically inhibits NMT. In vitro testing with human cells revealed that this new molecule entirely blocked the replication of numerous cold virus strains.

“A drug like this could be extremely beneficial if given early in infection, and we are

working on making a version that could be inhaled, so that it gets to the lungs quickly,” says lead researcher on the project, Ed Tate. “The way the drug works means that we would need to be sure it was being used against the cold virus, and not similar conditions with different causes, to minimize the chance of toxic side effects.”

However exciting this piece of news is, it cannot be ignored that further studies, initially in animals, is extremely necessary and important to better establish a safety profile for the newly uncovered molecule and the team is definitely realistic about the work ahead.

3D Screening of Anti-Cancer Drugs Employing Cell Aggregates Shows Promise

The continuing push towards precision oncology stems in the toxicities incurred by untailored utilization of chemotherapies and small clinical inroads attained from hereditary signatures and patient-specific biomarkers. Even though the usage of patient-derived xenografts in preclinical models provides a guarantee, technical challenges and changeable predictive accuracies restrict widespread adoption of the tactic.

Also, the very process of discovering, developing and pitching a one-drug to the market takes tens of years, not to mention cost millions of dollars. And more often than not, these drugs go useless due to a variety of reasons and we are back to square one looking to find/discover more of them.

As researchers delve deeper and learn more about the disease itself, bigger becomes the need for us to find smarter cancer drugs that could outwit these madly multiplying cells thereby blocking the growth and spread of tumors.

The continuing push towards precision oncology stems in the toxicities incurred by untailored utilization of chemotherapies and small clinical inroads attained from hereditary signatures and patient-specific biomarkers. Even though the usage of patient-derived xenografts in preclinical models provides a guarantee, technical challenges and changeable predictive accuracies restrict widespread adoption of the tactic.

Also, the very process of discovering, developing and pitching a one-drug to the market takes tens of years, not to mention cost millions of dollars. And more often than not, these drugs go useless due to a variety of reasons and we are back to square one looking to find/discover more of them.

As researchers delve deeper and learn more about the disease itself, bigger becomes the need for us to find smarter cancer drugs that could outwit these madly multiplying cells

thereby blocking the growth and spread of tumors.

In this direction, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have now reported a unique technique that could be used to screen these cancer drugs employing tiny, three-dimensional ball-like aggregates of cells called spheroids.

“We can now do studies using a form of cancer cells that is more physiologically relevant and better recapitulates how these cells appear in the body,” says Timothy Spicer, director of Lead Identification Discovery Biology and High Throughput Screening on Scripps Research’s Florida campus and one of the study’s corresponding authors.

“Until now, most of the research to screen for cancer drugs has used cells that are growing flat on a plate,” adds Louis Scampavia, director of HTS Chemistry and Technologies at Scripps Research and one of the study’s co-authors. “With these 3-D spheroids, we emulate much more closely what’s found in living tissues.”

100 to 600 microns in diameter, these spheroids mimic what might happen in a tumor in contrast to single layers of cells that are regularly used in the screening process, which tend to all grow at the same rate because they get the same exposure to oxygen and nutrients.

In the new paper, the researchers concentrated on a cancer-driving protein named KRAS. The KRAS receptor along with other members of the related RAS gene family are found to be mutated in nearly one-third of cancers.

They’re common in lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and especially pancreatic cancer. In fact, around 90 percent of pancreatic cancers have been driven by KRAS mutations, and

By Disha Padmanabha

the researchers utilized pancreatic cancer cell lines for the present study.

“In the past, KRAS has been a very tricky protein to target. People have spent several decades trying, but so far there has been little success,” says Joseph Kissil, Ph.D., a professor at Scripps Research Medicine and the other co-corresponding author. “The KRAS protein is relatively small, and that’s made it hard to attack it directly. But the method of screening that we used in this study allowed us to come at the question in a different way.”

The team performed a phenotypic screen, to look for drugs that had an effect on cell growth, but didn’t have a preconceived idea about how they might work. “We came at this

in an unbiased way,” Kissil explains. “We were not trying to design something to attack a specific part of the KRAS protein. We were just looking for something that acted on some part of the pathway that’s driving cell growth.”

The investigators report in the paper they’ve already identified one compound that was previously not known to influence KRAS, known as Proscillaridin A. The compound was found to be similar to a class of drugs normally used to treat certain heart conditions.

Even though the team states this particular medication is unlikely to be developed as a cancer therapy, it validates the approach of running drug screenings using spheroids.

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Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

Lunar Dust Exposure Found to Alter DNA Spelling Danger for Astronauts A recent study by researchers at the Stony Brook University looking understand the biological impact of lunar regolith, has now discovered the potential dangers of inhaling lunar dust. The investigation found simulated lunar soil toxic to human lung as well as animal model brain cells.

Their experiments saw that upto 90 percent of human lung cells and mouse neurons died when exposed to these moon dust particles that mimic soils found on the Moon’s surface.

“There are risks to extraterrestrial exploration, both lunar and beyond, more than just the immediate risks of space itself,” said Rachel Caston, a geneticist at Stony Brook University School of Medicine in Stony Brook, New York and lead author of the new study published in GeoHealth, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

“If there are trips back to the Moon that involve stays of weeks, months or even longer, it probably won’t be possible to eliminate that risk completely,” said Bruce Demple, a biochemist at Stony Brook University School of

Medicine and senior author of the new study.

U.S. astronauts visited the Moon during the Apollo missions and they brought along lunar soil into the command module when it clung to their spacesuits.

As documented, after inhaling the fine dust when on moon, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt had a reaction described as the “lunar hay fever” – sneezing, watery eyes and a sore throat. Although short-lived, it got the researchers interested and they went further to find out how lunar dust could affect astronauts’ health long term and if it could cause problems similar to those caused by toxic dust on Earth.

To test this out, the authors of the current study employed human lung cells and mouse brain cells and exposed them to lunar soil stimulants, and found that simulated soil fine killed 90% of cells when checked for DNA damage.

In fact, the lunar soil was so extremely effective at killing human lung cells that the team couldn’t even measure the DNA dam-

By Disha Padmanabha

age, although they could in the mouse neurons.

The astronauts’ symptoms coupled with the new study’s results suggest prolonged exposure to lunar dust could impair airway

and lung function. And if the dust induces inflammation in the lungs, the scientists hypothesize that it could also increase the risk of more serious diseases like cancer.

Rapid Blood Test that Identifies Chronic Pain by Colour The on-spot blood test named “painHS” has now been designed for the identification and detection of chronic pain through colour biomarkers by Australian scientists. The team believes the breakthrough test revealed at the Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) conference in Sydney over the weekend has potential to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment for those who suffer chronic pain.

“This gives us a brand new window into patients’ pain because we have created a new tool that not only allows for greater certainty of diagnosis but also can guide better drug treatment options,” explains lead on the new research, neuroscientist Mark Hutchinson, who is Director of the Australian Research

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Council Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics at the University of Adelaide.

“We are literally quantifying the color of pain,” says Hutchinson. “We’ve now discovered that we can use the natural color of biology to predict the severity of pain. What we’ve found is that persistent chronic pain has a different natural color in immune cells than in a situation where there isn’t persistent pain.”

In addition to providing new biomarker for the presence of pain, the research also suggests that the immune cells actually play a significant role in modulating the sensation of chronic pain. The study advocates new

By Disha Padmanabha

drugs to be investigated that suppress immune pain response in place of concentrating on developing pain-killing drugs that simply target the nervous system.

“We now know there is a peripheral cell signal so we could start designing new types of drugs for new types of cellular therapies that target the peripheral immune system to tackle central nervous system pain.”

Professor Hutchinson said the test also had the potential to revolutionise the treatment of animals. “This has a profound impact not

only for human health but also animals. Animals can’t tell us if they’re in pain but here we have a Dr Doolittle type test that enables us to ‘talk’ to the animals so we can find out if they are experiencing pain and then we can help them.”

The team believes “painHS” could be ready for broader use by physicians and GPs within 18 months as a cost effective diagnosis method to determine the severity of chronic pain in patients with lower back pain, fibromyalgia, pelvic pain, cancer pain and migraine.

Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

Flesh-Eating Bacterium Found to Hijack Immune System to Ensure Continued Survival A bacterial pathogen, Streptococcus pyogenes, hijacks the neurons of the immune system in order to promote its own survival, a new study by researchers at the Harvard Medical School has indicated.

Streptococcus pyogenes, the same pathogen that causes strep throat, is the leading cause of serious flesh-eating disease, Necrotizing fasciitis- a severe infection that destroys muscles, skin and underlying tissue.

The word “necrotizing” refers to something that causes body tissue to die. The bacterium digs, burrows deep in the skin and eats into connective tissue and muscle. Furthermore, it is notoriously hard to diagnose and can rapidly become fatal.

new role of neurons in the development of this disease and point to promising countermeasures that warrant further exploration.”

“Necrotizing fasciitis is a devastating condition that remains extremely challenging to treat and has a mortality rate that’s unacceptably high,” said study senior investigator Isaac Chiu, assistant professor of microbiology and immunobiology at Harvard Medical School. “Our findings reveal a surprising

In the next round of experiments, the group injected mice with the nerve-blocking substance botulinum neurotoxin A aka the active ingredient in commercial botox. And a week later, these organisms were infected with the disease-causing bacterium. When compared with mice that didn’t receive these

Using animal models, the team at Harvard found that a toxin called streptolysin S (SLS), produced by S. pyogenes activated certain pain-related neurons to trigger extreme pain and played a rather interesting role in the ensuing immune-silencing cascade inside neurons.

“Effectively, this neuronal signal silences the alarm system that normally calls on the body’s infection fighters to curb infection,” Chiu said.

Using Miniature “Tractor Beams” to Rearrange Artificial Cells into Tissues Assembling higher-order vesicle assemblies has discipline-spanning capacity from receptive soft-matter substances to artificial cell networks in synthetic biology. This capacity is finally derived from the ability to compartmentalise and order chemical species in distance. To unlock these programs, spatial arrangement of vesicles with respect to one another has to be controlled, and methods to provide cargo to compartments developed.

Now, researchers at the Imperial College

London and Loughborough University have, constructed unique tissue-like structures using artificial cells and a miniature tractor beam. The collaborative team believes that by altering these artificial cell membranes, they can now influence cells to stick together like ‘stickle bricks’ – allowing them to be arranged into whole new structures.

“Artificial cell membranes usually bounce off each other like rubber balls. By altering

By Disha Padmanabha

nerve-block injections, the aforementioned pre-treated mice developed only minimal wounds- that did not even progress to fullblown disease.

Lastly, scientists blocked neurotransmitter CGRP’s (calcitonin gene-related peptide), immune-suppressing activity with the help of an injectable or ingestible CGRP-blocking molecules. This treatment rendered immune cells immune to the “stop” signal sent by the neurons in case of pain and successfully prevented the spread of necrotizing fasciitis in mice infected with bacterium.

The team says that these consequent results indicate that both the injectable nerve-block approach and drug-based treatments against the neurotransmitter CGRP hold therapeutic promise for necrotizing fasciitis.

the biophysics of the membranes in our cells, we got them instead to stick to each other like stickle bricks,” said Imperial College lead researcher Dr Yuval Elani.

with gold nanoparticles and focusing the laser beam onto the junction between both cells.

This results in the nanoparticles to resonate and divide the encompassing cell membrane.

The membrane then functions as a complete and in the procedure combines any substances which the cells had been carrying, which might be crucial to delivering materials like drugs to cells.

ICL department of chemistry professor Oscar Ces said: “Connecting artificial cells together is a valuable technology in the wider toolkit we are assembling for creating these biological systems using bottom-up approaches.

“With this, we were able to form networks of cells connected by ‘biojunctions’. By reinserting biological components such as proteins in the membrane, we could get the cells to communicate and exchange material with one another. This mimics what is seen in nature, so it’s a great step forward in creating biological-like artificial cell tissues.”

The group engineered cell structures of varying sophistication, such as lines, 2D squares and 3D pyramids. Mixing the cells with a tendril of membrane substance allowed the construction to be transported collectively with the help of a laser beam or mini tractor ray- and rearranged.

The team was also able to unite two cells into a bigger cell by coating the membrane

“Our findings provide a striking example of how closely intertwined the nervous and immune systems are and how intricate their interaction can be in the setting of infection,” Chiu said. “Our study also underscores the therapeutic potential of modulating one system to affect the other as a way to treat infection.”

“We can now start to scale up basic cell technologies into larger tissue-scale networks, with precise control over the kind of architecture we create.”

By Disha Padmanabha

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Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

Landmark Study Links Brain Cholesterol to Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia associated with the aberrant aggregation of the amyloid-β peptide. Although there is mounting evidence that implicates cholesterol in the pathogenesis of AD, a detailed mechanistic link is, however, lacking and remains to be fully established.

Now, a team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, have discovered that brain cholesterol is a trigger for the formation of these notorious amyloid-beta clusters.

These in a toxic chain reaction eventually lead to the formation of amyloid plaques that result in the death of brain cells.

“The levels of amyloid-beta normally found in the brain are about a thousand times lower than we require to observe it aggregating in the laboratory – so what happens in the brain to make it aggregate?” said Professor Michele Vendruscolo of Cambridge’s Centre for Misfolding Diseases, who led the research.

The team examined what causes amyloid beta proteins to aggregate and found that cho-

lesterol in lipid cell membranes that reside in the brain tend to trigger the accumulation of these proteins molecules.

The investigative team reported a vitro modeling experiment that showed aggregation of amyloid beta speeding up by a factor of 20 in the presence of cholesterol.

“The question for us now is not how to eliminate cholesterol from the brain, but about how to control cholesterol’s role in Alzheimer’s disease through the regulation of its interaction with amyloid-beta,” says Vendruscolo. “We’re not saying that cholesterol is the only trigger for the aggregation process, but it’s certainly one of them.”

“This work has helped us narrow down a specific question in the field of Alzheimer’s research,” said Vendruscolo. “We now need to understand in more detail how the balance of cholesterol is maintained in the brain in order to find ways to inactivate a trigger of amyloid-beta aggregation.”

Fat cells in the human body. 3d rendered Illustration.

Asymptomatic People Sneak Dengue Fever to Others, Dominate Transmission Cycle A thriving mosquito-borne virus, Dengue has been on the rise in recent years- it has spread unnoticed as asymptomatic cases may have contributed to the transmission cycle.

It is the world’s fastest-growing infectious disease, unleashing its dread on hundreds of millions of people worldwide- it causes half a million life-threatening infections with a mortality statistic of about 20,000 individuals, who are mostly children, annually.

Now, a new study by researchers at the University of Notre Dame indicates that more than 80 percent of dengue virus infections are attributable to individuals with mild to no symptoms who do not seek treatment from a physician.

Their investigation further indicates that nearly a quarter of dengue virus transmission is the result of mosquitoes infected already infected individuals before the onset of symptoms. And by the time those symptoms appear, the window to prevent the virus from spreading has passed.

“Until a few years ago, it was assumed that individuals with mild to no symptoms contributed relatively little to dengue virus transmission,” said Alex Perkins, Eck Family Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame and senior author on the study.

“Our research reveals that people showing

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By Disha Padmanabha

no symptoms of dengue virus infection are contributing much more than was previously recognized so that we now have a better idea of the large extent to which they contribute to the spread of this disease.”

The study employed a mathematical model to quantify what fraction of dengue virus infections might be caused by these asymptomatic people whose illnesses go undetected by public health surveillance systems.

Their investigation involved integrating data sets on quantifying the viruses in blood during different stages of infection, the severity of symptoms with respect to previous infections and the proportion of infections resulting in clinical consultation.

“Unfortunately, based on our study, those who need to be targeted with interventions are either being identified after they have already contributed to transmission or are not being identified at all,” said Perkins. “Our results indicate that it might be necessary to shift emphasis toward more proactive disease prevention strategies that do not rely as strongly on responding to detected cases.”

By Disha Padmanabha

Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

Retired Drug’s Side-Effects Could Help with Hair Loss Cyclosporine A isolated from fungi, is an old immunosuppressive drug, commonly used since the 1980s as a crucial drug that suppresses transplant rejection and autoimmune diseases. Now, a new study by scientists at the University of Manchester has revealed that this drug could be used to potently induce hair growth in humans.

The team used the chalked out drug as a lead compound to identify novel therapeutic targets that can aid the development of new hair growth–promoting agents.

They analyzed the gene expressions of isolated human scalp hair follicles and found that the drug reversed the way follicles expressed a protein called SFRP1, which stunts the development and growth of hair follicles and other tissues in the body.

In their next step, they found a specific way

to antagonize SFRP1 thereby uncovering a compound called WAY-316606. Developed to treat osteoporosis, WAY-316606 was observed to target similar mechanisms to Cyclosporine A but without the broader immunosuppressive actions of that drug.

Ex vivo analysis carried out on human scalp samples revealed that WAY-316606 enhanced hair growth, suggesting external application of it, or a similar compound, could be an effective hair loss treatment.

“This makes our research clinically very relevant, as many hair research studies only use cell culture.”

Dr. Hawkshaw said: “Thanks to our collaboration with a local hair transplant surgeon, Dr. Asim Shahmalak, we were able to conduct our experiments with scalp hair follicles that had generously been donated by over 40 patients and were then tested in organ cultures.

He added: “When the hair growth-promoting effects of CsA were previously studied in mice, a very different molecular mechanism of action was suggested; had we relied on these mouse research concepts, we would have been barking up the wrong tree.

By Disha Padmanabha

“The fact this new agent, which had never even been considered in a hair loss context, promotes human hair growth is exciting because of its translational potential: it could one day make a real difference to people who suffer from hair loss.

“Clearly though, a clinical trial is required next to tell us whether this drug or similar compounds are both effective and safe in hair loss patients.”

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Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

SCHOLARSHIPS 10 or equivalent or general candidate should have secured 75% marks or above & 70 percent marks for applicants of reserved categories. (c) The offender ought to be less than 30 years old as on 31st August of year of application however age relaxation of 5 years will be applicable to applicants belonging to SC/ ST, women and physically challenged group.

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Duration of Scheme:

AICTE National Doctoral Fellowship Scheme 2018 – Official Notification Official notification for AICTE National Doctoral Fellowship Scheme 2018. AICTE NDFS 2018 opportunity for Indian Nationals. All India Council for Technical Education National Doctoral Fellowship Scheme 2018 notification is out. Check out all of the details on the eligibility, dates to apply, areas of research and such below: Overview: • • • •

Nurture Talents For Technical Research.

Promote Collaborative Research Between Institute And Industries Promote research culture in AICTE approved Institutions.

Admitting full time meritorious research scholars by providing research fellowship.

Thrust Areas: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Nuclear Engineering and Allied Technologies Robotics and Mechatronics Energy Efficiency, Renewable and sustainable Energy Electric and Hybrid Mobility Smart Cities, Housing and Transportation IoT, I2oT and Embedded Systems Nano Science and Technology Big Data, Machine Learning and AI Drug modelling and development Biomedical and Rehabilitation Smart Technologies for Agriculture and Food Industry Water purification, conservation and management

Eligibility: (a) The fellowship/contingency will be granted to research scholars admitted in research institute of AICTE. National Nodal Centre will fortify the procedure for selecting candidates according to the eligibility criteria for grant of National Doctoral Fellowship. (b) The candidate should have secured cumulative grade point average of 7.5 on the scale of 10 or equal at both B.E/B.Tech/B. Pharm and M.E/M.Tech/M.Pharm. In addition to above the candidate must have qualified GATE/GPAT during the previous five years. For SC/ST/PH applicants CGPA requirement is going to be 7.0 on the scale of

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The length of the scheme will likely be for a period of 3 Years. No additional extension will be allowed, nevertheless, extendable by 6 months in particular cases with the recommendation of Institute and endorsement of National Nodal Centre. Additional expansion of 6 months could be awarded on the recommendations together with the approval of AICTE.

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Intake of the Scheme: The total number of applicants selected under this scheme annually could be limited to 150 each year. Amount of candidates/Institute are approximately 3 per Institute subject to the availability of seats in the research center and need of a research centre by applicants.

If the seats allotted to the establishment stay vacant, these seats will be allocated to another institutions from the Nodal Centre on the acceptance of AICTE. Reservation Policy: Reservation for fellowship will be according to Central Reservation Policy i.e. 15 percent to SC applicants, 7.5 percent to ST applicants and 27 percent to OBC candidates (NCL only), also will be observed in National level.

Disbursement of the Funds:

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The candidate must submit the online application form Together with applicable enclosures cited in the Info Booklet. The candidate must also pay an application fee through online for Rs. 500/ in regard to General/OBC class students and also for Rs. 250/ with regard to reserved category students (SC/ ST/PH).

Please be aware that no Corrections/ additions/deletions into the recommendation format is allowed. Changes to the format of this forwarding / recommendation notice won’t be accepted.

The application number given during the online registration ought to be quoted in all correspondences. If the The changed application number might be quoted in most scenarios.

Short-listed candidates will get Interview Call/Admission letter from the respective NDF Coordinator Of the Institute, in which they’ve applied to find admission. The Principal Coordinator NDF won’t send any Call letter to the candidate directly.

Interview schedule is final and can’t be changed/ changed under any conditions. Candidates may plan their journey accordingly.

Important Dates: • • • • • • •

Portal opening date : May 07, 2018 Access to on line submission of applications : May 12, 2018 Closing of on line applications submission : June 10, 2018 Display of final list of students eligible for interview : June 14, 2018 Interviews at selected academic institutions : June 18, 2018 – July 10, 2018 Display of selected candidates and their allotted institutes : July 15, 2018 Reporting at institute by candidates : July 31, 2018

The candidate will be provided the fellowship of Rs. 28,000/- a month + House rent allowance where the hostel accommodation/ Institute lodging isn’t available according to the prices of Ph.D. Processing Methodology: Candidates will be identified by the National Nodal Centre of AICTE according to the functions and responsibilities of National Nodal Centre.

How to Apply: •

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Candidate should See the Site http:// aicte-ndf.psgtech.ac.in for submitting online application, updated Information associated with: receipt of completed application, candidates called for interview, chosen list of candidates along with the other information pertaining to NDF admission.

Candidate must read the info booklet available from the aforementioned website thoroughly before completing the fields In the online application.

Candidate should Be sure appropriate Institute / Discipline codes have been chosen, all applicable details are filled in the respective fields.

Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research | 100 Fellowships Available Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research official notification has been announced. There are over a 100 Fellowships that are available and to top it off, this scheme is open throughout the year. You can be an early bird applicant and apply by 25th May 2018 to be considered for the fellowship. Check out details below:

About the Scheme: Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) for human resource capacity building for industrial R&D was recognized as one of the main deliverables by a Sub-committee of Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry.

Among the main recommendations that arose from the Private Sector is to design, build and execute a Doctoral Research Scheme under PPP for improving trust level in academia, research outfits and industry.

A unique strategy for 100 ‘Doctoral Research Fellowships’ annually was declared during the Inception Ceremony of the Indian Science Congress Association, in June 2012 at Kolkata. Vide Prime Minister’s Office ID No–3646245/2012-ES-II dated 2 November 2012; the Prime Minister’s Office accepted the suggestion of naming the ‘SERBCII Doctoral Fellowship Scheme’ as Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research.Afterward, the Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research was officially launched in the ‘AICTE-CII University-Industry Congress and 4th Global Higher Education Summit’ held in New Delhi.

Organisers: The Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research is currently a public-private partnership (PPP) between Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), that will be an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

About: This strategy is targeted at supporting young, gifted, enthusiastic and result-oriented scholars to take up industry-relevant research. Under this strategy, the fulltime PhD scholars receive double the money which they’d otherwise get for doing research. Maximum government fellowship in India at any given academic or research institute is roughly Rs 36,400 a month, including House Rent Allowance (HRA) for SRF category. Under the Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research, the scholars get twice the JRF/SRF as scholarship (according to applicable slabs). While one-half of the scholarship comes from the government, the next half comes out of a partner company that also works closely together with the candidate on the research endeavor. The very first batch started in 2013. The strategy was made open-ended because September 2014, permitting aspirants to employ anytime within 14 months out of their PhD enrollment.

Fellowships are conferred to 79 PM Fellows in the initial 3 years with over 30 institutes and over 50 businesses coming together to support the strategy. It’s envisaged that this strategy will finally bring large number of gifted students into pursuing PhD and on altering industry’s mind-set in buying R&D and recruitment more PhDs.

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Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

How to Apply?

tute signaling their commitment on traveling.

Scope of Finance:

You may apply for this fellowship via the web site www.primeministerfellowshipscheme.in.

Scientists selected for deputation overseas would be supplied 100% travel assistance (

by Air India Excursion class air fare ) from INSA. The getting Academy/Organization would offer local hospitality including internal traveling overseas.

Following is a step-by-step manual for the application procedure:• • •

• • • •

Register as a student on the gateway www.primeministerfellowshipscheme. in.

Download the Call for Proposal and Document Checklist.

Tie up with a business and find the essential undertakings signed by a legitimate signatory in the company in addition to from the host institute.

Gather all documents and make digital copies of each.

Fill out the application form online (the form can’t be downloaded and requires internet connectivity whilst filling).

Submit application.

Don’t send any physical copy of the application / documents to CII.

Nominees will need to refer to Annexure I in the Call for Proposal document that’s available on the home page of this portal www.primeministerfellowshipscheme.in. All of the essential documents and information necessary to be given ought to be collected before completing the online application.

Deadline: The scheme is open-ended and the scholars may apply anytime during the year subject to the state that the doctoral fellow should taken admission in fulltime PhD in last 14 months from the date of entry of application at any recognized Indian university / institute / research lab. In the event of another admission / registration and enrollment date, the first date of entry in fulltime PhD will be considered.

In the event of any dispute concerning entry date, the decision of the Apex Council is going to be deemed as final. No hard copies of any type have to be delivered to CII; just soft copies are needed to be uploaded as suggested in the form.

To be eligible to apply, student should have obtained admission in fulltime PhD in last 14 months by the date of submission of application in virtually any recognized Indian university / institute / research lab. In the event of another admission / registration and enrollment date, the initial date of admission at fulltime PhD will be considered.

Apply before 25th May 2018 to be assessed in the next round of selection. But this having an open-ended scheme, you may apply anytime during the year and your application will be considered within the next council meeting.

Criteria for Selection:

INSA Bilateral Exchange Programme 2019 | Opportunity For Indian Scientists to Work Abroad Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Under Bilateral Exchange Programme 2019 official notification has been announced. Indian National Science Academy Exchange Programme with Foreign Academies and Organisations official notification for indian nationals. Check out all of the details on the same below: Applications are invited from scientists / researchers holding Ph.D. degree and Having routine positions in established S&T institutions/universities and actively participated in research in frontline areas for deputation overseas during the Calendar year 2019 in most areas of Science such as Engineering, Medicine & Agriculture for short-term visits ( 2-4 weeks to senior scientists) and longterm visits (3 months for junior/younger scientists) under the Scientific Bilateral Exchange Programme with abroad Academies/ Organizations at China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Nepal, Philippines, Poland, Scotland, Slovak Republic and Republic of Slovenia, Sudan, Taiwan & Turkey.

The comprehensive guidelines and application form may be downloaded in download form section of http://www.insaindia.res.in.

The hard copy of application duly completed and endorsed by the Head of the Institution must be submitted latest by July 31, 2018 into Deputy Executive Director- I (Scientific), Indian National Science Academy, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi – 110002. The soft copy of whole application (only PDF file only) needs to be email to: intacademy@insa. nic.in Please include Name, Area of Research and Proposed Country in the subject line of email. The soft copy filename ought to be stored as: Title of Applicant_Proposed Country. Incomplete applications will be rejected and no additional correspondence will likely be made.

The Criteria for choice would largely be the scientific involvement of this nominee and the Function of this Visit, which could be acceptable to the host scientist.

Short term visits are mainly for two to four months for holding scientific conversations, providing a series of Seminars and workshops, projecting Indian science overseas.

It’s expected that short-term people are well recognized Indian scientists who are successful Ambassadors of Indian Science. Under long-term category, the scientists have been expected to operate primarily in 1 institute using a brief trip to some other allied institutes.

If a scientist wants to attend a conference/ scientific meeting during his trip abroad under the Exchange Programme, the length of the convention should generally be not greater than a fourth of their full stay in the nation.

Scientists who suggest to see overseas only to attend the Symposium/Conference, need not apply under this programme.

Under the exchange programme together with the Academy in France just Fellows of the Academy would be considered for nomination.

The trip ought to be availed of at the exact same calendar year. Failure to do this can render them to forfeit the nomination.

Research Areas for Poland: Visits to Poland will be organized only under the following identified regions. For other countries you will find No specific identified regions.

Poland: Biological Sciences such as Medical Sciences: Experimental Biology such as Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Microbiology and Developmental Biology, Immunology and Transplantology; Pharmacology such as Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology; Tropical Biology with specific References to Systematics and Reproductive Biology; Environmental Sciences; Agricultural Sciences Such as Forestry.

Application Process: Please be aware that in no situation will a nominee contact with the collaborating Academy of the host nation. In case such cases are reported, the Indian National Science Academy is going to be constrained to fall the proposal of the concerned scientist.

Application received after due date and Incomplete program, whatsoever, will be refused by the Academy.

Complete application form (one soft and one hard copy) and all the necessary enclosures i.e. invitation letter Etc. should be filed at the latest by July 31, 2018 to: Deputy Executive Director- I (Scientific), Indian National Science Academy Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi — 110002 <intacademy@insa.nic.in> Deadline: latest by July 31, 2018

Eligibility & Application Procedure: Applications are invited from Indian Nationals due to the Academy for another calendar year. The applicant must be a scientist holding a regular position in a recognized S & T Institution/University and actively participated in research work in frontline areas.

He/She shouldn’t have been overseas during the previous 3 years under some INSA Programme. The scientist must have been approved to operate in an Institute/Laboratory from the nation to be seen and this ought to be encouraged by a letter of invitation by the host overseas. People who would like to go to overseas for three months must submit a comprehensive programme of the collaborative research work to be performed. All applications must be forwarded through proper channel from the employer/head of this Insti-

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Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

ADMISSIONS

4-6 Months Research Training with project @ NABI, Mohali NABI, Mohali has announced the notification for Opportunity for 4 to 6 months (July to December 2018) Research Training with project at NABI, Mohali. NABI, Mohali is recruiting for research trainees with project opportunity. Check out all of the details on the same given below: Opportunity for 4 to 6 months (July to December 2018) Research Training with project at NABI, Mohali National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Mohali, is a Research & Development Institute under Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India. The institute includes cutting edge research surrounding multiple research areas which includes agricultural biotechnology, epigenetics, computational biology & bioinformatics, post-harvest engineering, nutritional and food science and engineering. To impart high excellent instruction beforehand regions of biotechnology to students of under-graduation (BSc & B.Tech) and post- collaboration (MSc&M. Tech), Applications are invited from motivated applicants with higher amount of creativity, innovative ideas, and communicating abilities.

1. A seat fee of Rs. 5000/- Per month and GST @ 18 percent for 4 to 6 weeks per trainee will be billed by the institute in the pupils or sponsoring institutes following choice by online transfer to NABI, Mohali.

The fee needs to be deducted before beginning of this instruction. If any student would like to cancel the supported training before its beginning, an administrative fee (20 percent) could be deducted from NABI. The refund won’t be made if the cancellation request is hunted throughout training period.

2. The practice period should be for 4 to 6 weeks between July to December. The Training will be run in NABI’s most important campus and coaching project should be included range of NABI mandates.

3. The training will be in one of 4 regions – i) Food Science and Technology ii) Nutrition Science and Technology, iii) Agricultural Biotechnology, and iv) Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. Aside from laboratory functions, trainee could be asked to involve research functions in area and growth/tissue-culture chambers for both testing and growing research materials.

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4. NABI may arrange lodging in hostels or guest home (shared) in NABI’s Prescribed speed, if accessible.

5. NABI won’t reimburse any health care asserts that incurred during instruction.

6. The Amount of trainees to be required will depend on the scientist’s need from time to time.

7. The Choice of trainees will likely be through screening cum selection committee according to Academic merit and expertise 8. Opportunities are also available for longterm or short-term coaching sponsored programs By government agencies like DST, DBT, INSA,NASI, etc. with no fee.

9. The prescribed program format is available on NABI Site (http://www.nabi.res.in/ Training.aspx). It ought to send by post to Administrative officer, National AgriFood Biotechnology Institute, Sector-81, Knowledge City, SAS Nagar, Mohali, Punjab-140306.

10. Documents to be filed: 1) A full application application form (downloaded in NABI) 2) Application form offered by Head of Department or Dean or Registrar or Head of institute on letter head, if candidate is currently pursuing a diploma.

11. The final date of program to achieve NABI: June 15, 2018 from 5:30 PM 12. Stipend:No

for Biotechnology, Faridabad, an Institution of National Importance as recognized by the Parliament of India.

Number of seats: 20 (There will be reservation of seats for students from SC, ST, OBC and PWD classes in accordance with the regulations of Govt.

Of India in this respect).

Eligibility Criteria: Indian Nationals with 60% aggregate marks (or an equivalent grade point average) in Bachelor’s degree in almost any Branch of Science, Engineering, or Medicine are eligible to apply for entry. Students from SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), and PWD groups shall be extended a relaxation of 5% aggregate marks. Students in the last year of the qualifying degree program are also eligible to apply provided they produce an evidence of having secured the necessary marks in their undergraduate degree program in the time of admission to the Integrated MSc-PhD program. The candidate must be under 25 years old, according to 10th July, 2018.

Eligible students need to appear for an Entrance Exam conducted by ILS, Bhubaneswar. Shortlisted students, according to their performance in the exam, will be called for an interview for their final selection into the Integrated MSc-PhD program. The interview will be to evaluate the student for their science aptitude and interest in a career in scientific research and advancement.

Application Procedure:

Integrated MSc-PhD Biotechnology Admission 2018 @ ILS, Bhubaneswar Integrated MSc-PhD in Biotechnology August 2018 at Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar has been announced. 20 seats are available for bsc candidates from various science background. ILS Bhubaneswar Integrated Biotech Admission 2018 Notification and all its details are given below: Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, invites applications from the motivated students for entrance to the Integrated MSc-PhD degree program in Biotechnology for the session beginning from August 2018.

Duration of Course: The whole period of this Integrated MScPhD degree program will be for no less than five years and a maximum of 7 years. For additional information, please consult with ILS webpage. https://www.ils.res.in/integrated-msc-phd/ Affiliation: Degree will be given by Regional Centre

• Tentative date of interview: 31st July, 2018.

Interested and qualified candidates may fill-up the prescribed application form as available in ILS Site (www.ils.res.in ). Duly filled-up application together with self-attested copies of applicable certifications and demand draft ought to be sent to “The Director, Institute of Life Sciences, Nalco Square, Bhubaneswar 751023”. The application should reach the Institute on or before the final date. Applications received after the final date won’t be accepted. The envelope ought to be super scribed with “Application for Integrated MScPhD program”.

List of candidates chosen for the entrance examination and interview will be released in the Institute Site (www.ils.res.in ).

Application Fees: Applicants except SC/ST applicants are expected to send a non refundable D.D. for Rs.500/- in favour of “Director, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar” payable at Bhubaneswar along with duly filled-in application form by the date cited below, for each research field.

Director, ILS reserves the right to withdraw the process without assigning any reasons thereof.

Important dates: • Last date of receiving applications: 9th June, 2018.

• Date of display of short-listed candidates for entrance exam: 15th June, 2018.

• Tentative date of entrance exam: 10th July, 2018.

PhD Programme Admission 2018 @ NIBMG, Kalyani PhD admissions 2018 for msc candidates at NIBMG, Kalyani. National Institute of Biomedical Genomics Kalyani PhD Programme Admission 2018. National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG) PhD Programme Admissions 2018. Check out details on the same below: NIBMG is accepting applications from eligible candidates to pursue doctoral research, leading to a PhD Degree, in the areas of Biomedical Sciences in the institute under the mentorship of NIBMG faculty. Research on Biomedical Genomics encompasses research on all facets of genetics and genomics in relation to human disease and health, as well as validation by cellular and molecular biology methods. A typical PhD student would get opportunity to be trained in the cutting edge laboratory technologies as well as computational and statistical methods. NIBMG is now engaged in several multi-center collaborations and hence the pupils will have exposure to inter-institutional environment.

Specific projects will have lot of interdisciplinary elements.

The broad Regions of research on which pupils are expected to function are listed under: • • • • •

Cancer Genomics and Epigenomics Genomics and Epigenomics of Complex Human Diseases (such as Microbiome Biology) Genomics and Epigenomics of contagious Disease Biology Systems Biology and Computational Biology Statistical Genomics

15% OF THE SEATS ARE RESERVED FOR THE SC CATEGORY, 7.5 percent FOR THE ST CATEGORY AND 27 percent FOR NONCREAMY LAYER OBC CATEGORY. CERTIFICATES FROM RELEVANT AUTHORITIES ARE TO BE PROVIDED AS PROOF BEFORE THE INTERVIEW. The minimum eligibility criteria for accepting pupils at NIBMG to pursue research leading to Ph.D. level are: •

Nominees in general category should have secured at least 55% aggregate in Master’s degree. This Will be relaxed

Vol. 02 NO 21

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for reserved categories since they’re just necessary to successfully complete Master’s degree.

Nominees in general category should have secured at least 55% aggregate in Master’s degree. This Will be relaxed for reserved categories since they’re just necessary to successfully complete Master’s degree.

An applicant must have passed the NET conducted by CSIR/UGC/ICMR/ DBT/NBHM and Have to possess A valid award letter of Junior Research Fellowship from CSIR, UGC, ICMR, DBT, NBHM. Candidates who are qualified for Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship or some other fellowship for the reserved categories are invited to apply.

Preference will be given to applicants with demonstrable research training in the form of summer training or shortterm courses in established research labs in preparation for a research career in biomedical sciences. This condition isn’t applicable to people belonging to reserved categories.

How to Apply: Please apply online through web hyperlink http://apply.nibmg.ac.in/ (no other kind of application will be approved). Please indicate online if you belong to a reserved category or the general category.

Short-listed candidates will be called for a Formal interview.

Last Date: 5 PM of 7th June, 2018

May 22nd, 2018. funding agencies and industries namely, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and Department of AYUSH. Our students continue to secure positions in graduate schools for MS/Ph.D at universities of International/National repute such as Max Planck Institutes, John Hopkins, Georgia Tech, Keck Graduate Institute, Penn State, IITs etc. among others. Many students have been selected in core biotechnology firms Panacea Biotech, Cadilla Biotech, Ranbaxy, and Premas Biotech Ltd. Thrust Areas of research 1) Centre for Emerging Diseases • • • • • • • •

2) Plant & Microbial Biotechnology • • • •

A. Eligibility Criteria:

• •

Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida has announced Department of Biotechnology PhD & MTech Admissions 2018. JIIT, Noida MTech & PhD Admissions 2018 – Dept. of Biotechnology. Interested and eligible candidates check out all of the details on the same below: About the Department: Biotechnology department is actively engaged in basic as well as translational research encompassing fields like genomics and proteomics, drug target discovery, microbial biodiversity, bioremediation, Plant Biotechnology, Natural Products and their molecular mechanism, nanobiotechnology, bioprocess and industrial biotechnology.

The research emphasis is reflected in the active doctoral program (30 students pursuing PhD and 25 completed), 330 publications in International/National journals, and 30 sponsored research projects totaling approximately INR- 9 Crores from premier national

Bioremediation Bioresources Environmental Biotechnology Natural Products & Molecular Mechanism

Admission Notification:

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Biotechnology PhD & MTech Admissions 2018 @ Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida

Emerging Diseases Bioinformatics RNAi Technology Genomics Nano Drug Delivery System Biosensors Nanoparticles Diagnostics and Therapeutics

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For M.Tech: Qualifying examination must be cleared with at least 60% marks or 6.0 CGPA on 10 point scale) Masters in lifesciences, 4 years Bachelors degree in Lifesciences / Agriculture, MBBS, B.VSc and B.Pharm, B.Tech-Biotech.

For Ph.D: M.Tech Degree of a University or equivalent for Ph.D. in Engineering / Technology in respective branch with 60% Aggregate Marks or CGPA not less than 6 on scale of 10.

Master’s Degree of a University for Ph.D. in Sciences / Humanities / Social Sciences / Management / Pharmacy in respective discipline or equivalent with 60% Aggregate marks or CGPA not less than 6 on scale of 10.

M.C.A. Degree with 60% Aggregate Marks or equivalent CGPA and two years experience for Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering / Information Technology Departments.

Consistently good academic performance is desirable.

B. Admission Procedure •

For M.Tech: On the basis of GATE score card.

or On the basis of Entrance test (PGET) conducted by the institute.

• For Ph.D: Admission shall be based on personal interview of eligible candidates only. Each eligible candidate will have to give a short presentation before the interview committee in the area of research interest.

The eligibility criteria for interview shall be determined as under : (a) Satisfying the requirements of minimum qualification specified in eligibility criteria.

(b) NET/SLET/UGC/CSIR(JRF) or equivalent national level examination qualified candidates.

OR Shortlisted on the basis of merit in PhD entrance test conducted by JIIT. MAJOR RESEARCH FACILITIES • • • • • • • • • •

Animal Tissue Culture Lab Plant Tissue Culture Lab Micro RNA technology Lab Comparative and functional Genomics Lab Microbial Biotechnology Lab Genetics Lab Nanobiotechnology Lab Protein Purification Lab Structural Biology Lab Bioinformatics Lab

DATES TO REMEMBER: Important Dates for Ph.D Admissions Last date for Receipt of Applications : 31st May 2018 • •

Ph.D Entrance Test : 4th June 2018 Interview Date : 5th June 2018

Important Dates for M.Tech Admissions Last date for Receipt of Applications : 31st May 2018 •

M.Tech Entrance Test (PGET) : 4th June 2018

and medicine. It covers fundamental cell and molecular biology, population biology, statistics, human genetics, genomics, clinical genetics and genetic counselling. The curriculum consists of lectures, laboratory work, seminars and discussions and includes a strong component of research, case studies and activity-based learning.

The programme can be viewed as a first step towards a professional career in human genetics, disease diagnostics and allied bio-medical fields or towards advanced studies leading to a Ph.D. or MD degree.

Eligibility: A Bachelor’s degree in any area of biology or medicine. Motivated candidates with an undergraduate degree from other streams can also apply. Selection will be based on a national-level online test followed by an interview. Students appearing for the final year exam as well those who are waiting for the results may also apply.

Fees: Subject to University approval, the course fees are estimated to be Rs. 1,75,000/- for the two-year course. Fee concession is available to eligible applicants.

Important Dates: • • • • •

Last date for receiving applications : Friday, 25th May 2018; for details see: www.chg.res.in Date of online test : Sunday, 27th May 2018 Interview dates : Between 5th and 6th June 2018 Programme starts on : Monday, 23rd July 2018 For application forms, queries and correspondence : mscapp@chg.res. in; Mobile: 9482864314

M.Sc. in Human Disease Genetics 2018-2020 Admissions @ Centre for Human Genetics Official notification for M.Sc. Human Disease Genetics Admission 2018-2020 at Centre for Human Genetics, Bengaluru has been announced. Candidates with a Bachelor’s degree in any area of biology or medicine are eligible to apply. For more details on the overview of the programme, eligibility, fees, application forms etc. check the information given below: CENTRE FOR HUMAN GENETICS Biotech Park, Electronics City Phase I, Bangalore 560 100 M.Sc. in Human Disease Genetics (2018-2020) (Degree awarded by Bangalore University) The Centre for Human Genetics, Bangalore, invites applications for admission to the M.Sc. programme in Human Disease Genetics for the session 2018-2020.

This is a unique interdisciplinary programme at the interface of modern biology

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Vol. 02 NO 21

May 22nd, 2018.

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