Pune: “The embryo cellular enzymes deal with life and death issues, but when their growth is controlled, it would do wonders. However, its uncontrolled growth might lead to cancer, infection or auto-immune diseases,” said Professor Irit Sagi, Dean, Feinberg Graduate School, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
A 24-member delegation of 13 faculty and 11 students visited Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER), Pune for a three-day conference on Chemical Biology from January 17 to 19. It was a platform to present cutting-edge advancement in chemical biology from leading scientists from IISER and Weizmann, added Professor Sagi, a chemist, whose area of research includes infertility.
Her colleague at Weizmann, Ziv Rleich, whose area of work is life sciences told Sakal Times that the future for life sciences would be in genome editing and neuroscience. He said, “The cutting-edge technology is required for research and drug delivery in medicine and agriculture. There is a shift in research in terms of money as many countries nowadays are ready to spend money on research. Climate change, crop pattern and land, clinical cancer trials and marine research are key areas of focus.”
“We need to see whether there are any ways to grow crops in the marine environment,” said Rleich.
Details about the conference
When a person is suffering from tuberculosis, there are numerous intra-cellular pathogens having interactions with the host. To understand the chemistry that takes place behind it, is what the research collaborations would be between IISER and Weizmann Institute of Science over the next few months.
Weizmann is a leading multidisciplinary basic research institution in the natural and exact sciences. Professor Naresh Sharma, Head of International Relations at IISER Pune said, “This visit is a good start of joint efforts to identify potential ideas of mutual interest for joint-funding leading to staff mobility and student exchange resulting in joint publications.”
“IISER Pune has impressed us as an emerging centre for scientific excellence,” said Prof Sagi.
“We believe there is a good potential for grassroots scientific collaborations and student exchange,” said Prof Reich.
