Vol. 02 NO 11
NEWS - PAGE 2
A WHOLE NEW CLASSIFICATION OF
DIABETES: RESEARCH IDENTIFIES FIVE
DISTINCT TYPES
NOVEL BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE STORAGE
NOVEL BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE
STORAGE METHOD NOT
REQUIRING REFRIGERATION
DEVELOPED
Researchers at the Washington University
have found an alternate storage method- stor-
ing the biological samples in tiny metal-or-
ganic hybrid structures- using nanotechnolo-
gy. With this method, the samples maintain
95 percent of their purity and the information
on which important health-care decisions are
based.
The team led by Srikanth Singamaneni, as-
sociate professor of mechanical engineering
& materials science in the School of Engi-
neering & Applied Science, used a nanoporo-
us material to essentially shrink wrap protein
biomarkers in blood and urine samples by
growing crystals around the molecules. Then,
they transferred the shrink-wrapped mole-
cules onto standard lab filter paper. Once dry,
the paper can be shipped at any temperature
to a lab for testing.
“Once you are ready to analyze the sample,
you extract everything from the paper back
into liquid,” Singamaneni said. “We showed
that this method maintains the integrity of the
biospecimens.”
This inexpensive and accessible method
has wide applicability, the researchers said,
with the potential to be used in developing
countries with limited access to health care
and electricity, in rural areas with limited re-
sources, or at off-site clinics or screenings.
To test their technique, the team used arti-
ficial urine samples spiked with neutrophil
GET THIS NEWSPAPER e-copy VIA WHATSAPP every week
March 13th, 2018.
NEWS - PAGE 3 SCHOLARSIP/AWARDS - NEW JOBS AVAILABLE
GENETICISTS BUILD WORLD’S BIGGEST PAGE 10
FAMILY TREE INVOLVING 13 MILLION SMART 2018 SCHOLARS PROGRAMME @ PAGES 11-12
PEOPLE ACROSS 11 GENERATIONS SINGAPORE
AN ALTERNATE STORAGE
METHOD - NEW FROM
RESEARCHERS
FROM WASHINGTON
UNIVERSITY
By Disha Padmanabha
gelatinase-associated lipcalin (NGAL), and
blood samples spiked with CA-125, a bio-
marker for ovarian cancer. The team mixed
the samples with precursors of the nanopo-
rous material ZIF-8 and let them dry on the
paper at room temperature.
Using standard bioanalytical techniques,
the team determined that the samples with
ZIF-8 encapsulation had more than 95 per-
cent of NGAL preserved.
The researchers then, in an attempt to test
its Real-world application, put the paper with
the dried samples in a standard envelope and
sent them via regular mail to a colleague in
California, who mailed them back to Wash-
ington University. The researchers tested the
samples after the 10-day round trip and found
up to 90 percent of the NGAL was preserved.
“One of our next steps is to take the technol-
ogy out of the laboratory and commercialize
it so that it can work to the greatest good for
the greatest number of people,” said Khar-
asch, also director of the Center for Clinical
Pharmacology. “This would make it widely
available in both first-world countries as
well as emerging countries and in emergency
situations or environmental disasters where
we need to deploy people and have scarce
resources.”
http://bit.ly/crispr-course
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080-395-34707
1
March 13th, 2018. Vol. 02 NO 11

Researchers Develop
Synthetic Polymer Capable
of Vanquishing Superbugs
With no effective and safe treatments avail-
able, multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections
are quickly morphing into a global health-
care threat. Polymyxins remain the last line
treatment for multidrug-resistant (MDR) in-
fections. As polymyxins resistance emerges,
there is an urgent need to develop effective
antimicrobial agents capable of mitigating
MDR.
“There is an urgent global need for new an-
timicrobials that are effective against super-
bugs. The situation has become more acute
because bacteria are starting to develop re-
sistance to the last-line antibiotics, which are
given only to patients infected with bacteria
resistant to available antibiotics,” said Pro-
fessor Jackie Y. Ying, Executive Director of
IBN.
Now, an international research team led by
the Institute of Bioengineering and Nano-
technology (IBN) of the Agency for Science,
Technology and Research (A*STAR) and
IBM Research developed a synthetic mole-
cule that can kill five deadly types of mul-
tidrug-resistant bacteria with limited, if any,
side effects.
Superbugs kill around 700,000 people
worldwide each year, and by 2050, it is esti-
mated that 10 million people could die each
year if existing antibiotics continue to lose
their effectiveness. Clearly, the medical com-
munity needs more choices in treating these
patients. While research on synthetic poly-
mers for these purposes exists, challenges
such as toxicity, non-biodegradability or lim-
ited ability to target multiple bacteria strains
have arisen.
In this direction, this international team of
researchers brought together by Dr Yi Yan
Yang from IBN have developed a new class
of antimicrobial polymers called guanidin-
ium-functionalized polycarbonates with a
unique mechanism that can target a broad
range of multidrug-resistant bacteria. It is
biodegradable and no significant toxicity to
human cells has been detected.
The team tested the polymers on mice in-
fected with five hard-to-treat multidrug-re-
sistant bacteria: Acinetobacter baumannii,
Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, me-
thicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureu and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The results showed that the bacteria were
effectively removed from the mice and no
toxicity was observed. The researchers then
further tested the effectiveness of the poly-
Normal cells of the Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria before (left) and after (right) treatment with the polymers. Image on right showed that the cytoplasmic
substances within the bacterial cell membrane have precipitated, killing the bacteria. [Credit: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology]
mers on mice with two types of systemic in-
fections caused by superbugs: peritonitis (an
infection of the stomach’s inner lining) and
lung infections from Pseudomonas aerugi-
nosa. The polymers eliminated the bacterial
infections in both groups of mice with negli-
gible toxicity.
Dr Yi Yan Yang, Group Leader at IBN said,
“We have demonstrated the first example of a
biodegradable synthetic macromolecule with
broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity in
mice, unique killing mechanism and no tox-
icity. Once the polymer finishes its job of kill-
ing the bacteria, it will be naturally degraded
after three days and will not remain in the
body. This antimicrobial agent shows great
By Disha Padmanabha
promise for the treatment and prevention of
multidrug-resistant systemic infections.”
“This study illustrates the potential for this
new research field we denote as ‘macromo-
lecular therapeutics’ to create entirely new
classes of treatments for multiple diseases,”
said Dr James Hedrick, Distinguished Re-
search Staff Member, IBM Research – Al-
maden, San Jose, California. “In 2016, we
demonstrated the efficacy of synthetic pol-
ymers to combat deadly viral diseases. The
current research for treating bacterial infec-
tions rounds out our ability to someday treat
a spectrum of infectious diseases with a sin-
gle, new type of mechanism without the onset
of resistance.”

A Whole New
Classification of Diabetes:
Research Identifies Five
Distinct Types
Diabetes is presently classified into two
main forms, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but
type 2 diabetes in particular is highly heter-
ogeneous. A refined classification has now
yielded 5 new subgroups of patients with
adult-onset diabetes, representing a first step
toward precision medicine for the roughly
425 million patients with the chronic condi-
tion.
“Current diagnostics and classification of
diabetes are insufficient and unable to pre-
dict future complications or choice of treat-
ment”, explains Professor Leif Groop, who
initiated the study.
He believes that the results represent a par-
adigm shift in how to view the disease in the
future.
At present, diabetes is classified into two
main forms, both of which have links to ge-
netics. Type 1 is an autoimmune condition
where the hormone insulin is not produced,
and which generally develops in childhood.
The more common form, type 2, in which
little insulin is produced or does not trigger
glucose uptake by the body’s cells, generally
develops later in life and is linked to obesity.
In the present study, researchers describe
how they discovered the five sub-groups by
analysing information from 8,980 diabetics
diagnosed as adults in a Swedish registry. The
results were confirmed using data from 5,795
other adult patients across another three fur-
ther databases from Sweden and Finland.
Based on their analysis, the team identi-
fied five replicable clusters of patients with
diabetes. These subgroups had significantly
different patient characteristics and risk of
diabetic complications. Individuals in cluster
3, the most resistant to insulin, had signifi-
cantly higher risk of diabetic kidney disease,
compared to individuals in clusters 4 and
5. However, cluster 3 had been prescribed
similar diabetes treatment. Retinopathy risk
By Disha Padmanabha
was highest in cluster 2, which was insulin
deficient. Genetic associations in the clusters
differed from those seen in traditional type 2 it’s not yet clear whether patients can move diabetes subtypes. Larger studies, that in-
diabetes. between clusters over time, and the authors clude additional variables and more diverse
Genetic analysis revealed that all five sub- say they can’t yet claim that their clustering populations, are still needed.
groups are genetically distinct. Researchers method is the best classification system for
say the groupings held both for those with
newly diagnosed diabetes and those who
had long had the disease, further suggesting
the five categories are not simply down to
different stages of the same form of diabe-
tes – although further work is needed to ex-
plore whether patients can move between the
types. It is also not clear if the different clas-
sifications have different causes.
The researchers say their classification
system could be helpful for both newly di-
agnosed patients as well as those who have
had type 2 diabetes for many years. However, Today’s classification to the left and the new classification to the right.

2
Vol. 02 NO 11
In a First, Scientists
Genetically Engineer Crop
to Take Up
25% Less Water
Demand for primary foodstuffs, that is,
grains and seeds of our major crops, may
increase by 70–100% by 2050. And a ma-
jor barrier to meeting this large demand will
be availability of water for crop production.
Crop productivity strongly depends on hav-
ing a sufficient supply of freshwater, and ag-
riculture consumes 90% of total global fresh-
water.
A large proportion of global food crops de-
pend on irrigation, which is depleting global
groundwater, and putting the sustainability
of global food production at risk. To capture
atmospheric CO2 during photosynthesis, sto-
matal pores need to stay open to allow CO2
diffusion into the leaf. However, stomatal
opening causes most of the water absorbed
by plant roots to be lost via transpiration.
To remedy this, an international team of sci-
entists lead by the University of Illinois, dis-
covered that a specific protein called Photo-
system II Subunit S (PsbS) can be increased
to force a plant to partially close its stomata.
The stomata, tiny pores in a leaf, open and
close to either let carbon dioxide in or oxygen
out, regulating the process of photosynthesis.
Geneticists Build World’s
Biggest Family Tree
Involving 13 Million
People Across
11 Generations
Family trees are mathematical graph struc-
tures that can capture mating and parenthood
among humans. As such, the edges of the
trees represent potential transmission lines
for a wide variety of genetic, cultural, so-
cio-demographic, and economic factors.
Quantitative genetics is built on dissecting
the interplay of these factors by overlaying
data on family trees and analyzing the cor-
relation of various classes of relatives. In
addition, family trees can serve as a multi-
plier for genetic information through study
designs that leverage genotype or phenotype
data from relatives, analyzing parent-of-or-
igin effects, refining heritability measures,
or improving individual risk assessment.
Beyond classical genetic applications, large-
scale family trees have played an important
role across disciplines, including human evo-
lution, anthropology, and economics.
Now, scientists have created a massive fam-
ily tree of 13 million people that spans 11
generations to try and find answers to larger
questions about the human population, from
the heritability of long life to the ways whole
families dispersed and intermarried over the
past few centuries.
“Through the hard work of many genealo-
gists curious about their family history, we
By altering a single gene, scientists coaxed
tobacco plants — a model crop often used in
experiments — to grow to near normal size
with only 75 percent of the water they usually
require.
“These plants had more water than they
needed, but that won’t always be the case,”
said co-first author Katarzyna Glowacka,
a postdoctoral researcher who led this re-
search at the IGB. “When water is limited,
these modified plants will grow faster and
yield more—they will pay less of a penalty
than their non-modified counterparts.”
“This is a major breakthrough,” said RIPE
Director Stephen Long, Ikenberry Endowed
Chair of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences.
“Crop yields have steadily improved over
the past 60 years, but the amount of water
required to produce one ton of grain remains
unchanged—which led most to assume that
this factor could not change. Proving that
our theory works in practice should open
the door to much more research and devel-
opment to achieve this all-important goal for
crowdsourced an enormous family tree and
boom, came up with something unique,”
said the study’s senior author, Yaniv Erlich,
a computer scientist at Columbia Universi-
ty and Chief Science Officer at MyHeritage,
a genealogy and DNA testing company that
owns Geni.com, the platform that hosts the
data used in the study. “We hope that this da-
taset can be useful to scientists researching a
range of other topics.”
To create the tree, a team led by New York
Genome Center geneticist Joanna Kaplanis
collected 86 million records from genealogy
website Geni.com, a database of genealogical
information maintained by enthusiasts. The
site compares and contrasts users’ families
trees, which was useful for the researchers’
aim of analysing and combining as many of
these trees as possible.
What resulted is the transformation of those
records into 5.3 million family trees. The big-
gest of these is a tree that connects 13 million
people, covering a timespan of 350 years be-
tween 1650 and 2000.
Armed with that map of human connections
on a massive scale, the team was able to spot
some interesting patterns of migration, mar-
riage, and longevity over time.
Stephen P. Long, a professor of crop sciences and of plant biology (center), with postdoctoral researchers Johannes Kromdijk, (left) and Katarzyna Glowacka,
developed crops that use water 25 percent more efficiently by boosting the level of a protein.
the future.”
By carefully tweaking PsbS expression, re-
searchers were able to improve the ratio of
carbon dioxide entering the plant to water es-
caping (water use efficiency) by 25 percent.
The improvement demonstrated in field trials
was achieved without sacrificing photosyn-
thesis performance or yield. This was partly
made possible by the fact that humans have
increased the CO2 concentration in the at-
mosphere by 25 percent in just the past 70
years. The higher CO2 content allows plants
to absorb enough of the gas without fully
opening their stomata.
This research complements a previous work
which described how increasing PsbS and
Researchers constructed this 6,000 person family tree using graph theory.
Individuals spanning seven generations are in green, connected with red lines,
signifying marriage. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
The experts discovered that before 1750,
most U.S. marriages seen in the data set took
place between people born about six miles
from each other. The distance, however, in-
creased rapidly to around 60 miles after the
Industrial Revolution began in 1870.
During the period from 1650 to 1850, the
average genetic relationship between married
partners was that of 4th cousins. The genet-
ic relationship widened to the order of 7th
cousins after 1850. The team also found that
during 1800 to 1850, the distance partners
traveled to marry each other became double,
possibly due to the progress in transportation
mode such as railways. It made travel faster
in the United States and Europe.
The increase in distance traveled to get mar-
ried to someone went along with an increase
in genetic relatedness between partners. In
simple terms, during these five decades, peo-
ple journeyed farther to marry close relations.
March 13th, 2018.
By Disha Padmanabha
two other proteins could improve photosyn-
thesis and increase productivity by as much
as 20 percent. Now the team plans to com-
bine the gains from these two studies to im-
prove production and water-use by balancing
the expression of these three proteins.
“Making crop plants more water-use effi-
cient is arguably the greatest challenge for
current and future plant scientists,” said
co-first author Johannes Kromdijk, a post-
doctoral researcher at the IGB. “Our results
show that increased PsbS expression allows
crop plants to be more conservative with
water use, which we think will help to better
distribute available water resources over the
duration of the growing season and keep the
crop more productive during dry spells.”
By Disha Padmanabha
After downloading 86 million public profiles on Geni.com, researchers used
mathematical graphing to clean and organize the data into family trees. This
one has 70,000 relatives connected through marriage and shared ancestors.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
The study offers some hints that previous es-
timates of how much your genes impact your
longevity may have given heredity a little too
much credit. The researchers tracked longev-
ity—how long a person lives compared to
their expected lifespan at birth—among lin-
eages in the sprawling family tree. Because
there were so many connections, even among
very distant relatives, the team was able to
rule out the effects of people living in the
same household and look for patterns that
could be attributed to heredity.
Geni.com and MyHeritage recently estab-
lished their own DNA test, and Erlich says
future work could map genetic information
that people provide through that product onto
the existing genealogy data.
Also, the family tree is publically available,
and the team hopes other researchers take ad-
vantage of the resource to answer any num-
ber of genealogical and scientific questions.
3
March 13th, 2018. Vol. 02 NO 11

23andMe’s
Direct-To-Consumer
Genetic Cancer Risk Test
Receives FDA Nod
The first direct-to-consumer DNA test for
three BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancer gene
mutations has now received the federal ap-
proval.
The genetic testing powerhouse 23andMe
is now all set to launch the testing kits. The
forthcoming kit, which will be made availa-
ble without a prescription, tests for BRCA1
and BRCA2, which are linked to higher risk
of ovarian, break and prostate cancer.
“Being the first and only direct-to-consum-
er genetics company to receive FDA author-
ization to test for cancer risk without a pre-
scription is a major milestone for 23andMe
and for the consumer,” the company’s CEO
Anne Wojcicki said in a release tied to the
announcement. “We believe it’s important
for consumers to have direct and affordable
access to this potentially life-saving infor-
mation. We will continue pioneering a path
for greater access to health information, and
promoting a more consumer-driven, pre-
ventative approach to health care.”
The test analyzes DNA collected from a
self-collected saliva sample, and the report
describes if a woman is at increased risk of
developing breast and ovarian cancer, and if a
man is at increased risk of developing breast
cancer or may be at increased risk of devel-
oping prostate cancer. The test only detects
three out of more than 1,000 known BRCA
mutations. This means a negative result does
not rule out the possibility that an individual
carries other BRCA mutations that increase
cancer risk.
Studies suggest that some 1 in 40 people
of Ashkenazi descent has one of these three
variants, Shirley Wu, 23andMe’s director of
product science said, and women with one of
the variants have a 45 percent to 85 percent
chance of developing breast cancer by age
70. The genes also suggest a higher risk of
ovarian cancer in women, and breast cancer
in men.
“Traditionally you only would get tested for
BRCA if you have a family history of cancer”
said Wu. “We are providing a test people at
risk that otherwise would have been missed.
This is a giant step forward for consumers in
giving them direct access.”
“The test provides information to certain
individuals who may be at increased breast,
ovarian or prostate cancer risk and who
might not otherwise get genetic screening,
and is a step forward in the availability of
direct-to-consumer genetic tests. But it has a
lot of caveats,” said Donald St. Pierre, act-
ing director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnos-
tics and Radiological Health in the F.D.A.’s
Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
“The test should not be used as a substitute
for seeing your doctor for cancer screenings
or counseling on genetic and lifestyle factors
By Disha Padmanabha
that increase or decrease cancer risk,” he
added.
The FDA announcement stresses that the re-
sults of the tests are limited in scope, do not
mean other cancer-causing gene mutations
are not present, and should not be used to de-
termine treatments without other testing and
genetic counseling.
Still, 23andMe’s new testing kit could serve
to show the potential benefits and risks of at-
home testing, and it may serve as an important
stepping stone on the path to comprehensive
tests to determine a person’s risk of develop-
ing cancer and other health conditions.

Urine Test to Determine

Biological Age
How old are you really?
It’s no surprise that ageing rates between
individuals who share the same birth year
can vary significantly. Most of us have all
had the experience of being surprised to find
out that someone is far younger than we had
imagine — for instance, when an individu-
al we thought was in their late 50s turns out
to actually be in their mid-40s. And, by the
same token, we will occasionally discover
that someone is considerably older than we
had guessed. The reason for these discrepan-
cies is often because their biological ages are
different than their chronological ages.
Therefore, there exist a number of param-
eters that help with the measurement of bi-
ological age that identifies an age-related
change in body function or composition
could more accurately predict your chances
of developing age-related disease. Such bio-
markers of ageing could be used to identify
people at risk of disease, prompting preventa-
tive measures in lifestyle or early treatment.
They could also be used to check how effec-
tive new anti-ageing therapies are.
Now, Chinese researchers say they have
identified a natural chemical in urine that ap-
pears in higher concentrations as we age. The
researchers said the chemical may serve as a
marker of your “biological age,” or how fast
you’re aging, as opposed to your chronologi-
cal age, which is based on your birth date. It’s
easy to detect in urine, too, they added.
“Oxygen by-products produced during nor-
mal metabolism can cause oxidative damage
to biomolecules in cells, such as DNA and
RNA,” explains Jian-Ping Cai, a researcher
involved in the study. “As we age, we suf-
fer increasing oxidative damage, and so the
levels of oxidative markers increase in our
body.”
The biomarker 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguano-
sine, or 8-oxoGsn for short, results from
oxidation of RNA. In previous studies, Cai
and colleagues found that 8-oxoGsn levels
increase in urine with age in animals.
To see if this is true for humans as well, the
team collected spot urine samples from 1,228
healthy people between the ages of 2 and 90,
all of whom were undergoing routine health
checkups. The participants were split about
evenly between male and female.
Sure enough, in individuals aged 21 and
older, there was an age-dependent increase in
urinary 8-oxoGsn.
“We found an age-dependent increase in
urinary 8-oxoGsn in participants 21 years
old and older.” said Cai. “Therefore, urinary
8-oxoGsn is promising as a new marker of
aging.”
Interestingly, levels of 8-oxoGsn were
roughly the same between men and wom-
en, except in post-menopausal women, who
showed higher levels. This may have been
caused by the decrease in estrogen levels that
happens during menopause, as estrogen is
known to have anti-oxidant effects.
The team’s rapid analysis technique could
be useful for large-scale aging studies, as it By Disha Padmanabha
can process urine samples from up to 10 par- Image caption: When a listener understands speech, a strong response signal is seen over the mid back part of their scalp (top row; blue and green waveforms show
ticipants per hour. response at two specific recording locations). When they can’t understand (because, for example, the speech is played backwards), the signal completely disappears
(bottom row; red and yellow waveforms show the lack of response at the same two specific recording locations). Credit: Professor Ed Lalor.

4
Vol. 02 NO 11
Antibiotics Use and It’s
Influence on Cancer
Treatment
In recent years the combined use of chemo-
therapy and immunotherapy, collectively
termed chemoimmunotherapy, has emerged
as a promising treatment option for patients
with cancer.
Antibiotics are commonly used to reduce
infection-related complications in patients
undergoing chemotherapy. Intriguingly, ac-
cumulating evidence has implicated gut
microbiota as a critical determinant of host
antitumor immune responses, raising the
question as to whether the use of broad-spec-
trum antibiotics would invariably diminish
tumor response to chemoimmunotherapies.
Now, in one of the first evidences, we have
scientists at the at Augusta University find-
ing that the impact of antibiotics on cancer
therapies is mixed. Infections are typically
the biggest complication of chemotherapy,
and antibiotics are commonly prescribed to
prevent and treat them.
“We give a lot of medications to prevent in-
fections,” says Dr. Locke Bryan, hematolo-
gist/oncologist at the Georgia Cancer Center
and MCG. “White blood cell counts can go
so low that you have no defense against bac-
teria, and that overwhelming infection can be
Common Superbug Found
to Exhibit
“Heteroresistance” to
Last-Resort Antibiotic
In a concerning find, scientists have now
detected “heteroresistance” in the already
highly resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, a
bacterium that causes blood, soft tissue and
urinary tract infections.
“This is concerning because Klebsiella is
a more common cause of infection than En-
terobacter, and these isolates were carbape-
nem-resistant, which means that they might
actually be treated with colistin,” says David
Weiss, professor of medicine at Emory Uni-
versity School of Medicine and Emory Vac-
cine Center. “To our knowledge, this type of
heteroresistant Klebsiella has not been ob-
served in the United States before.”
Antibiotic resistance is a growing crisis and
a grave threat to human health. It is projected
that antibiotic-resistant infections will lead
to 10 million annual deaths worldwide by
the year 2050. Among the most significant
threats are carbapenem-resistant Enterobac-
teriaceae (CRE), including carbapenem-re-
sistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP),
which lead to mortality rates as high as 40
to 50%.
Colistin is an old antibiotic which doctors
administer to patients as a last resort, when
the bacteria infecting them are resistant to all
other antibiotics. It is often the only antibiotic
that will work against these highly drug-re-
March 13th, 2018.
lethal.”
In this high-stakes arena, where chemo-
therapy is increasingly packaged with newer
immunotherapies, Dr. Gang Zhou, immunol-
ogist at the Georgia Cancer Center and the
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology at the Medical College of Georgia at
Augusta University, who led the study, says
they have more evidence that antibiotics’ im-
pact on the microbiota can mean that T cells,
key players of the immune response, are less
By Disha Padmanabha
effective and some therapies might be too.
They report that antibiotic use appears to
have a mixed impact on an emerging immu- T-cell therapy continued to respond well to this case to treat B-cell lymphoma. In addi-
notherapy called adoptive T-cell therapy, in cancer treatment. The investigators noted tion to directly killing rapidly dividing cancer
which a patient’s T cells are altered in a vari- that antibiotic use also depressed the efficacy cells, CTX gets the attention and help of en-
ety of ways to better fight cancer. of cyclophosphamide when used as mono- dogenous T cells, and antibiotics reduced that
In the study, the researchers found adoptive therapy. T-cell response, the scientists report.
T-cell transfer was less effective in combi- Mice with colorectal cancers that did not
nation with cyclophosphamide in mice with receive antibiotics were cured after being “It is clear in animal models that if you
colorectal cancer when the animals were also treated with the chemotherapy CTX followed wipe out the intestinal microbiota, like you do
given antibiotics. by CD4+T-cell therapy. However, with anti- with antibiotics, it will attenuate the chemo-
Even long-term antibiotic use does not seem biotics on board, this curative effect was lost therapy efficacy,” says Zhou. “There is also
to hinder the efficacy of CAR T-cell therapy in three out of five mice three weeks after emerging clinical evidence showing that for
against systemic lymphoma in their animal treatment. Their studies also confirmed that CTX-based chemotherapy, some patients
model. While they could see the impact of antibiotic use impacts the efficacy of the who also get antibiotics for a longer period
antibiotics on the microbiota, mice with CAR widely used CTX, when it’s used alone, in of time, seem to have less optimal outcomes.”
sistant bacteria.
But the Emory study suggests that colistin
may not work in some patients, even though
lab tests doctors rely on to decide treatment
show that it should. Carbapenem-resistant
Klebsiella pneumoniae cause pneumonia,
bloodstream and other infections in people
with weakened immune systems, who are
usually hospitalized with other conditions.
Heteroresistance means that bacterial re-
sistance to particular antibiotics is harder to
monitor. Heteroresistance is caused by a mi-
nor subpopulation of resistant bacteria which
are genetically identical to the rest of the sus-
ceptible bacteria.
The bacterial isolates used in the study were
not detectable with current diagnostic tests,
although it was possible to see them by wait-
ing an extra 24 hours for the resistant popula-
tion to grow out.
It appeared that maintaining colistin re-
sistance all the time is disadvantageous for
bacteria. Probing the mechanism of heterore-
sistance, the team was able to see a signature
of colistin resistance, in terms of genes turned
By Disha Padmanabha
on and off.
In animal models of peritonitis (body cavity
infection), infection with the heteroresistant the kidneys. the authors say. “However, the extra time re-
isolates was lethal and untreatable by colis- quired is a downside. Novel diagnostics that
tin. Colistin is viewed as a last resort measure “Clinical laboratories should consider rapidly and accurately detect colistin heter-
for bacterial infections that are resistant to testing for heteroresistance to colistin if this oresistance are needed.”
other drugs, partly because it is poisonous to last-line antibiotic is required for treatment,”
5
March 13th, 2018. Vol. 02 NO 11

Cell Cycle Regulation to

Enable Cardiac
Regeneration
Through normal wear and tear, our tissues
experience regular cell loss that is countered
by replenishment mechanisms. Aging itself
is argued to be a cumulative outcome of the
gradual decline in our bodies’ natural capac-
ity to balance these events. Each tissue dis-
plays specific rates and mechanisms of cell
turnover.
Human intestinal epithelial cells last about
a week, whereas erythrocytes persist for 4
months before elimination. At the other end
of the spectrum, cardiomyocytes, the con-
tractile cells of the heart, display an estimated
developed the first efficient and stable meth-
od to make adult cardiomyocytes divide and
repair hearts damaged by heart attacks, at
least in animal models.
They identified four genes involved in con-
trolling the cycle of cell division. They found
that when combined—and only when com-
bined—these genes cause mature cardiomy-
ocytes to re-enter the cell cycle. This results
in the cells dividing and rapidly reproducing.
By Disha Padmanabha
“We discovered that when we increased
the function of these four genes at the same Deepak Srivastava (left) and Tamer Mohamed (right) identified genes that make adult cells divide again and regenerate tissues. [Photo: Diana Rothery]

turnover rate of 0.3 to 1% per year, with most
renewal events reported to occur in the first
decade of life.
“Because so many adult cells can’t divide,
your body can’t replace cells that are lost,
which causes disease,” explained Deepak
Srivastava, MD, president of the Gladstone
Institutes and senior investigator. “If we
could find a way to get these cells to divide
again, we could regenerate a number of tis-
sues.”
In the new study, Srivastava and his team
finally reached this long-sought goal. They
time, the adult cells were able to start divid-
ing again and regenerated heart tissue,” said
Tamer Mohamed, scientist at Tenaya Thera-
peutics and former postdoctoral scholar in
Srivastava’s laboratory, who is first author of
the study. “We also showed that, after heart
failure, this combination of genes significant-
ly improves cardiac function.”
This 4F strategy worked in mouse and rat
cardiomyocytes and also was successful in
stimulating cell division in 15%-20% of hu-
man cardiomyocytes. When they injected 4F
into the hearts of mice that had suffered heart
attacks, they observed an improvement in
their heart function after three months and a
reduction in the size of the scar tissue com-
pared to mice that did not receive the injec-
tion.
The team was able to further refine their
method by replacing two of the four genes
with chemical inhibitors that had similar
functions. Throughout the process, the team
did not observe the development of heart tu-
mors caused by the 4F treatment. They attrib-
uted this fact to the short-term expression of
4F in the cardiomyocytes.
“Heart cells were particularly challenging
because when they exit the cell cycle after
birth, their state is really locked down—
which might explain why we don’t get heart
tumors,” said Srivastava. “Now that we
know our method is successful with this diffi-
cult cell type, we think it could be used to un-
lock other cells’ potential to divide, including
nerve cells, pancreatic cells, hair cells in the
ear, and retinal cells.”
This could lead to a powerful regenerative
approach to treat not only heart failure, but
also brain damage, diabetes, hearing loss, and
blindness. And one day, the human might just
outperform the salamander.

Impaired “Epigenetic
Landscape” Hallmark of
Alzheimer’s : Study
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most
common cause of dementia in the el-
derly. A complex interaction between genetic
and environmental factors likely contributes
to the molecular processes that drive AD.
Although genetic variation in specific genes
increases the risk of AD, age is the strongest
known risk factor. How molecular processes
of aging predispose to AD, or become dereg-
ulated in AD, remains to be understood.
It is seen in animal models, that epigenetic
marks such as histone acetylation are asso-
ciated with learning and age-related mem-
ory decline. Histone acetylation is reduced
at memory genes in mouse models for AD,
and treatments with nonselective histone
deacetylase inhibitors aiming to reverse loss
of acetylation have shown promising results
in restoring synaptic and cognitive plasticity
in mouse models of AD.
Among the histone acetylation marks,
H4K16ac is a key modification because it
regulates chromatin compaction, gene ex-
pression, stress responses and DNA damage
repair. In model organisms, modulators of
H4K16ac play a role in whole organism ag-
ing and cellular senescence. Also, senescent
cells display H4K16ac enrichment over pro-
moter regions of expressed genes.
Therefore, the scientists at the Perelman
School of Medicine at the University of
Pennsylvania hypothesized that epigenetic
regulation by H4K16ac may be involved
in aging of the human brain and perhaps
in the progression of AD.
They therefore profiled the epigenomic
landscape of AD brains, specifically in one
of the regions affected early in AD, the lat-
eral temporal lobe. They compared these to
both younger and elderly cognitively normal
control subjects. The team described the ge-
nome-wide enrichment of a chemical modi-
fication of histone proteins that regulates the
compaction of chromosomes in the nucleus
(called acetylation of lysine 16 on histone
H4, or H4K16ac for short).
By Disha Padmanabha
“This is the first time that we have been able
to look at these relationships in human tis-
sue by using donated postmortem brain tis-
sue from the Penn Brain Bank,” said Shelley
Berger, PhD, a professor of Cell and Devel-
opmental Biology in the Perelman School of
Medicine and a professor of Biology in the
School of Arts and Sciences. “Our results
establish the basis for an epigenetic link be-
tween aging and Alzheimer’s disease.”
A three-way comparison of younger, older,
and AD brain tissue revealed a specific class
of H4K16ac changes in AD compared to
normal age-established changes in the brain.
This finding indicates that certain normal Coronal section of human brain indicating the lateral temporal lobe (red circle) used in this study. Credit: The lab of Shelley Berger, PhD, Perelman School of
Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
aging changes in the epigenome may actu-
ally protect against AD and when these goes that AD is not simply an advanced state of fellow in Berger’s lab.
awry, a person may become predisposed to normal aging, but rather dysregulated aging
AD. that may induce disease-specific changes to The team next hopes to discover the phys-
the structure of chromatin – the combination iological changes that cause the decrease of
“These analyses point to a new model of of histone proteins and DNA.” said first au- H4K16ac specifically in AD brains, but not
Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically it appears thor Raffaella Nativio, PhD, a postdoctoral in normal-aged brains.

6
Vol. 02 NO 11
The Brain Nod: A Signal of
Understanding
An exclusive brain signal indicating com-
prehension.
People routinely hear and understand
speech at rates of 120–200 words per minute.
Thus, speech comprehension must involve
rapid, online neural mechanisms that process
words’ meanings in an approximately time-
locked fashion. However, electrophysiologi-
cal evidence for such time-locked processing
has been lacking for continuous speech.
Now, in this direction, scientists have have
identified a specific brain signal associated
with the conversion of speech into under-
standing. The signal is present when the lis-
tener has understood what they have heard,
but it is absent when they either did not un-
derstand, or weren’t paying attention.
Ussher Assistant Professor in Trinity’s
School of Engineering, Ed Lalor, led the
research team comprised of scientists from
Trinity and the University of Rochester. La-
lor noted in a press statement that, though
there is more work to be done in this field,
“we have already begun searching for other
ways that our brains might compute mean-
ing, and how those computations differ from
those performed by computers.”
The researchers recorded brainwaves using
a technique known as electroencephalog-
raphy (EEG)— when a cap of electrodes is
placed on the scalp— as participants listened
to audiobooks. They identified a specific re-
March 13th, 2018.
sponse that reflected how similar or different
a given word was from those that preceded it
in the story.
The signal disappeared when the subjects
either could not understand the speech, for
instance if the background was too noisy, or
when they were not paying attention. The re-
searchers said that this signal represented an
extremely sensitive measure of whether or
not a person is understanding speech.
“The presence or absence of the signal may
also confirm if a person in a job that demands
precision and speedy reactions – such as an
air traffic controller, or soldier – has under-
stood the instructions they have received, and
it may perhaps even be useful for testing for
the onset of dementia in older people based
on their ability to follow a conversation,”
said Ed Lalor.
Further work is required, he said, to get a
complete picture of all the computations per-
formed in the understanding of speech.
“We are also excited about the dementia
testing possibilities because the system is not
unpleasant or difficult to wear, and it has the
potential to catch symptoms long before they
manifest. The most interesting aspect from
a healthcare point of view is that it can de-
tect things in people who may be non-verbal,
such as young children or those who are un-
conscious.” By Disha Padmanabha
7
March 13th, 2018.
SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS
350 Research Grants 2018
@ Merck KGaA | Grants of
EUR 350,000 per year
Apply Online for the 350 Research
Grants 2018 available at Merck KGaA. In
honor of 350 years, Merck has announced
the 350 Research Grants with up to EUR
350,000 per year, apply online as per the
details below:
Merck is all about science and technolo-
gy. At the occasion of its 350th anniversary
Merck offers a series of research grants to
stimulate innovative research in challenging
areas of future importance.
Merck intends to provide several research
grants of up to EUR 350,000 per year for 3
years in various topic areas with the option of
extension or expansion.
We are looking for innovative research
proposals from scientists worldwide. Top
submitters will be invited to a Deep Dive
workshop to further advance the proposals
together with Merck scientists. The deep dive
workshop will include decision on grant re-
cipients. Merck will then enter into bilateral
collaboration agreements with the winning
recipients to enable pay-out of the research
grant and project start in 2019.
Research Areas:
Healthy Lives / Drug Discovery
Challenge 1: What is the next
game-changing molecule or technology to
help cure cancer or autoimmune disease?
Drug discovery has made significant pro-
gress in recent years with immune check-
point inhibitors revolutionizing the treatment
of cancer or the emergence of completely
new therapeutic approaches such as geneti-
cally engineered T-cells just to mention a few
examples.
At the occasion of our 350-year anniversary
we are launching a call for research proposals
on projects to identify and characterize the
next game-changing molecule or technology
to help cure cancer or autoimmune disease.
What are new breakthrough enabling tech-
nologies for drug discovery, which molecular
targets or pathophysiological pathways have
tremendous untapped potential to deliver the
next big therapeutic breakthrough? How can
translation from and predictivity of preclin-
ical models to the clinical situation be en-
hanced?
8
Life Reimagined / Synthetic Biology
Challenge 1: What is the next generation
production technology for biologics?
We are constantly in search of ways to im-
prove efficiency and lower cost for biologics
production. The Merck 350 Research Grant
will be awarded to the development of con-
tinuous production technologies, real time
sensors continuous chromatography, and
flow-through purification.
Challenge 2: Can you revolutionize mi-
crobiome research?
Understanding and harnessing the micro-
biome has the potential to impact the world
around us and revolutionize human health,
agriculture, and environmental restoration.
However, understanding how we can harness
and accelerate the promise of the microbiome
is one of the toughest challenges in life sci-
ence. The Merck 350 Research Grant recog-
nizes the need for microbiome specific tools
and methods to enable and translate microbi-
ome research. This award would support the
development of workflow tools, predictive
models, culturing and imaging techniques,
omics and informatics that enable technical
advancements for deciphering the microbi-
ome.
Who Can Apply?
Researchers from around the world may ap-
ply for the grants.
The research proposed for the grant must
not:
• involve interventional clinical research
• involve the testing of competitors’
products
How Does It Work?
Fill out the Application Form with your re-
search proposal, use only non-confidential
information by August, 15th, 2018. Please
make sure you have read and accepted the
terms and conditions before you submit the
application form.
All selected applicants will be invited to a
three day workshop after signature of a confi-
dential disclosure and workshop participation
agreement to discuss and optimize a more de-
tailed confidential research proposal further
together with Merck scientists.
At the end of the workshop participants will
present their optimized research proposal and
the winning applicants will be selected by
Merck. Merck will then enter into bilateral
collaboration agreements with the winning
recipients to enable pay-out of the research
grant and project start in 2019.
Your Benefits
Merck intends to provide research grants
of up to EUR 350,000 per year for 3 years
in several topic areas. Top submitters will be
invited to a Deep Dive workshop to further
advance the proposals together with Merck
scientists. The deep dive workshop will in-
clude decision on grant recipients. Merck
will cover all travel and accommodation
costs. Furthermore, grant winners may gain
access to meaningful collaborations within
Merck and all the resources and connections
that this allows.
How to Apply?
Fill out the Application Form using only
non-confidential information & send it via
email to:
350researchgrants@merckgroup.com
Tata Innovation Fellowship
2017-18 For Life Sciences
& Biotech
Check the details on Tata Innovation
Fellowship 2018. Official notification for
Tata Innovation Fellowship 2017-18 is giv-
en below. DBT India has announced no-
tification for Tata Innovation Fellowship
2018. PhD Life sciences candidates and
MSc Biotechnology candidates eligible to
apply for Tata Innovation Fellowship 2018
as per the details given below:
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPART-
MENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY MINISTRY
OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY TATA IN-
NOVATION FELLOWSHIP: 2017 18
Applications are invited for Tata Innovation
Fellowship , a highly competitive scheme in-
stituted by the Department of Biotechnology,
Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of
India to recognize and reward scientists with
outstanding track record in biological scienc-
es and a deep commitment to find innovative
solutions to major problems in health care,
agriculture and other areas related to life
sciences and biotechnology.
Objective:
The scheme is aimed at rewarding interdis-
ciplinary work where major emphasis is on
innovation and translational research with a
potential towards commercialization.
Eligibility:
• The fellowship is open to Indian Na-
tionals residing in India who are below
the age of 55 years as on 21st Novem-
ber, 2017. The fellowship is co-termi-
nus with the superannuation of fellow
in his organization.
• The applicant should possess a Ph.D
degree in Life Sciences, Agriculture,
Veterinary Science or a Master’s de-
gree in Medical Sciences, Engineering
or an equivalent degree in Biotechnol-
ogy / related areas. The applicant must
Vol. 02 NO 11
have outstanding contribution and pub-
lication in the specific area.
• The candidate must have a regular
permanent position in a University/In-
stitute/Organization and should be en-
gaged in research and development. If
he/she is availingany other fellowship,
he/she will have to opt for only one of
the fellowships.
• The applicant should have spent at least
5 years in India before applying for
thefellowship
• Evidence of outstanding track record
and a deep commitment to find inno-
vative solutions to major problems in
health care, agriculture and other areas
related to life sciences and biotechnol-
ogy.
Nature of Support:
• The amount of the fellowship is Rs.
25,000/- per month in addition to reg-
ular salary from the host institute. If an
awardee is receiving salary from inter-
national organization, he will be enti-
tled for research grant i.e. contingency
only.
• In addition, each Fellow will receive
a contingency grant of Rs. 6.00 lakh
per annum for meeting the expenses
on consumables, equipment, interna-
tional and domestic travel, manpower
and other contingent expenditure to be
incurred in connection with the imple-
mentation of ongoing research project
under the fellowship.
• The Tata Innovation Fellows would
be eligible for other regular research
grant(s) through extramural and other
research schemes of various S&T agen-
cies of the Government of India.
Host Institution:
• The candidate will continue to work at
the place of his/her employment.
• The Institution where the candidate is
working would provide the necessary
infrastructure and administrative sup-
port for pursuing the research under
this fellowship.
Number : Five per year.
Duration :
Three years, extendable further by two
years on a fresh appraisal.
How to Apply:
Application (six copies) may be sent as per
proforma downloadable from DBT website
(www.dbtindia.nic.in) and duly forwarded
by the competent authority to Dr. A. K. Ra-
wat, Director, Department of Biotechnology,
Block-2, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New
Delhi -110 003, latest by 31st March, 2018.
Last Date : by 31st March, 2018.
Vol. 02 NO 11
National Women
Bioscientist Awards
2017-2018
Apply for the DBT India National Wom-
en Bioscientist Awards 2017-2018. Noti-
fication is out for DBT National Women
Bioscientist Awards 2017-2018.
Government of India
Ministry of Science & Technology
Department of Biotechnology
NOMINATIONS FOR NATIONAL WOM-
EN BIOSCIENTISTS AWARDS: 2017 &
2018
Objective:
To recognize outstanding contributions
of women scientists in basic and applied
research in the areas of biosciences and bi-
otechnology including agricultural, biomed-
ical and environmental sciences with poten-
tial for application/product and technology
development.
National Women Bioscientist Award
(Senior Category) (one)
The National Women Bioscientist Award
(Senior Category) is awarded to senior wom-
en scientist for life time contributions, who
has done excellent research in the country
and has applied the results for benefit of stu-
dents and society. The Award carries a cash
prize of Rs 5.00 lakh along with citation and
a gold medal.
National Women Bioscientist Award
(Young Category) (Two)
The National Women Bioscientists Award
(Young Category) is given for outstanding
contributions of women scientists below 45
years of age in basic and applied research in
the areas of biosciences and biotechnology
including agricultural, biomedical and envi-
ronmental sciences with potential for appli-
cation/product and technology development.
Contributions made during last 5 years would
be the main consideration. The Award carries
a cash prize of Rs 1.00 lakh with citation and
a gold medal and Research Grant of Rs 5.00
lakh per annum for a period of 5 years.
Eligibility
i) Any Citizen of India who is engaged in
basic and applied research in the areas of bi-
osciences and biotechnology in the country.
The work for which nomination is made must
have been carried out in Indian institutes and
acknowledged in the publications.
ii) For Senior Category Award: Citizens of
India should have made life time significant
and outstanding contribution in research
in the areas of biosciences/biotechnology
and has applied the results for the benefit of
students and society and the work must have
been done entirely in India.
iii) For Young Category Award: Citizens
of India should have made significant and
outstanding contribution in the areas of bi-
osciences/biotechnology during last 5 years
and the work must have been done entirely
in India.
iv) The senior category award is for excel-
lence in research (and not for governance/
promotion of Science) and not for age and
thus there is no age limit. For the young cate-
gory, the candidate should be below 45 years
of age as on the 31st December of the year
of Award.
Nominations :
Women scientists working in the area of
biosciences/biotechnology can be nomi-
nated by members of the SAC(O), DBT;
Vice-Chancellors of Universities/ Deemed
Universities; Chairman, UGC; DGs of CSIR,
ICAR, ICMR, DRDO; Directors of National
Research Laboratories etc; Presidents of ap-
proved scientific societies and academies of
All India Nature; Secretaries of S&T Depart-
ments / Ministries such as DST, DBT, DSIR,
MES, MOEF, Atomic Energy, Department of
Space, New and Renewable Energy, Com-
merce, Industry, Health & Family Welfare
and Human Resource Development and Ad-
visor/ Member (Science) Niti Aayog. Nomi-
nations will have to be sent in the prescribed
proforma (Annexure).
Nomination from individuals sponsoring
their own names will not be considered.
Selection : The selection of candidates for
the award will be made on the basis of rec-
ommendations of Selection Committee. Only
nominations complete in all respects as per
proforma will be considered.
Presentation of the awards : The awardees
will receive the awards at a formal function
organized by DBT.
Payment of TA/DA : TA/DA to the awar-
dees for attending the award ceremony will
be paid by the Department of Biotechnology
as per Govt. of India rules.
How to Apply :
The details of the Award, eligibility criteria,
and proforma for nomination are given be-
low. The nominations (2 copies) neatly typed
in double space on plain paper in the pre-
scribed proforma complete with enclosures
should reach on or before 15th April, 2018 to
Mr. J.K. Dora, Under Secretary, Department
of Biotechnology, Room No. 518, 5th Floor,
Block-III, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New
Delhi – 110 003 and a soft copy in MS-Word
.doc file to be e-mailed to jagadish.dora@nic.
in.
APEX Postdoctoral
Fellowship 2018 : Marie
Sklowdowska-Curie
Cofund
2018 INDICATIVE CALL SCHEDULE
• Call 1 announcement - 12th January,
2018
• Deadline for proposal submission - 9th
April, 2018
• Call outcome - July, 2018
• Fellowship start date - October 1st
2018
A new intersectoral training, career devel-
opment and mobility fellowship which focus-
es on the research strengths and expertise of
the Institute in the area of gut microbiota and
their role in human health and disease.
APEX is a postdoctoral fellowship Marie
Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) CO-
FUND programme, based at APC Micro-
biome Ireland at University College Cork
(UCC), and cofunded by H2020.
The APEX programme will offer 20 pres-
tigious two-year postdoctoral fellowships for
incoming mobility across two calls over the
60 months duration of the programme. Fel-
lowships will be targeted at experienced re-
searchers. (An experienced researcher must
at the application deadline (1st call: 9th April,
2018; 2nd call: 9th April, 2019), be in pos-
session of a doctoral degree OR have at least
four years of full-time equivalent research
experience in academia or industry).
All fellows will be hosted in an APC aca-
demic host organisation (University College
Cork, Teagasc Moorepark or Cork Institute
of Technology) and will be required to com-
plete a mandatory secondment in a relevant
industry host.
Fellowships will be offered in the four the-
matic APC research areas of ‘Microbes to
Molecules’, ‘Diet and Microbes at the Ex-
tremes of Life’, ‘Brain-Gut-Microbiota Axis’
and ‘Host-Microbe Dialogue’. Adhering to
the MSCA principle of ‘individual-driven
mobility’, APEX applicants will have the
freedom to choose their research topic (with-
in the remit of the APC), their supervisor and
their secondment organisation. Secondments
will be relevant to the fellows’ research pro-
ject and their career development.
There will be two calls under the APEX
programme, with application deadlines of
April 2018 and April 2019, for start dates of
October 2018 and October 2019 respectively.
There will be 10 fellowships awarded in this
call.
Fellowship Details:
The APEX Fellowships are open to experi-
enced researchers of any nationality, resident
anywhere in the world (provided the mobility
eligibility criteria are met), seeking a pres-
tigious career development fellowship in re-
search of the gut microbiota and their role in
human health and disease.
March 13th, 2018.
All fellows will be hosted in an APC aca-
demic host organisation (University College
Cork, Teagasc Moorepark or Cork Institute
of Technology) and will be required to com-
plete a mandatory secondment in a relevant
industry host.
The aim of APEX is to develop the next
generation of scientific leaders who will gain
hands on experience developing cross-disci-
plinary and entrepreneurial skills through in-
dividual research projects.
Applicants choose their research area (with-
in the remit of APC), APEX supervisor, and
secondment organisation in the non-academ-
ic sector.
Duration Of The Fellowship
The total duration of each fellowship is two
years, commencing October 2018 and Octo-
ber 2019.
Eligibility Criteria
To be considered eligible, applicants must
fulfill the following criteria:
• Applicants may be of any nationality.
• Applicants must be fluent in English
(written and spoken)
• Applicants must be Experienced Re-
searchers.
An experienced researcher must at the ap-
plication deadline (1st call:9th April, 2018;
2nd call: 9th April, 2019), be in possession of
a doctoral degree or have at least four years
of full-time equivalent research experience in
academia or industry.
Full-Time Equivalent Research Experience
is measured from the date when a research-
er obtained the degree entitling him or her to
embark on a doctorate, either in the country
in which the degree was obtained or in the
country in which the researcher is recruited,
even if a doctorate was never started or en-
visaged.
• Mobility Requirements:
International mobility is a core element of
the APEX programme. Applicants must be
incoming fellows to Ireland and fulfill the
mobility requirements:
Applicants may not have resided or carried
out their main activity (work, study) in the
Republic of Ireland for more than 12 months
in the 3 years prior to the Call deadline.
For Career Restart and Reintegration: Ap-
plicants may not have resided or carried out
their main activity in the Republic of Ireland
for more than 3 years in the 5 years immedi-
ately prior to the call deadline.
• Secondment Eligibility
Eligible secondment hosts are research per-
forming non-academic organisations located
anywhere in the world.
Secondments must be 3 to 6 months in du-
ration and can be a single period or split into
short stays.
Secondments must be relevant to the fel-
low’s project and career development.
Project Eligibility:
Proposals must describe a research project
to be implemented during a 2-year period.
Adhere to the ethical standards as stated in
the programme documentation.
Next Page>>>>
9
March 13th, 2018.
Include a secondment in the non-academic
sector.
The topic must fall within the broad APC
research themes :
• Microbes to Molecules,
• Diet and Microbes at the Extremes of
Life,
• Brain-Gut-Microbiota Axis
• Host-Microbe Dialogue.
Application Process:
• The application process starts with the
publication of the call for proposals.
Call 1 open since 12th January, 2018.
• All applications will be emailed to the
APEX address APEX@ucc.ie, with
the subject heading: Call 1.
• The application system will close
on the submission deadline, at 23.59
(GMT) 9th April, 2018.
Application Deadline – 9th April, 2018
SMART 2018 Scholars
Programme @ Singapore
SMART 2018 Scholars Programme at
Singapore. Singapore-MIT Alliance for
Research and Technology (SMART) Cen-
tre in Singapore 2018 Notification. Check
details on the same below:
We will be accepting qualified applications
for the SMART 2018 Scholars Programme.
These awards will provide a unique opportu-
nity for recent or soon to be Ph.D. graduates
to participate in the Singapore-MIT Alliance
for Research and Technology (SMART) Cen-
tre in Singapore, and to become members of
an alumni network that we anticipate will
continue to evolve and expand over the years.
The awards, to be given annually, are open to
those with less than three years post doctoral
experience and provided they have received
their doctoral degree by 1 August 2018. The
fellowship recipient would be able to conduct
research of his/her own choice in Singapore
within, but not necessarily tied closely to, a
current project in one of the SMART Inter-
disciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) and or
the SMART Innovation Centre. It is antici-
pated that the recipients will take up their ap-
pointments at SMART by 1 September 2018.
Award : The awards provide a fixed annu-
al salary of S$120,000 per year (not eligible
for 13 month bonus or annual increment), a
research grant of up to S$20,000 per year,
computer purchase grant of up to S$1,000, a
travel grant of up to S$2,500 per year, and el-
igible for a six-month stay at MIT with funds
up to S$15,000..
Application Requirements:
1. SMART IRG
10
Select the SMART Interdisciplinary Re-
search Group (IRG) you would like to con-
duct your research in. The proposed research
project should align with one of the SMART
IRGs: FM, LEES, AMR or DiSTAP.
There is also an opportunity to work with
the Innovation Centre. Here, scholars will
have the opportunity to research the Innova-
tion Centre’s processes, assess the centre’s
strenghts and weaknesses, and provide rec-
ommendations for improvements.
2. MIT Mentor
Identify the MIT faculty member who be-
longs to SMART that you feel could best
provide mentorship and guidance on your
proposed research.
3. Research Statement
Submit a 1-3 page description of the re-
search project you propose to conduct at
SMART, including some background/con-
text, technical approach and anticipated re-
sults.
4. Objective
Provide a brief description of why you want
to conduct your research at SMART in Sin-
gapore. Include some indication of how the
proposed research might benefit from being
conducted in Singapore, and how it might
promote collaboration between the SMART
faculty member from MIT, the Nanyang
Technological University (NTU), the Na-
tional University of Singapore (NUS), and
the Singapore University of Technology and
Design (SUTD).
5. Career Goals
Describe your long-term career goals and
role of this postdoctoral experience in achiev-
ing them, including future plans for collabo-
rative activities.
6. CV
Curriculum Vitae not to exceed 2 pages.
7. List of Publications
Provide a complete list of publications. In
addition, also include copies of not more than
3 publications, combined in a single PDF file,
that you consider to represent your best work.
8. Optional
Provide the Selection Committee any other
information you feel will be helpful in ac-
cessing your application.
9. Referees
Provide 3 professional names of your ref-
eree. One must be your doctoral supervisor
and the other 2 persons must be qualified to
comment on your scholarly achievements.
Your referees must submit their recommen-
dation online together with your application
through our online application. A reminder to
your referee to prepare the letter using their
official institution or organization’s letter-
head.
NOTE: For questions regarding the
SMART Scholar Fellowship, send an email
to smart_scholar@smart.mit.edu.
Application Period and Timeline:
The application period is from 01 Febru-
Vol. 02 NO 11
ary 2018 to 13 April 2018, Singapore time.
The status of your application will be sent by • A PhD, or near to completion, in a med-
email on or before 23 May 2018, Singapore ical/biological subject, together with
time. relevant experience.
• Be no more than 3 years post PhD at
the start of the fellowship. This condi-
tion will be relaxed proportionately for
applicants who have had a career break.
• A strong CV, having published in high
impact journals and presented at inter-
national meetings.
• An enthusiastic interest in diabetes and
metabolic research.
The key selection criteria for the Clinical
Research Training Fellowships are:
SMART 2018 Scholars • Have prior research experience (typ-
Programmea Novo ically a BSc), a medical degree and
some specialist experience, typically
Nordisk – Oxford having obtained MRCP or equivalent,
Fellowship Programme – but not CCT or consultant status.
2018 @ Singapore • Have a strong academic record (eg
prizes, first class degree etc).
• GMC registered Medical Practitioner
Candidates with PhD Bioscience Degree,
or ability to obtain GMC requirements
Life Science PhD Degree and are looking
and practice in the UK (please see the
for Biotech Fellowship / Life Science Fel-
General Medical Council website for
lowship can apply for Novo Nordisk – Ox-
further details).
ford Fellowship Programme – 2018.
• A strong CV, as evidenced by publica-
tions in international journals.
The Novo Nordisk – Oxford Fellowship
• Committed to a career in diabetes or
Programme aims to support the development
metabolic medicine, clinical practice
of a new generation of exceptional young di-
and research.
abetes researchers, who will become future
leaders in the field. The programme also aims
How to Apply :
to further develop scientific excellence with-
in diabetes and ultimately improve the lives
Call For Application
of patients. We support both postdoctoral re-
search fellows and clinical research training
The 2018 call for applications is now
fellows. This ensures that the research in our
open, with a closing date of midday on Fri-
programme spans the translational spectrum,
from basic biological research through to
day 23 March.
clinical application.
• Apply for Novo Nordisk Postdoctoral
Research Fellow in Diabetes and Me-
What they Offer ?
tabolism (3 posts)
• Apply for Novo Nordisk Clinical Re-
We offer fellows a cutting edge research
search Training Fellow in Diabetes and
project based at the University of Oxford,
Metabolism (2 posts)
which is supervised by world-leading re-
searchers in the field of diabetes and metabo-
If you would like to apply for a fellowship
lism. In addition, each fellow is given a men-
position, you must list up to three research
tor at Novo Nordisk. As part of their project,
projects as part of your supporting statement,
fellows will spend a period of time in the labs
in your application.
of Novo Nordisk in Copenhagen. Fellows
We advertise fellowship positions each
will therefore get an insight into research in
spring, with an expected start date in autumn
both academia and industry.
of the same year. We recruit between three
The postdoctoral research fellowships are
and six fellows in each recruitment cycle. We
aimed at early career researchers with a ba-
will have subsequent calls in Spring 2019 and
sic science background. The clinical research
Spring 2020.
training fellowships are aimed at clinicians
who wish to undertake a DPhil (PhD) and
Please check Research Projects on:
who aspire to a career in academic medicine.
https://www.biotecnika.org/2018/03/
Our prestigious fellowships are fully funded
novo-nordisk-oxford-fellowship-pro-
for a three year period and provide the fel-
gramme/
low’s salary, a generous travel allowance and
consumable support for the lab in which they
are based. Our fellowships are open to out-
standing candidates of any nationality.
Eligibility & Selection Criteria
The fellowship programme is international
and therefore applicants from any country
are eligible to apply. However, please note
that while we will consider all applications,
the funding provided for the clinical research
training fellowships will only cover home/
EU DPhil fees. Find out information on stu-
dent fees at the University of Oxford.
We aim to recruit fellows with the potential
to become leaders in the field of diabetes in
subsequent years.
The key selection criteria for the Post-
doctoral Research Fellowships are:
Vol. 02 NO 11
Apply for a high paying govt job at
NDTL – National Dope Testing Labora-
tory. National Dope Testing Laboratory
is hiring MSc & PhD candidates for Rs.
60,000/- per month Scientist position as
per the details given below:
NATIONAL DOPE TESTING LABORA-
TORY (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports)
J N Stadium Complex
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110003
National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL)
an autonomous organization under the Minis-
try of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government
of India invites applications for engagement
of Scientist –‘B’ on contract basis initially for
a period of one year extendable upto a max-
imum three years for routine dope sample
Apply for Programme Associate position
at INSA. Indian National Science Acade-
my hiring for Programme Associate posi-
tion for which applications are open. Its a
Life Sciences Job @ Indian National Sci-
ence Academy , Go through the details giv-
en below:
Name of the Position : Programme As-
sociate
No.of.Posts : 02
Age Limit :
Not exceeding 35 Years (as on 01.03.2018)
Consolidated Remuneration :
Rs. 40,000.00 per month
Name of the Project : “India-UK Energy
Demand Reduction in the Built Environ-
ment Programme involving India‟s De-
partment of Science & Technology (DST)
JOBS
testing and data analysis.
Name of the Position : Scientist – ‘B’ (on
Contract basis)
No.of.Posts : 05
Remuneration : Fixed Monthly remunera-
tion of Rs. 60,000/- will be payable.
Qualifications:
Essential – M. Sc (Chemical Sciences/ Bi-
ological sciences/Pharmaceutical sciences /
applied sciences in relevant fields from rec-
ognised university or equivalent with 2 years
experience)
Or Ph. D
and the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) and Econom-
ic and Social Research Council (ESRC),
as part of the Research Councils UK
(RCUK)”
Educational Qualification :
Ph.D. Degree in Basic Sciences / Life
Sciences / Engineering / Pharmacy from
any recognized University or Institute. Can-
didates who have submitted their thesis can
also be considered
How to Apply:
• Candidates must apply in the pre-
scribed application form which should
be downloaded from the Academy’s
website: www.insaindia.res.in. Appli-
cations received in any other format /
form shall be summarily rejected and
no correspondence shall be made in
this regard.
• The age, qualification and experience
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES GOVT JOB @
NATIONAL DOPE TESTING LABORATORY
WITH RS. 60,000/- PM SALARY
Desirable – Specialized experience in re-
search & development in the field of drug
analysis / sports dope testing / quality man-
agement system as per ISO 17025 / industrial
/ scientific organization
How to Apply:
Eligible and willing candidates may submit
their applications in the prescribed Perfor-
ma attached at Annexure – II on or before
02/04/2018 (05:00 PM) by post and by e-mail
to The Laboratory Director on following ad-
dress.
Applications incomplete in any respect
(i.e. unsigned, without photograph, without
required documents/certificates etc.) will e
summarily rejected.
The applications, should, therefore, furnish
LIFE SCIENCES JOB @ INDIAN NATIONAL
SCIENCE ACADEMY WITH RS. 40,000 PM
SALARY
shall be reckoned as on 01.03.2018.
• Candidates are required to possess a
valid active email ID and Mobile Num-
ber which is to be filled in the appli-
cation form correctly and legibly. In-
timation to shortlisted candidates for
Interview will be sent through email
only. The Academy will not be respon-
sible for bouncing of any email sent to
the candidates.
• Candidates who wish to apply for more
than one category should submit sepa-
rate application forms.
• Applications received incomplete in
any respect, wrongly filled-in or un-
signed or without supporting self at-
tested photocopies of educational
certificates, mark sheets, age, caste
certificate (wherever applicable) and
experience certificate (wherever appli-
cable) or without photograph will not
be entertained in any case.
• Selection Procedure: Shortlisted can-
didates shall be called for Interview to
make an assessment for selection. All
March 13th, 2018.
details of all the qualifications & experience
possessed in the relevant field over & above
the minimum qualifications/experience pre-
scribed along with attested photocopies of
mark sheets/ certificates.
The Laboratory Director
National Dope Testing Laboratory
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex
CGO Complex, East Gate,
Lodhi Road,
New Delhi – 110003
ndtlindia@nic.in
Application Deadline – on or before
02/04/2018 (05:00 PM)
communication shall be made through
the email ID only given by the Candi-
dates. Final selection will be made on
the basis of performance in the Inter-
view.
• The envelope containing the appli-
cation form must be superscribed as
“Application for engagement as Pro-
gramme Associate / Executive Assis-
tant on Contract Basis”.
Applications in the prescribed format with
necessary self attested documents may bersj.
jwels_1892@yahoo.in sent to “Deputy Exec-
utive Director-II (F&A), Indian National Sci-
ence Academy, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi-110002″ so as to reach the Acad-
emy latest by 20 March 2018 (5.00 p.m.).
The last date for the receipt of applica-
tions is 20 March 2018. Applications re-
ceived after the last date will be summarily
rejected.
11
March 13th, 2018.
Biocon is recruiting for Msc and PhD
candidates for research positions. MSc &
PhD Biochemistry and Biotech job open-
ing at Biocon. Check the details on the
same below:
Job Title : MSAT Formulation Biosimi-
lar
Location : Bengaluru Area, India
Job Functions : Research
Job Description : MSAT provides tech-
nical support for products manufactured at
microbial and mammalian facility at Biocon.
Key responsibilities of the team are listed
below:
• Responsible for monitoring, trouble-
shooting and improving upstream,
downstream and formulation unit op-
erations as well as related analytical
in-process and release testing starting
from vial thaw to the finished drug
product.
• Root cause investigations of deviations
and OOS
Apply for a government job opening at In-
dian Jute Industries’ Research Association.
IJIRA job opening for MSc & PhD Microbi-
ology candidates for a Senior Microbiologist
position as per the details given below:
Applications are invited for the posts of
Senior Microbiologist candidates, who pos-
sess the requisite qualification, for filling
up the following post is requested to apply
with proper bio-data within 13/03/2018. The
details of the contact address are mentioned
bellow:
Name of the Post : Senior Microbiologist
reputed University.
12
• Support Clinical and commercial man-
ufacturing (for process, analytical,
equipment, facility related activities)
• Support Process Validation with pro-
tocol, reports and support functions of
cleaning and hold time validation.
SCIENTISTS/Engineers:
• Looking for Candidates with formula-
tion and fill finish for sterile injectable
experience.
• Hands on experience on formulation,
lyophilization, mixing processes, ster-
ile filtration process development and/
or process scale-up required.
• Understanding of workflow for Bio-
similar process and product develop-
ment with the perspective of Reference
Product Quality Attributes is desirable.
• Strong concepts of drug product devel-
opment such as DP specifications, con-
tainer closure design and interactions,
sterile filtration operations, stability
studies (shelf life extrapolation), in use
studies (infusion studies), shipping and
excursions studies and Extractables
and Leachables program is a must.
• The job involves the following func-
Number of Posts : 01
Consolidated pay package :
33,000 (Consolidated)
Nature of the Appointment :
Contractual.
Qualifications:
Essential :
M. Sc (1st Class) in Microbiology from a
BIOCON RESEARCH CAREERS – MSAT
FORMULATION BIOSIMILAR POST VACANT
tions: Root cause investigations for
deviations and OOS, Trending and
analysis of data from clinical batches
onwards, Regulatory support, Process
improvements initiatives, Studies sup-
porting alternate raw materials sources,
Support Process Validation, Support
Engineering and Instrumentation.
TECHNICAL / FUNCTIONAL & BE-
HAVIORAL SKILLS:
Technical Skills
• Strong knowledge of Lyophilization,
sterile filtration, stability studies, con-
tainer closure interactions.
• Hands on experience in formulation
• Strong concepts in Protein Biochemis-
try.
• Understanding of the concepts of in-
strumentation associated with the pro-
cess function
• Knowledge in HPLC related work-
flows is a plus
• The core function of MSAT is docu-
mentation of manufacturing activities
to Quality assurance regulatory agen-
cies, both national and international.
GOVT MICROBIOLOGY JOB @ INDIAN JUTE
INDUSTRIES’ RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
(IJIRA)
Desirable :
• Ph. D (Microbiology).
• Having minimum 2 years experience
in applied Microbiology especially on
Jute-Microbes interaction.
• Experience on bulk production of mi-
crobes through fermentation.
• Operational experience in analytical in-
struments in laboratory.
How to Apply:
1) Deserving candidates should send their
applications in a sealed envelope to the ad-
dress below and clearly mentioning the post.
Vol. 02 NO 11
Therefore the candidate must have
strong documentation skills. She or He
must value accurate, thorough and de-
tailed documentation practices.
• Investigative spirit and technical cu-
riosity is a must. The candidate must
have a drive to “dig” until the root
cause is found.
• MSAT person will also have access to
large body of data. Hence the candidate
must be well organized and methodical.
• Since the position involves interacting
with QA, QC, Manufacturing, Instru-
mentation and Engineering, strong In-
terpersonal skills are required.
• Good communications skills required
Behavioral skills:
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
• Experience: 4- 8 years hands on expe-
rience with process development and/
or scale up. Experience with processes
run at production scale is preferred
• Qualification: M.Pharm/M.Sc./ MTech
or PhD with specialization in any of the
following Biochemistry, Biotechnolo-
gy, Chemistry, Chemical engineering.
To
Director
Indian Jute Industries’ Research Associa-
tion
17, Taratala Road, Kolkata 700 088
2) The candidates should also send their ap-
plication through mail address as in below:-
taniya.addya@ijira.org
Application Deadline : 13/03/2018