nurturing science director’s message issue 4€¦ · dr. neelu joshi made an oral presentation on...

Faculty Achievements

Research Publications Uchgaonkar P., Padmadas N., Singh S., Dasgupta D. (2018). Screening and identification of

siderophore producing marine bacteria. Global Journal of Bio-Science and Biotechnology; 7(3),

457-461.

Palamthodi S., Kadam D., Lele, S. (2018). Extraction and characterization of natural en-

zymes from bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) and effect of enzyme inhibitors in extending the

shelf life of bottle gourd cut pieces. Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization; 12(3),

2103-2109.

Bhori M., Singh K., Marar T., Chilakapati M. K. (2018). Explor ing the effect of vitamin E in

cancer chemotherapy—A biochemical and biophysical insight. Journal of Biophotonics; 11(9),

e201800104.

Thomas T., Nagare S., Garse, S. (2018). The role of PFEMP1 DBL3X in placental malaria.

Research Journal of Life Sciences, Bioinformatics, Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences; 4 (3):1.

Dhangar S., Kumar C.S., Chandrakala S., Vundinti, B. R. (2018). Imatinib resistance due to a novel

and rare class of mutation at position S348 (1043nt C→ A) of Bcr/Abl gene in a chronic myeloid

leukemia patient. Leukemia Research; 72, 96-98.

Director’s Message Issue –4

...Nurturing Science

CONTENTS

DIRECTOR’S

MESSAGE

FACULTY

ACHEIVEMENTS

STUDENTS’

ACHEIVEMENTS

EVENTS

RESEARCH

CONTRIBUTION OF

STUDENTS’

It is indeed very encouraging to publish the 4th edition of the Sci-entific Newsletter titled ‘Vigyaan Pravah@SBB’. The activities presented in this newsletter are about scientific deliberation and actual technological event such as Technoczar happening at the School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. Happy to note that scientific innovation planning, discussion and execution have all taken place at the School during the period from August, 2018 to January 2019. The active participation of highly motivated stu-dents and dedicated teachers in all scientific and technological events at the School has created a fertile ground for the quest of knowledge. Promotion of excellence in research is a priority and

quality research publications are proof of the same. The learning ecosystem in the School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics is vibrant with stu-dents interaction with industry and renowned National Academia.

https://phys.org/news/2013-07-buckling-marine-microbes-high-speed-

mechanical.html

Kaur P., Waghmare R., Kumar V., Rasane P., Kaur S., Gat Y. (2018). Recent advances in utilization

of flaxseed as potential source for value addition. Oilseeds and Fats, Crops and Lipids: 25(3): A304, 1

- 11.

Vibha A., Jossy V., Joshi N. (2018). Antioxidant potential of fruit peel waste of two species of An-

nonaceae and detection of spathulenol and β-Pimaric acid as major bioactive compounds by GC-MS.

Current Pharma Research; 9(1), 2695 - 2715.

Fernandesa C. G., Sonawane S. K., Arya S. S. (2019). Cereal based functional beverages: a re-

view. Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology and Food Sciences, 8(3),914 - 919.

Ahmad I., Bhat I. A., Jagtap D. D., Balasinor N. H., Kumar C. S., Chanu T. I., Rani B., Dar S.A., Leya

T., Gora A.H., Saharan N. (2019). Computational and biological approach for studying structure-

function of inhibin chimeric peptide antibodies in Clarias batrachus. Aquaculture; 501, 153-160.

Gupta PP, Bastikar VA, Chhajed SS. Chemical Structure Databases in Drug Discovery. In 2019.

p. 47–61. Source Title: Computer Applications in Drug Discovery and Development

Available from: http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/978-1-5225-7326-

5.ch002

Memberships

Dr. Roji Waghmare was the member of assessment panel of Export Inspection Council, Govern-

ment of India. The inspection was carried out for fruit products at M/s Frigorifica Allana Private Lim-

ited, Gevari village, Aurangabad on 14th August, 2018.

Research Publications

Hundare A., Dhaytadak B., Kudale, S., Joshi, N. (2018). Growth kinetics and diosgenin estimation from callus cultures of Costus

speciosus (Koen. ex. Retz.). Natural Product Research; 32(15), 1809-1816.

Shetty P. M. V., Qadri Z. H., Murarka A., Mittal H., David M., Vidhate D. A., Thomas J. (2018). Study of association of MTHFR 677 C

→ T gene polymorphism in coronary artery disease. International Journal of Recent Trends in Science and Technology; 27 (2), 01 - 07.

Kumar C.S., Devarajan S. (2018). Identification of potential lead molecules for Zika envelope Protein from in Silico Perspec-

tive. Avicenna Journal of Medical Biotechnology; 11(1), 94-103.

Sonawane S. K., Patil S. P., Arya S. S. (2018). Nanotechnology enrolment in food and food safety. Journal of Microbiology, Bio-

technology & Food Sciences; 1,8(3).

Jamadar R., Gupta S., Manoj S. (2018). An evaluation of plankton diversity and abundance of Meena river with reference to pollution.

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology; 5 (1), 118 - 122.


CERTAIN PEOPLE – MEN,

OF COURSE – DISCOUR-

AGED ME, SAYING SCI-

ENCE AS NOT A GOOD

CAREER FOR WOMEN.

THAT PUSHED ME EVEN

MORE TO PERSEVERE."

- Francoise Barré,

Virologist and winner of

the 2008 Nobel Prize in


Issue No 4

Memberships

Dr. Shanooba P M was invited to attend Board of Studies (Food Technology) meeting at

Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil College, Vashi on 29th August, 2018.

Dr. Sunita Singh attended the meeting of Board of Studies - Biomedical Sciences on 10th Oc-

tober, 2018 at MGM Institute of Health Sciences, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai.

Dr. Roji Waghmare attended Assessment Panel Audit for renewal of approval of the estab-

lishment for Export under FSMSC system of Certification Scheme for Fruit Products (CSFP) on

11th October 2018 at M/s. Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd., Raigad, Maharashtra.

Mr. Pramodkumar Gupta was accepted as a member of organizing committee of Interna-

tional Conference and Expo on Proteomics and Molecular Medicine held at Chicago on 7th - 8th

December, 2018.

Dr. Arpita Gupte attended the Doctoral Research Committee meeting on 14th and 15th De-

cember, 2018 at Faculty of Applied Sciences, Parul University, Gujrat.

Workshops/Seminars/ Conference/Refresher course attended Mr. Pramodkumar Gupta was the co-author for a poster entitled 'SAR & QSAR Analysis of

Comptothecin (CPT) as Topoisomerase 1 Inhibiitors using Molecular Modelling Techniques'

presented at 2nd International Online Conference on Biological Sciences (IOCBS 2018) held on

22nd July, 2018.

Ms. Divya Subramanian participated in the course 'Medical Image Computing: Machine-

Learning methods and Advanced-MRI applications' conducted at Global Initiative for Academic

Network - IIT- Bombay on 23rd to 27th July, 2018.

Dr. Shine Devarajan participated in the NPTEL workshop conducted on August 2nd, 2018

by IIT Madras at NPTEL, IIT Bombay.

Mr. Ashish Dabade attended FSSAI training in 'Manufacturing-Trainer' held

on 7th August, 2018.

Dr. Debjani Dasgupta participated in SSIEM 2018 Annual Symposium " Old

Roads, New Connections" held on 4th - 7th September, 2018 at Athens, Greece

IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE

ON THE RIGHT TRACK, IF

YOU HAVE THIS INNER

KNOWLEDGE, THEN NO-

BODY CAN TURN YOU

OFF... NO MATTER WHAT

THEY SAY."

— Barbara McClintock,

cytogeneticist and winner

of the 1983 Nobel Prize in

Physiology or Medicine


Dr. Debjani Dasgupta at SSIEM 2018 Annu-al Symposium, Greece

Workshops/Seminars/ Conference/Refresher course attended

Ms. Nidhi Sharma and Ms. Shreedevi Kulkarni participated in the One day Industry Inter face program ' Imaging for the Future

- Ultrasonography at Siemens Healthcare Pvt, Ltd, Mumbai on 25th September, 2018.

Dr. Thankamani. Marar, Dr. Sunita Singh, Dr. Liji Thayil, Dr. Naveen Padmadas, Dr. Neelu Joshi, Dr. Jyoti Patki, Ms. Smitha

Mathew and Dr. Namita Mukherjee participated in workshop on NAAC organized on 30th September, 2018 by School of Dentistry,

D. Y. Patil Deemed To Be University, Navi Mumbai.

Dr. Mala Parab received Best Poster award for the poster entitled " Determination of SOD, CAT, POD, GR under induced salini-

ty stress among Luffa varieties' presented at the National Conference on Innovations in Food, Environment and Healthcare - 2018" held

on 28th - 29th September 2018 at the School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, D. Y. Patil Deemed To Be University, Navi Mumbai.


"I HADN'T BEEN AWARE

THAT THERE WERE DOORS

CLOSED TO ME UNTIL I

STARTED KNOCKING ON

THEM."

— Gertrude B. Elion, bio-

chemist, pharmacologist,

and winner of the 1988 No-

bel Prize in Physiology or

Medicine

Ms. Sunita Jadhav attended the T10KL workshop on 'Koha and Library automation' held at

the Terna Engineering College on 12th October, 2018 at National Virtual Library of India, funded

by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Mr. Ganesh Dhamal completed the NPTEL online certificatoin course on ' Introduction to

Abstract and Linear Algebra held in November 2018.

Dr. Shine Devrajan and Mr. Ganesh Dhamal participated in the NPTEL Workshop conduct-

ed on 29th November, 2018 by IIT Madras at MIT Academy of Engineering, Pune.

Ms. Sunita Jadhav participated in he NPTEL Workshop counducted on 29th November, 2018

by IIT Madras at MIT Academy of Engineering, Pune.

Ms. Shreedevi Kulkarni, Ms. Nidhi Sharma, Dr. Naveen Padmadas attended the REDX global

club meet at DISQ held on 13th November , 2018 at Nashik.

Dr. Srimoyee Banerjee completed the NPTEL-AICTE Faculty Development Programme and

Online Certification course on 'Functional Genomics' in the term August - September 2018.

Dr. Sourav Ghosh completed the NPTEL Faculty Development Programme and Certificate

course on 'Nanotechnology in Agriculture', in the term August - Ocotober 2018.

Mr. Pramodkumar Gupta delivered a session and conducted a Two Day workshop on

"Metabolomics and Protein Molecular Dynamics Simulation" on 19th November and 26th November

2018 at AIB, Amity University, Mumbai

Dr. Manish Bhat participated in he NPTEL Workshop conducted on 6th December, 2018 by

IIT Madras at SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai. 2018.

Dr. Sunita Singh made an oral presentation on " Effect of Agnihotra Ash to Combat the Salt

Stress in Seedlings of Luffa acutangula" at the 8th World Ayurveda Congress and Arogya Expo

2018, Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gujrat Univeristy , Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 14th - 17th

December, 2018


Issue No 4

Workshops/Seminars/ Conference/Refresher course attended

Ms. Sunita Jadhav participated in the one day Annual Lecture Series - 2018 "Next Genera-

tion Libraries: The Way Forward" organized by BOSLA and MMRDA Library on 8th December,

2018 at MMRDA, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.

Dr. Sachin Sonawane and Ms. Sonal Patil Par ticipated in 8th International Food Conven-

tion #IFCoN2018 organized by AFSTI during 12th - 15th December 2018 at CSRI-CFTRI, My-

sore, India.

Ms. Sneha Dokhale delivered a session on “Phylogenetic Analysis” at Birla College, Kalyan on

8th January, 2019.

Ms. Divya Subramanian, Dr. Naveen Padmadas, Ms. Nidhi Sharma and Mr. Mustansir

Bhori participated in 5 Day National Boot Camp / STTP, organized by Gujrat University in

coordination with IIT Bombay from 9th to 13th January, 2019, held for Development of Virtual

Labs and have been entitled as Virtual Labs Silver Developers.

Dr. Debjani Dasgupta participated and contributed as Chairperson for the oral sessions in

the 7th MPAI Annual Conference held from 12 - 13th January, 2019 at ACTREC, Navi Mumbai.

Dr. Debjani Dasgupta attended the International Symposium on Biotechnology and Chem-

istry Innovations for Societal Benefits (ISBCIS-2019) on the 9th January, 2019 at University of

Mumbai.

Mr. Pramodkumar Gupta was a resource person for Faculty Development Programme and

Workshop on Elementry Concepts of Systems Biology and Molecular Modeling organized by

AIB, Amity University, Mumbai on 10th and 11th January, 2019.

Dr. Neelu Joshi made an oral presentation on 'Therapeutic potential of fruit peel of Annona

Sps.' at UGC sponsered International Conference on Fostering Interdisciplinary Research in

Medicines organized by Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur from 19th to 21st January,

2019.

Dr. Debjani Dasgupta was the co- author of a poster entitled "Cerebral energy deficit and oxida-

tive stress associated with Ammonia toxicity to the brain in urea cycle disorders" at conference of

the International society of inborn errors in metabolism, held at Pune from 18th-19th January,

2019.

Mr. Pramodkumar Gupta attended One Day International Symposium on Streamlining

Drug Design organized by Zastra Innovation Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore and held at Royal Orchid Cen-

tral Grazia, Vashi, Navi Mumbai on 24th January, 2019.

Dr. Senthil Arun Kumar was invited as a guest speaker in Academic Exchange Activities

from October 25th to 29th at Henan Children's Hospital, China.

"WITH MEN YOU'RE EX-

PECTED TO DO WELL AND

GET THE SUPPORT, BUT

FOR FEMALES, YOU HAVE

TO SACRIFICE SOME-

THING IN A DIFFERENT

WAY FROM MEN... I

THINK IT'S VERY IM-

PORTANT FOR OTHER

WOMAN TO SEE THAT I

HAVE HAD SUCCESS."

— May-Britt Moser, neu-

rologist and winner of the

2014 Nobel Prize in Physi-

ology or Medicine



"LET US CHOOSE FOR

OURSELVES OUR PATH IN

LIFE, AND LET US TRY TO

STREW THAT PATH WITH

FLOWERS."

— Emilie du Chatelet,

mathematician, physicist,

and author

Judges/Examiners

Dr. Debjani Dasgupta was the external examiner for a Ph.D. thesis of the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune.

Dr. Roji Waghmare was the judge for Recipe Competition organized in' National Nutrition Week 2018' celebrated at Institute of

Chemical Technology on 7th September, 2018

Ms. Nilima Shivale was the External Examiner for the dual assessment of Paper V Semester V Microbiology held at K J So-

maiya College of Science & Commerce, Vidyavihar, Mumbai on 23rd October, 2018.

Dr. Namita Mukherjee was invited as an External Examiner for M.Sc. II Zoology practical examination at R. J . College of Arts,

Science & Commerce college, Mumbai on 31st October to 1st November, 2018.

Dr. Arpita Gupte was the External Examiner held at the Thadomal Sahani Engineering College, Bandra on 1st November, 2018.


Mr. Pramodkumar Gupta was the examiner for the subject Systems Biology of M.Sc. Bioinfor-

matics, semester - III, BVDU, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of IT & Biotechnology, Pune held on 1st De-

cember, 2018.

Dr. Arpita Gupte was the examiner for Open Defence Examination for M. Tech Pharmaceuti-

cal Biotechnology programme at Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai on 12th December,

2018.

Ms. Nilima Shivale was the External Examiner for Microbiology, M.Sc., K. J. Somaiya College

of Science & Commerce, Mumbai held on 6th - 8th December, 2018

Dr. Selvaa Kumar C was the External Examiner for Theory & Practical Examination in Bio-

technology & Genetics at MGM Medical College, Navi Mumbai on 14th December, 2018

Dr. Sunita Singh was the evaluator for Research Paper Presentation held at Rayat Vidnyan

Parishad 2018, organized by KBP College, Vashi on 29th December, 2018.

Reviewers

Dr. Manish Bhat reviewed a manuscript submitted to Journal of Applied Life Sciences in July

2018 and received a certificate of 'Excellence in Reviewing.'

Issue No 4

HUMANS ARE ALLERGIC TO

CHANGE. THEY LOVE TO SAY,

'WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS

WAY.' I TRY TO FIGHT THAT.

THAT'S WHY I HAVE A CLOCK

ON MY WALL THAT RUNS

COUNTER-CLOCKWISE.

- GRACE HOPPER

Students’ Achievements

Ms. Umrao Ankita (Ph.D) won the Best poster presentation award in poster competition for

an e-poster entitled “To Evaluate the Role of Swastharakshak in Cancer” at the International

Conference on Phytomedicine organized by Bharathiar University, Coimbatore on 29th - 31st

August, 2018.

Ms. Anshita Rai (M.Sc.Biotechnology) participated in the public speaking contest

“Voice of Biotechnology” West Zone ,Mumbai organized by Novozymes on 28th August,

2018.

Ms. Tanika Nair (B.Tech Food Science and Technology) participated in the Prelimi-

nary Round of FSSAI sponsored SKA Asia Quiz Competition on Food Safety held at Mum-

bai. She stood 3rd in the Mumbai Region held on 10th September, 2018.

Students of Biomedical Engineering participated in the One day industry interface program

on “Imaging for the Future – Ultrasonography” organized by the Siemens Healthcare Pvt.

Ltd. Mumbai on 25th September, 2018.

Mr. Omkar Salvi (B.Tech Biotechnology) was awarded Best Poster award for the post-

er entitled "Development of a reporter vector system for promoter expression analysis of

glucokinase gene in Zebrafish” presented under the theme "Health care” of the National

Conference on Innovations in Food Environment and Healthcare - 2018 organized by the

School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, D. Y. Patil Deemed to be University, Navi

Mumbai from 28th - 29th September, 2018.

Ms. Anshita Rai (M.Sc.Biotechnology) received consolation prize for the poster entitled

"Extraction of chlorogenic acid from green coffee beans for preservation against bread spoil-

age” presented under the theme "Food science" of the National Conference on Innovations in

Food, Environment and Healthcare – 2018 held at the School of Biotechnology and Bioinfor-

matics, D. Y. Patil Deemed to be University, Navi Mumbai from 28th - 29th September, 2018.

Ms. Rajshree Mokashi (Ph.D) won the Best oral presentation award for the paper entitled

"Develop an effective and commercially viable biologic product for human use out of condi-

tioned medium obtained from human dental pulp stem cell” presented under the theme

"Health care” of National Conference on Innovations in Food, Environment and Healthcare -

2018 organized by the School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, D. Y. Patil Deemed to

be University, Navi Mumbai from 28th - 29th September, 2018.

Students’ Achievements

"DON'T LET ANYONE ROB

YOU OF YOUR IMAGINA-

TION, YOUR CREATIVITY,

OR YOUR CURIOSITY."

— Mae Jemison, Physicist

and Astronaut

Ms. Prajnya Shetty (M.Sc.Food Science and Technology) received Best oral presentation award for the paper entitled "Extraction and

functional properties of crude protein from coffee silver skin and its cost effective application” presented under the theme "Food sci-

ence"of the National Conference on Innovations in Food, Environment and Healthcare - 2018 held at the School of Biotechnology and

Bioinformatics, D. Y. Patil Deemed to be University, Navi Mumbai held during 28th - 29th September, 2018.

Mr. Shaikh Hamad Hatim Mariyum (M.Sc.Food Science and Technology) received Dr. K. U. Naram Award (AFST - Mumbai

Chapter) for securing First Rank in M.Sc. Food Science and Technology from School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, D. Y. Patil

Deemed to be University, Navi Mumbai.

Mr. Ghosh Rakesh Bholanath Chitra (M.Sc.Food Science and Technology) received Dr. K. U. Naram Award (AFST - Mumbai

Chapter) for securing Second Rank in M.Sc. Food Science and Technology from School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, D. Y.

Patil Deemed to be University, Navi Mumbai.


Ms. Panda Soumyasudha Susanta Meenakshi (M.Sc.Food Science and Technology) received

Dr. K. U. Naram Award (AFST - Mumbai Chapter) for securing Third Rank in M.Sc. Food Science

and Technology from School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, D. Y. Patil Deemed to be Uni-

versity, Navi Mumbai.

Ms. Nikita Soni (M. Tech Integrated) presented a paper titled " The effect of p14ARF and YY1

Peptides in MDM2-p53 Mediated Oncogenic Pathway: An In-silico perspective" at International

Conference on Bioinformatics and System Biology - 2018 at Indian Institute of Information Technol-

ogy, Allahabad held on 26th - 28th October, 2018.

Students of M.Sc. GE/ BT programme attended a workshop on ‘Aromatherapy ‘organized by Aroma-

therapy Science and Innovation Centre, Pawane, MIDC on 15th December, 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WScPbvUwDno

Issue No 4

Events

A FOSTAC training on "Basic Catering, Level 1 and Basic Manufacturing - 1" was conducted at

School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics on 4th August, 2018 by Ms. Trupti Bhat and Ms. Deepika

Rathod.

Inter Collegiate Public Speaking contest- “Voice for Biotechnology” was held on 28th August, 2018 in

collaboration with multinational company Novozymes. Prof. Arvind Lali, Professor- Head, Center of

Energy Biosciences, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai was the Chief Guest. Students from

Universities of Western Zone of India participated in the event which was judged by Mr. Narayan

Suresh, (COO, ABLE), Mr. Krishna Mohan Puvvada (Director HHC MEIA, Novozymes) and Dr. Ad-

itya Basu (Sr. Department Manager, R&T, Novozymes). In this event, Ms. Pranjali Karkera, D.Y. Patil

Biotechnology & Bioinformatics Institute, Pune was the winner. The first and second runner up was

Ms. Shrithija Rai (MGM'S Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College) and Ms. Harsimaran Kaur (IITM).

All the contestants were awarded certificates and medallion.

"LIFE NEED NOT BE EASY,

PROVIDED ONLY THAT

IT IS NOT EMPTY."

— Lise Meitner, physicist

Soft Skill training programme Soft Skill training programme by Ms. Jyotsna Datar, Founder & Director, Demeter Training & Consultancy Services

Industry Institute Interactions - Conference/Workshops/Guest lectures

Soft Skill Training Programme was organized for Non-Teaching staff members on Saturday, 4th August, 2018. Ms. Jyotsna Datar,

Founder & Director, Demeter Training & Consultancy Services was the resource person. She elaborated on interpersonal skills, commu-

nication skills and effective time management skills.

Voice of Biotechnology, Inter Collegiate public speaking contest

Events

"SCIENCE AND EVERYDAY LIFE

CANNOT AND SHOULD NOT

BE SEPARATED."

— Rosalind Franklin, chemist

and X-ray crystallographer


Under graduate and Post graduate students of ICLE's MJ College, Vashi visited the School on 1st September, 2018. The students were

elaborated on the techniques of Plant Tissue Culture, Animal Tissue Culture and Demonstration of working of instruments like Gas

Chromatogram, Atomic Absorption Spectrometer and HPLC. Dr. Neelu Joshi, Mr. Mustansir Bhori and Dr. Subhash Kudale were the

resource person for various demonstrations.


A Five-day Dual Certificate programme workshop was initiated on the understanding and working

with Python. Different aspects like introduction to machine learning, working on different Ma-

chine Learning Algorithms, introduction to IBM Watson platform and advanced operations on

IBM Watson were touched upon. Engineering students from DYPU-SBB and RAIT attended the 5

-day workshop and got benefitted. The seminar was coordinated by Dr Naveen P, Assistant Pro-

fessor, DYPUNM - SBB. Skill Enhancement Program on Machine Learning was organized by the

school in association with Eduvance from 16th to 20th August 2018.

Seminar on Quality Management System (NABL & ISO 17025) was organized on 1st September

2018 for prefinal semester students of Biotechnology of Classes BBT VII, MTI IX, MBT III, MSc

GE III and MSc BT III. Mrs. Sunitee Dixit and Mr. Dixit, Director, Ashalini Laboratories, Panvel

were the speakers for the seminar. Main emphasis was on Quality Management

Systems, in which speakers majorly covered guidelines of NABL and ISO

17025 accreditation. In very lucid language Mrs Dixit explained all

GMP's,GLP's SOP's required for pharma industries to the students. She also

elaborated on Calibration of Glass wares, Industrial instruments, Media Design

etc.

Visit by students of ICL College, Vashi

Skill Enhancement Programme on Machine Learning

Issue No 4

Events

Institute Interactions - Conference/Workshops/Guest lectures

The School organized the 'National Nutrition Week 2018' on 11th September, 2018 jointly with Association of Food Scientists

and Technologists (India). The event was based on the theme “FSSAI-Eat Right Movement”. The celebration constituted of Pub-

lic Speaking, Recipe Making and Poster competitions based on theme. This was followed by a talk on 'Diet Nutrition for Healthy

Life' by Dr. Prakash Kondekar , Director, Indian Institute of Naturopathy, Mumbai.

.

Dr. Smith and Ms. Hema Ramachandran from Sheffield Hallam University visited

School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics on 14th September, 2018. The main

objective being the possible research collaborations and faculty & students exchange

programme. Dr. Smith also delivered a talk on “Parkinson's disease and its molecular

basis”.

“I WAS TAUGHT THAT THE

WAY OF PROGRESS WAS

NEITHER SWIFT NOR EASY."

— Marie Curie, physicist,

chemist, and winner of the

1903 Nobel Prize in Physics

and the 1911 Nobel Prize in

Physics

Celebration of National Nutrition Week-2018

Dr. Prakash Kondekar

Dr. Smith, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Mr. Vishal Kadam, DuPont India

Events

“AS ALWAYS IN LIFE, PEO-

PLE WANT A SIMPLE AN-

SWER . . . AND IT’S AL-

WAYS WRONG.”

— Susan Greenfield, neu-

rochemist currently re-

searching Parkinson's and

Alzheimer's diseases


A FOSTAC training on "Advanced Catering - Level 2" was initiated on 18th September, 2018. Ms. Trupti Bhat was the resource person

and the participants were from Burger king India Pvt Ltd., Western Region.

One day certificate program on Galaxy of Career Opportunities in Pharma-Biotech Sector was organized for student of B. Tech, M,

Tech, and M.Sc. Programmes on 26th September, 2018. The resource persons includes Dr. Mahesh Borande (Director, IPER, Pune), Mr.

Kapre (Pharma - Consultant, Ex. Senior Manager - Alembic Pvt., Ltd.), Mr. Rajendra Gokhale (Pharma - Consultant, Ex. VP - Bharat

Biotech, Hyderabad) & Mr. Sameer B. (Professional Trainer). Emphasis was given on drug development process, C-GMP, GMP and

SOP's of pharma-Biotech sector, QC methodology, importance of QA management and safety of products.


A FOSTAC training on "Advanced Catering - Level 2" was conducted on

25th & 26th September, 2018 in Punjab for participants from Burger king

India Pvt Ltd. Ms. Trupti Bhat was the resource person.

A mock HR and Technical Interview Rounds were organized on 27th Sep-

tember, 2018. Mrs.Jyotsna Datar, Mr. Bhushan Patil and Mr. Sagar Patil

(QA Manager, Enzene, Pune) conducted mock HR rounds for registered

students of prefinal semester of B. Tech, M. Tech & M.Sc. Programmes.

National Conference on Innovations in Food, Environment and Healthcare

was organized by the School on 28th - 29th September, 2018.

FOSTAC training on Advanced Catering - Level 2

Dr. Mahesh Borande (Director, IPER, Pune), Mr. Kapre (Pharma - Consultant, Ex. Senior Manager - Alembic Pvt., Ltd.), Mr. Rajendra Gokhale (Pharma - Consultant,

Ex. VP - Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad) & Mr. Sameer B. (Professional Trainer) at Cer-tificate program on Galaxy of Career opportunities in Pharma-Biotech Sector

Issue No 4

“THE MORE CLEARLY WE

CAN FOCUS OUR ATTEN-

TION ON THE WONDERS

AND REALITIES OF THE UNI-

VERSE ABOUT US, THE LESS

TASTE WE SHALL HAVE FOR

DESTRUCTION.”

- Rachel Carson, marine biol-

ogist, conservationist and au-

thor

Events


A FOSTAC training on "Advanced Catering - Level 2" was conducted by Ms. Trupti Bhat on 3rd and 9th, October, 2018 at Banga-

lore for participants from Burger king India Pvt Ltd.

A FOSTAC training on "Advanced Catering - Level 2" was conducted by Ms.Trupti Bhat on 13th October, 2018 at Bangalore for

participants from Devyani International Pvt Ltd., Bangalore.

Students of KBP College, Vashi (B.Voc Course in Food Processing and Quality Management)

visited the Food Science Laboratory of the School on 13th and 14th November, 2018 for carrying

out practicals

FOSTAC training on Advanced Catering - Level 2

Visit by students of KBP College, Vashi

Events


A three day camp on Entrepreneurship Awareness was organized from 19th November - 1st December, 2018 sponsored by NSTEDB-

DST, Govt. of India & Organized by Science & Technology Park, Pune. Main objective was to create awareness among students of En-

gineering and Science courses about various facets of entrepreneurship as an alternative career option. Total 85 students of various

courses of the School attended the camp.


A talk on Career and Research Opportunities in Department of Atomic Energy (BARC) held on 12 th December, 2018. Dr. T. L.

Prasad, Sr. Scientific Officer, BARC delivered an informative talk on the various research and career opportunities at BARC,

Mumbai. The talk was attended by over 100 students from the various UG and PG programmes of the School.

Dr. Henry Shaefer, Director from Center for Computational Chemistry, University of Georgia, USA gave a talk on 13 th Decem-

ber, 2018 which was mainly focused on his research and academic journey spanning over 40 years at various prestigious univer-

sities. The talk was attended by faculty and post graduate students of the School.

Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp

Dr. Henry Shaefer, Director, Centre for Computational Chemistry, University of Georgia, USA

Issue No 4

Events


Training and Placement Cell organized Industry Academia Meet - 2018 on 15th December 2018 with a Theme ‘Opportunities, Challeng-

es and Perspectives’. Five speakers were invited from various sectors of the Industry. 110 final year students and 25 faculty members

participated in the Meet.

The details of the speakers and the sessions conducted by them are as follows: 1) Mrs. Meenal Satghare, Equinox Pvt. Ltd, Navi Mum-

bai: Career perspectives in Food Sciences. 2) Ms. Indu Nambiar, Boehringer Ingelheim India Pvt. Ltd: Lets connect - Pharma and Bioin-

formatics. 3) Mrs. Suman Gautam, Transasia Bio-Medicals Ltd. Mumbai: Job Opportunities & Challenges for Biomedical Graduates.

4) Dr. Prashant Khadke, Premas Life Sciences, Mumbai: Transi-

tional Education, Continuous Learning and Consultative approach

for harnessing the Dream Job. 5) Dr. Suniel Deshpande, SIES

Management College, Nerul: Career Management, issues & Chal-

lenges.

The School organised a one day lecture workshop on Flipped Learning Techniques - A

modern approach to teaching pedagogy on 19th December, 2018. The resource person was

Dr. Lolly Jain, Associate Professor, K. J. Somaiya College of Science and Commerce,

Mumbai. Ms. Anushree, Assistant Professor, K. J. Somaiya College of Science and Com-

merce, Mumbai. The workshop introduced faculty members to various user friendly plat-

forms that could enable creation of interesting and effective course content. Several unique

and time saving .

Industry Academia Meet

Flipped Learning Workshop by Dr. Lolly Jain, K. J. Somaiya College Mumbai

Flipped Learning Workshop

Events

'Tree Plantation Drive' was organized on 8th January, 2018. This was an initiative towards the formation of 'Nature Club' in the

School. Faculty and students of the school participated in it. It was conducted on the ground floor of the school premises.

Annual technical event titled “Technoczar” was organized on 24th Jan 2019. It included intercollegiate event ‘ENIGMA’

wherein the participants were given an opportunity to showcase the inventiveness and to produce their ideas in the form of pro-

ject proposals or prototypes. This was followed by other events like short film contest ‘one reel’ and quiz.


Tree Plantation Drive

Issue No 4

Events

Research / Consultancy / Extension Activities

The School has initiated an 'Agriculture based societal extension project' for the develop-

ment of rural community. Students of M.Sc. Biotechnology and Genetic engineering along

with Prof. C. Hoskote and Dr. Sunita Singh visited the Wada village on 12th August, 2018.

They interacted with the farmers to provide solutions to the problems associated with farm-

ing. This visit was an Agriculture based societal extension work.

A meeting was organized for Club Technoczar on 28th September 2018 which was attended

by Dr. Naveen P., Ms. Nidhi Sharma, Ms. Shreedevi Kulkarni & Mr. Rushabh Rambhia,

Core Member of REDx, Mumbai. Discussions with respect to progress in ongoing projects

and possible avenues of improvement in the same were carried out.

Inter-collegiate Beach clean-up event 'Clean Coast Cup 2018' was organized from 7th Octo-

ber, 2018.'Beach Please' is a student - led initiative. This was India's first intercollegiate

Beach clean-up event organized by students of SBB DYPU. A total of 20 students from

M.Sc. Programme (Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering) participated. Deputy Mayor, He-

mangi Worlikar, President of Yuvasena Aditya Thackarey, MLA SadaSarvankar, Corporator

Amey Ghole and former Mayor, Vishakha Raut marked their presence in the event. Students

collected 15 tons of non-biodegradable waste.

Beach clean-up event 'Clean Coast Cup 2018'

Visit of students to Wada Village

Events

Research / Consultancy / Extension Activities

A novel bacterial strains were isolated and submitted to National Centre for Microbial Resource,

Pune.The bacterial strains viz. Stentotrophomonas rhizophila strain SG2 and Bacillus subtilis strain

SG7 were isolated and identified under the guidance of Dr. Sourav Ghosh.

Career Guidance Session was organized at Ramshet Thakur School, Kharghar on 9th January, 2019.

Ms. Smitha Mathew, Academic Coordinator and Ms. Sangieeta Saha, Admission Councellor were

invited to Ramshet Thakur School for Career Guidance. A presentation was made regarding the

various career avenues available to science students. It was focused on emerging areas in Biotech-

nology, Bioinformatics & Data Science, Biomedical Engineering and Food Technology.

Faculty and students participated in an interactive session conducted by Navi Mumbai Police De-

partment on 11th January, 2019. The session was held for interactions between educationist, stu-

dents and police. The problems of the youth and the reasons for increasing gap between students -

teacher relationship were discussed in the session. Dr. Jagtap, Dr. Mala and few students of the

School participated in the session.

Mr. Pramodkumar Gupta represented the School in the Education Fair 2019 held at Wisdom Inter-

national High School and Junior College, Nashik on 18th January, 2019. A presentation was made

regarding the programmes available at School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics and various

career opportunities in the area of Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Food Science and Biomedical

Engineering.

MoU's signed

The School has signed a MoU with Dr.Anil B.Jalan, Chief Scientific Research Officer, NIRMAN,

Institute of Research in Mental and Neurological Handicap, Navi Mumbai on 4th Dec, 2018

The School Obtained recognition as Regional Center and Nodal Center for Virtual labs by Virtual

Labs, from MHRD, GOI initiative.


“I DIDN’T WANT TO JUST

KNOW NAMES OF THINGS. I

REMEMBER REALLY WANT-

ING TO KNOW HOW IT ALL

WORKED.”

— Elizabeth Blackburn, win-

ner of the 2009 Nobel Prize

for Physiology or Medicine

Issue No 4

Selected Research Contributions of the Post-Graduate / Graduate Students

Tracking Environmentally Induced Epigenetic Changes In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Ms. Manikandan Amrutha Ramchandran Lakshmi, B.Tech Biotechnology

We wanted to study the effects of epigenetic drugs on the modulation of transgene silencing, by exploiting associated phenotypes using the

Epigenetic Assay in a naïve unicellular algal model, Chlamydomonas. Being one of the simplest eukaryotes to harbor CpG DNA methylation,

it holds potential to study a conservation of mechanism across the evolutionary spectrum. Using appropriate well known inhibitors, we queried

three main pathways of gene silencing, namely DNA methylation, Polycomb (PRC2) and Histone deacetylation. We observed that sodium

butyrate (HDACi) was unable to sustain epigenetic changes after the drug was removed, indicating a highly plastic epigenetic mark. On the

other hand, curcumin and Decitabine (5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, DNMTi) indicated that de novo epigenetic marks could be interfered with, hav-

ing long lasting effects on epigenetic memory, particularly in pCG-17. Polycomb inhibitor GSK343, having never been used in Chlamydomo-

nas, was tested at concentrations similar to mammalian models. Interestingly, between 0.3-1 M, pCG-21 seemed to respond, by alleviation

in gene silencing phenotype. Our results indicate that different integrants of the PmR gene are dominated by different epigenetic players to-

wards gene silencing at their respective loci. To test whether selection pressure can play a role in modulating these events so as to direct epige-

netic variation, we compared cells grown either in excess copper and their respective controls, with Decitabine. Not surprisingly, we observed

that the population seemed to be more homogenized towards robust PmR expression, when grown under constant antibiotic selection. When

tested by MSRE-PCR for DNA methylation, we observed that excess copper seemingly directs CpG DNA methylation, preventable by Decita-

bine. In conclusion, we believe that DNA methylation and Polycomb pathways actively modulate transgene silencing in Chlamydomonas

thereby making it a potential model to study epigenetic conservation.

Genetic Screening For Cystathione Β-Synthase Gene Variants in Intracranial Aneurysm In Kerala

Ms. Niveditha Sankar Sudha, B.Tech Biotechnology

Intracranial Aneurysm, a complex cerebrovascular condition, ruptures at a rate that is inconsistent with several reported causative elements.

Moreover, most of the unruptured aneurysms are asymptomatic in nature which necessitates the establishment of determining factors to ade-

quately detect the aneurysms. Dysregulated homocysteine metabolism has been repeatedly found to be associated with aneurysms and thus,

the aim of the study involves screening for variants in cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) gene that could alter the homocysteine levels. For this

purpose, PCR-RFLP and Sanger sequencing methods were performed to uncover genotypes of the case-control study samples for CBS gene

variants. Statistical analysis of the obtained data revealed a significant association of heterozygous rs1801181 (p = 0.048) with intracranial

aneurysm. A similar association of rs706208 could not be established with the disorder. No homozygosity for 844INS68, rs5742905 and

rs121964962 were noted. High minor allelic frequencies of rs5742905 and rs121964962 were discovered in Kerala population when the val-

ues were compared with other population groups. The investigated variants, except for rs1801181, showed no association with intracranial

aneurysm, however, the unusual findings of the study require further analysis to be executed to understand the role of homocysteine in aneu-

rysms.


2D & 3D Modelling & Analysis Of Transmembrane Protein Evi2a From Homo sapiens

Mr. Vinit Kale, B.Tech Bioinformatics

A protein sequence >50 amino acids is generally referred to as peptides while a protein containing larger sequences are referred to as pro-

teins/polypeptides.EVI-2A (Ecotropic viral integration site 2A) as a type 1 single pass membrane protein which belongs to the EVI2A fami-

ly and 236 amino acid residue in length. EVI2A shows plausible evidence in human disease such as Schizophrenia, numerous malignancy

including breast and ovarian cancer. Till date no 3D structure is reported the public and private database. 3D structure of protein helps in

understanding the molecular function of the protein and important role in the biological scenario if any. Here we have projected our work on

modeling 2D and 3D structure of EVI2A membrane protein and attempt to understand its structural features. In modeling process, we have

adopted comparative methods, de-novo approach, ab-initio and threading. The multiple model elucidates a good agreement of output and

structural features, whereas model from I-Tasser holds a good position among all. Finally, we have simulated the model under GROMACS

and predicted the hydrophobic centers and as an active site. The predicted model could be an initiation point to the structural biologists, drug

discovery group and scientific community to further enhance their detail study.

Molecular Characterization Of Beta Globin Gene Exon 1 Region Of Indian Sickle Cell Disease Patient

Ms. Tendral Sekar Vithiyalinga, M. Sc Biotechnology

The clinical genomics with regards to sickle cell anaemia is lacking and poorly understood in India. Due to the unfortunate and detrimental

socio-economic circumstances surrounding the communities afflicted with this illness, very little has been done to treat and understand the

illness. The presence of higher levels of HbF in the Arab-Indian haplotype has also led to a milder manifestation of symptoms typically seen

worldwide. In order to further the understanding of sickle cell anaemia, the main aim of this study was to carry out the molecular characteri-

sation of exon 1 region along with promoter of the HBB gene. The underlying pathogenesis in sickle cell anemia patient based on laboratory

parameters was studied. A preliminary diagnosis was carried out in the laboratory using ARMS PCR to visualize. The primers to amplify the

exon 1 region were designed using Primer3 and the desired product was obtained after amplification by PCR under optimal cycling condi-

tions. The product was visualised in agarose gel with ethidium bromide when run with a reference low range molecular ladder. The final

product obtained from scale up PCR was sequenced by using Sanger’s Chain Termination method by adding TRRM (Termination Reaction

Ready Mix) along with reverse or forward primer and post-PCR purified amplicon. The sequence was manually analysed and the hallmark

single nucleotide polymorphism causing the mutation changing the 6th amino acid from glutamic acid to valine was observed. The sequence

was analysed using bioinformatics tools such as blast, blastx, blast2. Homology modelling was carried out using SWISS Model desktop site

on the worldwide web. The final sequence was published in the public domain of NCBI Nucleotide database with accession number

MH133465.


Issue No 4


Enhancement Of Shelf Life Of Strawberry By Soy Protein Based Biodegradable Films

Mr. Shaikh Hamad Hatim Mariyum, M. Sc Food Science & Technology

Postharvest quality losses of fruits and vegetables during storage are global horticultural problems. This study evaluates the effect of Soy pro-

tein film with different combination on quality parameters and phytochemical content of strawberry fruits during storage periods at 4ºC. The

data revealed that different film combination significantly reduced the fruits weight loss and decay rate at storage periods; in comparison with

control (only soy protein film) which gave the maximum value of these quality parameters. Fruit quality was evaluated by weight loss, Micro-

bial Growth, surface color development, total soluble solids, reducing sugar content, total ascorbic acid content, total phenolic content and

sensory evaluation. Different combinations were studied as SP, SP+EO, SP+MC, SP+Wax. SP+EO and SP+Wax gave a better result in all the

parameter studied as compared to that of SP+MC and SP films. All treatments decreased vitamin C levels during storage but the Phenolic con-

tents increased gradually during the storage period and reached its highest values near the end of the storage period and decreased again. Sen-

sory evaluation of the strawberries showed that the SP+EO and SP+Wax films maintained the visual quality of the fruit during the storage

time, and the Appearance of the strawberries with the SP+EO was more acceptable to consumers. However, the Appearance, texture, color

and intention to buy the strawberries of the control film was unacceptable to consumers.


Cytogenetic And Molecular Findings Of Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia In West India

Ms. Bhatia Garima Sunil Deepa, M. Sc Genetic Engineering

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a clonal proliferation of lymphoid precursor cells in the bone marrow. ALL is the most common

malignancy diagnosed in children, accounting for one-fourth of all childhood cancers. It is one of the most common malignancies in India.

Detection of chromosomal abnormalities by conventional karyotyping and Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) plays a very important

role in classification and treatment of ALL patients. The major aim of this study was to define the frequency and types of numerical as well

as structural chromosomal aberrations like fusion oncogene translocations in B-ALL patients of West India. In this study, we analyzed bone

marrow samples of 35 (18 adults and 17 childhood) West Indian patients with B-ALL using the conventional G-banding and FISH technique

as the combination of both methods can improve the detection rate of chromosomal abnormalities. Total 22 patients (62.85%) showed chro-

mosomal alterations, including numerical and/or structural abnormalities. Structural abnormalities like fusion oncogenes were more com-

monly found as compare to numerical abnormalities. Hyperdiploidy was most common (11.43%) numerical abnormality while the most

common fusion oncogenes were BCR-ABL1/t(9;22) in adults (33.33%) and ETVRUNX1/t(12;21) in children (23.53%). The incidence of

11q23 and t(1;19) were also high than those reported in the previous studies. Some rare translocations were also found in our study. There

was a difference in the prevalence of abnormalities in the current study, maybe due to the geographical variation and/or small sample size.

Bone marrow aspirate smears reveal increased blasts which are small to medium in size with high nu-clear-to-cytoplasmic ratios, round to irregular nuclei, smooth chromatin, and scant basophilic agranular

cytoplasm. Some background maturing myeloid cells are also present in this case. http://atlasgeneticsoncology.org/Anomalies/LymphoidLeukDownSyndromeID1784.html


Issue No 4

Selected Research Contributions of the PhD Students

Synergistic Effect of Morinda citrifolia L. on chemotherapeutic drug

Bhakti A Mhatre, Ph. D

Morinda citrifolia commonly known as Noni has been extensively used in folk medicine by Polynesians for over 2,000 years. It has been re-

ported to have broad therapeutic effects, including anticancer activity, in both clinical practice and laboratory animal models. Methotrexate

(MTX) acts as a folic acid analog, inhibits purine and pyrimidine synthesis, which accounts for its efficacy in the therapy of cancer as well as

for some of its toxicities. The present study is an attempt to modulate MTX-induced toxicities using aqueous extract of Morinda citrifolia L.

(Noni) as a supplement. The objective of the study is to evaluate the influence of Morinda citrifolia L. (Noni) on MTX induced toxicities. The

study includes phytochemical analysis of the fruit extract, along with its antioxidant properties and comparative analysis of methanolic, aque-

ous Noni extract with commercial fruit juice. Molecular docking and in silico studies were also carried out in an attempt to evaluate the drug

candidature of some antraquinones, (damnacanthal, nordamnacanthal, morindone, rubiadin, and lucidin) as inhibitors the enzyme dihydro-

folate reductase(DHFR), in an attempt to identify the antifolates. The molecular docking study suggested that these compounds can act as a

putative inhibitor of hDHFR. Our In vivo studies showed that MTX caused systemic toxicity leads to alterations in activities of marker and

antioxidant enzymes of liver of male Wistar rats. MTX administration also resulted in alterations in activity of enzymes involved in Kreb’s

cycle and electron transport chain indicating retarded oxidative phosphorylation and energy metabolism in rat liver mitochondria. Morinda

citrifolia L. (Noni) supplementation ameliorated these alterations induced by MTX in all cases which were confirmed by histopathological

studies. This indicates that Morinda citrifolia L. (Noni) also possesses potential to ameliorate adverse effects of MTX. With an approach to

enhance the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents, we investigated the concurrent use of Noni fruit extract and MTX on HeLa cell lines. It was

observed that Noni itself showed potential of cytotoxicity. In lower concentrations, the combination also showed strong addit ive effect in cell

growth inhibition.To conclude we propose that the synergistic effects of Noni fruit juice with MTX may result in enhanced response rates,

reductions in the concentrations of conventional anticancer drugs and thereby reducing toxicities.


Quality by Design Approach for Biopharmaceuticals: Process optimization for Recombinant Interferon

Patel Smriti Rajan Sujatha, Ph. D

Biotherapeutics have become the focus of the pharmaceutical industry due to their proven effectiveness in managing complex diseases.

Downstream processes of these molecules consist of several orthogonal high resolution unit operations, designed to separate variants having

very similar physicochemical properties. A steady increase of product titre and the corresponding change in impurity composition represent

a challenge for development and optimization of protein production processes. Additionally, increasing demands on product quality result in

higher complexity of processes and analytics, thereby increasing the costs for product work-up. Concentration and composition of impuri-

ties are critical for efficient process development as they have a major impact on the work-up strategy and costs. The resulting “bottleneck”

in downstream processing requires new optimization, technology and development approaches. Process development involving optimization

of the individual unit operations using the Quality by Design (QbD) approach helps in defining the design space within which the process

can deliver product that meets the predefined specifications. QbD approach in process optimization allows for many process variables to be

screened simultaneously thus, reducing the number of tests in comparison with the traditional method based on trial and error. Rapid ad-

vances in recombinant DNA technology has made it possible to produce biomedically important substances in large amounts one of which

being human leukocyte interferon (IFNα-2). Interferon alfa 2a synthesized in host bacteria, mostly Escherichia coli, is an antiviral substance

and forms the first line of defence against viral attacks. Peginterferon alfa-2a is a polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified form of human re-

combinant interferon alfa 2a intended for the treatment of adult patients with chronic hepatitis C or chronic hepatitis B. Process optimization

for the unit process like polishing chromatography of interferon alfa 2a, pegylation and polishing chromatography purification of pegylated

interferon alfa 2a are done using the QbD elements which include;outlining the quality target product profile (QTPP), designing product and

manufacturing processes, identifying critical quality attributes (CQAs) and critical process parameters (CPPs), using the design of experi-

ments (DoE) for establishing a design space, which describes the multidimensional effects and interactions of process variables on critical

quality attributes of biopharmaceutical product. The QbD based method development aids in the development of design space and identify-

ing the operating space with an insight into the method performance characteristics, its limitations and method robustness within the operat-

ing space. This work aims to provide a roadmap for implementing quality by design approach to the downstream development and process

optimization of interferon alfa 2a and PEGylated interferon alfa 2a.


Issue No 4


Studies on efficacy of plant derived molluscicide against pestiferous land snail Achatina fulica

Parvate Yadnya Aniruddha, Ph. D

Achatina fulica is a global agri-horticultural pest causing extensive damage by virtue of its generalist feeding pattern (feeds on over 500 varie-

ties of plants) and protandrous reproduction. Chemical control measures although effective in snail control lead to environmental damage

hence the shift these days is towards usage of natural compounds as molluscicides. Clove oil, an essential oil has exhibited biological activity

on a wide range of organisms including potent ovicidal activity against the eggs of Achatina fulica. Hence the aim of the present study was to

evaluate the molluscicidal potential of Clove oil on adult snails of Achatina fulica and to further elucidate the mechanism underlying its toxici-

ty. The LD50 values for 24 hrs, 46 hrs, 72 hrs and 96 hrs were determined. The lower and higher subacute doses (LD50 /24 hrs) of Clove

oil were used to assess its toxicity to the snail using 1% Tween 80 solution as the vehicle.In-vivo studies were carried out to assess the impact

of Clove oil on -- the cyto-architechture and biochemical profile of various tissues and the reproductive efficiency of the snail. The egg laying

capacity of snails is influenced by the perivitelline fluid secreted by the albumen gland, comprising of polysaccharides (85% galactogen) and

proteins. The structural and functional alterations in the albumen gland on account of Clove oil toxicity were evaluated by immunohistochem-

istry. Further the mechanism of action of Clove oil on the release of perivitelline fluid was elucidated by in silico approach. Since the release

of perivitelline fluid from the albumen gland is controlled by dopamine via a D1 like receptor, a homology model of D1 like receptor was de-

veloped. This was docked with the active components of Clove oil which served as potential ligands competing with the endogenous ligand

dopamine for its active site on D1 like receptor. The global protein profiling of the hepato pancreas across all the groups was also carried out

by label free technique to explore the toxic effect of Clove oil on this vital multipurpose organ. The results of the current study revealed severe

pathological alterations in the cyto-architechture of the tissues studied in a dose dependent manner. Biochemical profiles of the different tis-

sues of the treated groups assessed also showed deviations from the control group, suggesting systemic toxicity. Severely compromised repro-

ductive efficiency was also observed in treated groups, which was probably the manifestation of the reduced secretion of perivitelline fluid

and its chief nutrient quotient galactogen, as revealed by the results of immunohistochemistry. Reproductive toxicity was further confirmed by

the results of docking studies which revealed that the active components of Clove oil competitively excluded the endogenous ligand dopamine

from its binding site on D1 like receptor thereby suppressing the secretion of perivitelline fluid. The proteome of hepatopancreas of the treated

snails revealed secretion of several wound healing and stress related proteins as compared to the control, indicating that Clove oil probably

elicited stress response in the treated tissues. Thus Clove oil induced systemic toxicity in the snail with pronounced effect on the reproductive

system and can therefore be considered as a potential lead in controlling the population of this harmful pest.

TECHNOCZAR-2019

The technical festival of School of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Technoczar 2019 began with a green and

cheerful mood as the theme this season was “Vanutsav (One-Oath-Save).” The first event of Technoczar was Enigma

where 21 projects were on display. The students from various colleges of Mumbai participated in groups of three to

five. The spirit and effort of the students was truly inspiring. The ideas and projects put forward were innovative and

thought provoking. The judges for the event Mr. Mahesh Parihar from IIT, Bombay and Dr. Vibha Gajbe, SBB-

DYPUNM appreciated the displayed projects. First runner up team consist of the members: Rasika Makari, Abhijeet

Koltharkar, and Selva Kumar Konar (B.Tech Bioinformatics and Data Science) and Dr. Selvaa Kumar C (Associate

Professor), while the winning team was of Adithya Acharya, Nandini Darji and Sonali Patil (B.Tech Biotechnolo-

gy) . Also the consolation prize was given for the event to the team (Arsala Khan, Ekta Dhopte, Anish Koli and Sa-

rah Ghazi) from B.Tech Food Science and Technology. Some of the other events organized during the Technoczar

were Mental Math quiz, One Reel, Laser Tag, Robo Soccer, Bad wire, Spice it up and Blow the cup. The day ended

with prize distributions and appreciations with a promise of keep the spirits high on contribution towards saving our

ecosystem and environment.


TECHNOCZAR 2019 24 January, 2019

Some of the Projects displayed at the ENGIMA- TECHNOCZAR 2019

Issue No 4

NCIFEH2018

The National Conference on “Innovations in Food, Environment and Healthcare” (NCIFEH-2018) was held

on 28th and 29th September, 2018 at the Medical College Auditorium, School of Medicine, D.Y. Patil Deemed to be

University, Navi Mumbai. Prof. Debjani Dasgupta, (Convenor NCIFEH-2018) Director, School of Biotechnology

and Bioinformatics, D.Y. Patil Deemed to be University, Navi Mumbai gave the welcome address. She talked about

the need for Innovation in the current scenario of scientific development and the purpose of organizing an

“Innovation” driven conference. She emphasized on the innovative solutions provided by the Biotechnology industry

which have boosted the global and Indian economy. She urged the Chief Guest and all the speakers to convey to the

young vibrant minds seated in the audience the roadway and the passion to overcome the hurdles to be an Innovator.

The Chief Guest, Dr. Dorairajan Balasubramanian, Distinguished Scientist and Director of Research Emeri-

tus at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad released the E- Abstract Book of the conference. Dr. Dorairajan

Balasubramanian, delivered the key note address which focused on innovation as an act of creation and the need of

the hour. He gave an insight about the underlying differences between “Innovation” and “Invention”. The Guest of

Honour Dr. Rohit Srivastava, Professor, Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering, IITB , delivered his motivat-

ing address on “Affordable Healthcare in India”. Dr. Srivastava shared insights of the work and technologies for

commercializing these innovations to cater affordable healthcare solutions for Indian market. Dr. Srivastava elabo-

rated on his active contribution to the “Make in India Movement”.

The Conference had three technical sessions with eminent scientists or innovators as speakers in the respec-

tive fields. In the Technical Session I - Innovations in Healthcare, Dr. Krishanpal Karmodia, IISER, Pune, Dr. Amit

Dutt, ACTREC, Navi Mumbai, sensitized the gathering with the innovation in healthcare products. In the Technical

Session: II - Innovations in Environment, speakers like Mr. Deepak Gadhia, Muni Seva Ashram, Baroda, Dr. P. Su-

prasanna, BARC, Mumbai, Dr. Shyam Asolekar, IIT Bombay and Dr. Sanjay Sonar BioGenomics, Mumbai, enlight-

ened the delegates with the scope, process and the zeal needed to make an innovative India. The Technical Session

III- Innovations in Food Science had inspiring talk on innovations in food products by Prof. Smita Lele, ICT Mum-

bai – Marathwada Campus, Jalna, Dr. C. Ananadharamakrishnan, IIFPT, Thanjavur and Dr. Prabodh Halde, Marico

Ltd. All the deliberations enthralled the audience and seeded the thought of innovation in minds of young delegates.

The conference also had parallel oral and poster competition for each of the Technical Sessions. Expertise from re-

search and academic organizations judged a total of 18 oral and 41 poster presentations in the span of two days. One

best oral and poster prize was awarded in each of the Technical session. A special consolation prize was awarded

for the work on ‘Extraction of chlorogenic acid from green coffee beans for preservation against bread spoilage’.

The event was funded by D. Y. Patil Group and National funding agencies like, BRNS, SERB-DST. Novozymes

Pvt. Ltd. was also part sponsors. The two day National Conference concluded with a message that amalgamation of

innovative thinking and skill sets are required to translate the theoretical knowledge into commercially viable prod-

ucts for the sustainable development of Nation.

NCIFEH2018


nurturing science director’s message issue 4€¦ · dr. neelu joshi made an oral presentation on...

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