PROCEEDINGS

St. Mary’s College,

Thrissur,

Department of Biotechnology,

in association with

Organizes

Science Academies’ Lecture Workshop on

Frontier Areas of Biotechnology

January 16-17, 2015

Hosted at: St. Mary’s College, Thrissur

Indian Academy of Sciences

Bangalore

Indian National Science Academy

New Delhi

The National Academy of Sciences

Allahabad

REPORT OF SCIENCE ACADEMIES’

LECTURE WORKSHOP ON “FRONTIER

AREAS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY”

Organized by The Biotechnology Department of St. Mary’s College, Thrissur.

January 16-17, 2015

Convener

Prof. Dr. Edathil Vijayan

Emeritus Professor,

CUSAT

Coordinator

Ms. Neethu R

Lecturer, Dept. of Biotechnology,

St. Mary’s College, Thrissur

INAUGURAL SESSION.

DAY I: 16th

January 2015, Friday

8:30am to 9:30am : Registration

9:30am to 10:30am : Inauguration

Invocation

Welcome : Dr. Sr. Jacintha C. C.

Principal, St. Mary’s College, Thrissur.

Inauguration & : Prof. Dr. EdathilVijayan,

Inaugural address Convener, Emeritus Professor, CUSAT.

Felicitations : Ms. Rajitha K.P.

HOD, Department of Biotechnology

St. Mary’s College, Thrissur.

: Mr. A. G. Babu

Animal Ethics Committee Nominee, CPCSEA

: Dr. Deepa G Murieken

HOD, Department of Biochemistry

St. Mary’s College, Thrissur.

Vote of Thanks : Ms. Neethu R

Coordinator, Lecturer, Dept. of Biotechnology,

St. Mary’s college, Thrissur

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE.

DAY I: 16th

January 2015, Friday

10: 45 am : LECTURE I

Prof. Dr. EdathilVijayan

Emeritus Professor, Dept. of Biotechnology,

Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT)

Title: Biotechnology of Brain peptides

12:00 pm : LECTURE II

A.G. Babu

Animal Ethics Committee Nominee, CPCSEA

1:15 pm : LUNCH BREAK

2:00 pm : LECTURE III

Prof. Dr. P. R. Sudhakaran

Department of computational Biology and Bioinformatics

University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.

Title: Molecularization of Biology

3:15 pm : LECTURE IV

Dr. Sudhakar Muthalya

Georgia Institute of Technology,USA

IBB, 1409, 315 Ferst drive NW

Atlanta-30332-0363

Title: Tissue Engineering- The art of growing body parts.

4:30 pm : INTERACTIVE SESSION

DAY II: 17th

January 2015, Saturday.

9:30 am :LECTURE V

Prof. Dr. Polani B. Sheshagiri

Dept. of Molecular Reproduction, Development and

Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Title:Concepts in early mammalian development and its

implications

10:45 am : LECTURE VI

Prof. Dr. P. N. Rangarajan

Department of Biochemistry

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Title: Traditional, modern and Futuristic vaccines.

12:00 pm : LECTURE VII

Dr. Padma Nambisan

HOD, Dept. of Biotechnology,

Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT)

Title: Scope of lignocellulosic biofuels.

1:15 pm : LUNCH BREAK

2:00pm : LECTURE VIII

Prof. Dr. Polani B. Sheshagiri

Dept. of Molecular Reproduction, Development and

Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Title: Biotechnology of stem cells and regenerative

medicine

3:00pm : INTERACTIVE SESSION

4:00pm : VALEDICTORY SESSION

The department of Biotechnology of St. Mary’s College hosted the Science Academies’

Lecture Workshop on “Frontier Areas of Biotechnology”, on January 16th

and 17th

, 2015. A

range of emerging technologies including biotechnology, nanotechnology and synthetic biology

are expected to transform the society. Biotechnology plays a very vital role in our lives and in

our daily affairs. The importance of biotechnology in enriching human life is undeniable and

covers a very wide scope of coverage and processes. Much is still to be achieved by human

minds when it comes to biotechnology advances despite the continuous efforts made by

researchers and biotechnology experts from all over the world. The aim of this workshop was to

enlighten the young minds and to pave them a right path to their future. The workshop was

inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Edathil Vijayan, Emeritus Professor, CUSAT. There were 150

participants including 19 Teachers, 2 Research scholars and 129 students from various colleges

of Kerala. The gathering was welcomed by Principal of the college, Dr. Sr. Jacintha, followed by

Prof. Edathil Vijayan’s inaugural address. HODs of various departments felicitated the venture.

Lecture I was by Prof. Dr. Edathil Vijayan on the topic “Discovery of Brain Peptides:

From Bench to bedside story”, which mainly described about the history related to the discovery

of peptides that can be produced by the brain. It was in 1928, the evidence was found that the

brain produced proteinaceous materials and it was called as neurosecretory materials by 1940.

These products were transported by the axons at the base of the Hypothalamus, connecting the

“Master Gland” -pituitary gland. The first three hormones to be discovered were Thyrotrophic

Releasing Hormone (TRH), Follicular Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone

(LH). He stated that father of neuroendocrinology Geoffrey Winnfield Harris, provided many

dissections and pictures of brain, which helped to study on parts like Amygdala, Hippocampus

and pituitary , as well as their functions in regulating various hormones, ethology (Behavioral

studies), neurodegenerative diseases etc.

Lecture II was by Mr. A. G. Babu, on the ethics of using animals in biological researches.

He mentioned about various rules and statutory bodies that regulates use of animals for research,

toxicological studies, Clinical trials and ethics behind euthanasia.

The third session was by Prof. Dr. P. R. Sudhakaran, Approach to Biology; Molecularization and

Beyond. The talk was about the great paradigms in biology, reductional approach and a way to

visualize the modern trends in the cell Biology. He spoke on the science of Heredity, the

wonderful experiments of Mendel, Morgan, Sutton Boveri, the birth of molecular biology with

various milestones like proposal of DNA double helical structure and various technologies to

study and analyse DNA and proteins, and it is actually these which gave light to the concept of

evolution.

Lecture IV was by Dr. Sudhakar Muthyala, on Tissue Engineering, an interdisciplinary

field that applies the principles of engineering and the life sciences towards the development of

biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve tissue function. The talk was regarding

stem cells, importance of umbilical cord stem cells, developing living tissue using cells,

biomaterials as scaffolds and signaling molecules and how can they play role in organ

transplantation tackling the problems of infection, rejection and tedious procedures. He

explained the research methodology used in the field of diabetes therapy in his lab.

The second day started with the fifth lecture of the event by Prof. Dr. Polani B.

Sheshagiri, on Concepts in early mammalian development and its implications. This included

fundamentals of developmental biology and early mammalian development right from

fertilization. He also explained the studies on basics of embryo implantation, changes in the

hormone levels and transcription rates and various knock out experiments to study early

mammalian development.

The sixth lecture was delivered by Prof. Dr. P. N. Rangarajan, on Traditional, modern

and futuristic vaccines. He discussed on the history of discovery of vaccines (experiments of

Jenner, Pasteur), general features of immune system, role of recombinant DNA technology in

production of modern vaccines like DNA vaccines, subunit vaccines, combination vaccines etc

as well as futuristic vaccines like edible vaccines, and use of nanotechnology to deliver these

vaccines into the body.

Lecture 7 was by Dr. Padma Nambisan, on Scope of lignocellullosic biofuels. The talk

started with the present scenario of world fuel consumption, and statistics regarding their

availability in future. These non renewable resources especially fossil fuels are so part and parcel

for development. Instead of using them she recommends to exploit the fourth generation

“Biofuels” derived from renewable plant source. She pinpointed the problems of producing large

scale Biofuels, lack of efficient protocols, High cost and use of fossil fuels to produce Biofuels

which in turn is wastage! The talk ended up by recommending usage of microbes (especially Rot

Fungi) that can convert agricultural wastes and biomass into lignin and cellulose which can be

later broken down into simple sugar molecules and later fermented into ethanol which can

replace gasoline in the near future.

The last lecture was by Prof. Dr. Polani B. Sheshagiri, on Biotechnology of stem cells

and regenerative medicines. He spoke on basics of Stem cells, cell potency and plasticity, types

of stem cells, stem cell culture and development of these stem cells into various lineages

depending on the microniche provided in the media. He also shared a video from his lab that

came as news in CNN-IBN, which showed pumping cardiac cells which was generated freom

stem cell lines. He winded up by pondering on use of stem cells and stem cell therapy in

regenerative medicines.

Each lecture was followed by an interactive session where students actively participated.

The Lecture workshop culminated with a valedictory function. Participants and resource persons

shared their remarks on this special event. There was a positive feedback from all, upon the

lectures, arrangements made like uninterrupted power supply, perfect timings of progammes as

mentioned in the schedule, working lunch and hospitality. Students were motivated by the talks

and came to know about various programmes such as summer internships and scholarships that

institutes are offering after UG and PG as well as they got a golden opportunity to interact with

the eminent scientists.

There was media coverage by leading newpapers of Kerala; The Mathrubhumi, The

Malayala Manorama, Deepika, Mangalam and video coverage by Thrissur Cable vision (TCV),

Asianet Cable Vision (ACV) and For U channel.