Meet some young scientists of India

Information and Communication, Science & Technology

Interviewee: Shiv Prakash Singh

Glass Division of CSIR-Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata

On his work relating to enhancing efficiency of solar cells

I am working on synthesis and properties evaluation of some glasses (specially bismuth-containing glasses), nanometal-glass nanocomposites and rare earth ions-nanometal hybrid glass nanocomposites. The materials could be promising for photonic and optoelectronic applications, such as in development of plasmonic solar cells, light emitting materials and nanolithography. Nowadays, harvesting of energy is a big issue of research. Researchers throughout the world are doing this work in different innovative ways to meet the challenges of energy harvesting. My main objective in research is the development of plasmonic solar cell to enhance the efficiency of solar cells. This effort could solve the energy crisis of our country to some extent.

On the need to involve common people in the process of scientific research

India has very productive human as well as natural resources. So India has enormous opportunities to lead the world in the area of scientific research. But, there is a gap between educational institutions, research institutions, industries and common people. If really we have to do fruitful work, then we should bring them to a common platform. I feel a lot of traditional techniques are available in our villages which could be a foundation for the advancement of technology in current situation. This could only be possible if common people are also involved in the process of scientific research. There is need of scientific revolution in India. It is possible, but need some strong effort and dedication.

Environmental Sciences

Interviewee: Divya Sharma

Lab No. 235,

Division of Agricultural Chemicals,

Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi

On her work that can help to rid the environment of persistent toxic compounds

I have worked on the microbial degradation of a persistent compound in soil. To enhance the effectiveness of degradation, we tried a biosurfactant-producing microorganism in consortia and it worked well. The finding of my work gives a way that similar interventions can help in mitigating the persistent toxic compounds in the environment.

What should be done to ensure that effective and relevant research is carried out in India?

For effective and relevant research, the problem must be identified with great care. In this the role of your guide is also very important. Firstly, the current burning issues must be kept in mind so that research solutions provided are useful in tackling them. Secondly, cost of the final solution also matters. Our research, when it goes to the real field, should be practical and cost effective.

Agriculture and Forestry Sciences

Interviewee: Koushik Chakraborty

Plant Physiologist at Directorate of Groundnut Research, (ICAR),
Junagadh

On his research on developing salinity tolerance in oilseeds

India is an agro-based country having largest cultivable area in the world but as much as 8 million hectares (ha) of its land is affected by salinity and sodicity. High rate of evapo-transpiration, use of salt contaminated irrigation water and characteristics of some of the parent rock material from where the soil has originated mainly contributes to soil salinity in arable land. Day by day these salt affected areas are increasing. Major oilseed growing areas of our country also coincide with salt affected regions in some part. Although, India ranks second in the world in both groundnut as well as mustard production, still it is not sufficient to meet our daily requirement of edible oil. Hence, India is a net importer of edible oil.

So, it very much required to increase both production and productivity of these oilseed crops to make the country self-sufficient in oilseeds. In this backdrop, I was prompted to work on Identification of salinity tolerance mechanism in oilseed. This type of work would enable us to develop detailed information of salinity tolerance mechanism in oilseeds and thus will help to breed newer varieties tolerant to salinity stress. If such varieties could be developed, it is possible to introduce these crops to some non-traditional coastal belts of our country which would help to increase total production of oilseeds and thus lead to food security as far as edible oil is concerned.

On promoting relevant and effective research

To carry out effective research in India, better co-ordination between scientific community, modernized infrastructure, capacity building programmes, more exposure of young scientific group in national and international level will be relevant. Moreover, skill of scientific management is required for both public and private research organizations.

Environmental Sciences

Interviewee: Paltu Kumar Dhal

Department of Biotechnology at IIT-Kharagpur

On his research on cleaning up radioactive wastes

To become a nuclear super power, the Indian nuclear power industry is expected to undergo a significant expansion with ambitious plan to reach its nuclear power capacity of 63,000 MW in 2032, especially after passing of the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement on 2009.

This raises concerns about environmental contamination. People around proposed Indian nuclear power plant sites have launched protests, raising questions about atomic energy as a clean and safe alternative to fossil fuels, especially after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Radioactive wastes are produced at each step of the fuel cycle and cycling process used for production of nuclear fuel, which contain all of the naturally occurring radioactive elements found in uranium ore that may lead to environmental contamination. So we need to have cleanup strategies to avoid this contamination which must be feasible as well as economical. My research work may give us strategies to remediate these contaminants and help us retain a green environment.

On making research relevant and effective

Though it’s very essential to have a clean and pollution free environment, little effort had been made in India in terms of effective and relevant research, especially bioremediation of uranium and other radionuclides. With increasing infrastructure, projects should be implemented along with scientific awareness among the budding scientists.

New Biology

Interviewee: Losiana Nayak

Machine Intelligence Unit of Indian Statistical Institute,
Kolkata

On her work on cancer research

I study properties of some signal transduction pathways. Signal transduction pathways are crucial series of steps which occur inside human cells to control various aspects of human body development and functions. They are in limelight due to their association with multiple human cancers. I study portions of signal transduction pathways independently to understand individualistic as well as group behaviour of such pathways, their evolution and their disease associations with help of machine intelligence.

Such work is a step forward towards detecting new genes involved in cancers and finding potential drug targets to treat them. According to a report published by Dikshit et al. (2012) in The Lancet, there were 556,400 cancer deaths in India in 2010. I hope my work will lead us towards a healthy future of India.

On what needs to be done to promote effective and relevant research

India has tremendous capacity in form of potential researchers. They should be encouraged appropriately with sufficient funds as the research community is facing a major bottleneck in the form of low stipends of research fellows, high publication fee for articles and open access fees. There should be enough scope of collaborative effort with researchers from separate fields to ensure multi-directional approaches for solving research problems. Industry liaison is of prime importance as such kind of collaboration will include utility-driven goals in research.

Chemical Sciences

Interviewee: Lalthazuala Rokhum

Department of Chemistry,

North Eastern Hill University, Shillong

On his work relating to drug manufacturing

My work, basically, is the synthesis of some biologically active molecules using solid phase synthetic pathway. Solid phase synthesis is emerging as a powerful tool in the rapid synthesis of small molecule, compound libraries for drug discovery. Unlike their soluble counterparts, that require consumption of lots of solvent during the purification step which further dissipate in the environment, solid phase synthesis addresses the problem of product purification since the only purification technique is simple filtration which minimizes loss during purification in multistep synthesis.

Moreover, solid phase synthetic pathways are less moisture sensitive due to the presence of highly hydrophobic polymer backbone. These features make solid phase synthesis a promising environmental and economical friendly route for synthesis. For today’s chemist, due to economical and environmental concern, what is important is not what he is making but how he is making it.

On what needs to be done to make scientific research effective and relevant

Sharing of ideas in the scientific community always ignites our creativity and desire to learn. Hence, researchers should be given a better platform to present their work, share their ideas and collaborate with other researchers in India and abroad. Each and every researcher has to understand his or her role as nation’s builder. Moreover, better financial support to universities and research centres is essential.

Animal, Veterinary& Fishery Sciences

Interviewee: Akalesh Kumar Verma

Department of Zoology,

Cell & Tumor Biology Lab.,

North Eastern Hill University, Shillong

On his work on cancer research

During my PhD. work, I have isolated one potent anticancer drug, Cantharidin, from two different blister beetles species, Mylabris cichorii and Epicauta hirticornis. My work describes the ethnozoological practices of traditional healers of Karbi Anglong district of Assam, India. The criteria for M. cichorii and E. hirticornis to be included in the present study was mainly based on the survey and information collected from the traditional healers of the Karbi Anglong region of Assam for its uses in the treatment of many human ailments, including suspected cancer which have not been properly documented.

Moreover, we have developed our own method for isolation of cantharidin from these blister beetles that is very simple, easy and first of its kind. We have for the first time successfully crystallized the above-mentioned active compound from these blister beetles and crystallographic data for the structural analysis of cantharidin has been deposited with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Center, CCDC No. 835281.

Based on the findings from the present studies, it may be proposed that cantharidin could effectively inhibit Dalton’s lymphoma (DL) cell growth, possibly by involving different ways/approaches. One way could be that cantharidin-mediated generation of ROS and at the same time decreasing the antioxidant system of cells, leading to decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential may cause subsequent appearance of apoptotic features in DL cells (first report). Secondly, after cantharidin treatment, a significant decrease in mitochondrial cytochrome c and an increase in cytosolic cytochrome c and activation of caspase 9 and caspase 3 facilitate apoptosis to cause cancer cell death.

However, further study on the effect of cantharidin on human cancers may also be examined to be used alone or in combination to boost its clinical uses. There should also be efforts towards specific drug delivery system of cantharidin to reduce its toxic effects in the host if any.

On making science research relevant and effective

The outcome of any research is said to be relevant if it is really helping common people. In India, since last 8-10 years, good outcomes have been reported from different fields of science and technology. I think the steps taken out by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of biotechnology (DBT) in terms of funding and infrastructure facility to different Institutes and Universities of India is really going to change the scenario of research and development sector. Providing costly and advance instruments to any institute/university is okay but for further progress in these areas, technical experts dealing with modern or newly emerge techniques should be provided to update and making experience to new researchers and faculty too. In most cases, it is found, that a very costly instrument is provided to universities/ institutes but due to lack of technical expertise no one uses that instrument.

For biomedical research, a strong ethical committee should be established in universities/ institutes for proper care and use of laboratory animals. There should be a chapter in Msc. course on good laboratory practices and ethics of research, including research plagiarism.

Engineering Sciences

Interviewee: Abhilash

Waste Recycling and Utilisation Group,

Metal Extraction and Forming Division,

CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory(CSIR), Jamshedpur

On his work on extracting uranium from low grade ores

My work is focused on providing alternate economically feasible and environment friendly process to extract uranium from the low grade ores. India plans to increase the contribution of nuclear energy in electricity generation which is a meagre 2-3 per cent at present. This would require more fuel that would mostly imported as per the 123 agreement. India is well endowed with uranium resources, which is of low grade, but can be tactfully exploited. Current methods of extraction discards such low tenor material, termed unusable.

I have developed a process based on my past five years' experience on uranium bioleaching and is now proven on bioreactor level. The usually termed slow rate of bioleaching is now proved false by virtue of our bacteria with ferric ions that can enhance the rate to an extractability of 90 per cent in 10h for such unusable raw materials. This work needs immense scale up trials on reactors and heaps (already proven earlier by us in 2 tonne columns), for immediate scale of industrial realisation. This would put India on the path of self sustainability.

On what should be done to ensure that effective and relevant research is carried out in India

I believe that participation of industries to work jointly (in proposing, testing, discarding and implementing) can only ensure its effectiveness and relevance. Its a common practice adopted by nations across the globe whom we term developed.

Geochemistry

Interviewee: Parijat Roy

INSPIRE faculty

ICP-MS Lab, Geochemistry Division,

CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad

On his work on helping detect hidden natural resources

My research work is mainly focused on understanding the earth’s processes, using geochemistry as a tool. Platinum group elements geochemistry is one of the powerful geochemical tracers to understand these processes. At present there is no working platinum mine in our country, and demand for these precious metals are very high in the modern world. For the country’s growth, natural resources play a vital role. In India, research in this field is limited and I hope with the advancement in modern analytical technologies we will be able to find new hidden resources of these precious metals in our country and fulfill our demand.

On what needs to be done to ensure that effective and relevant research is carried out in India

Research in India is growing very fast. The opening of new world class institutes like IISERs, few more IITs and AcCSIR and programmes like INSPIRE are the government’s initiative towards enhancing this growth. These institutes have the potential for producing talents as well as to carry out advance research. I feel the need is now for integrated research, rather than doing it in isolation. Problems directly related to society have to be addressed with this integrated approach. It is high time we improve the quality of study in state universities, as maximum students are graduating from these universities and if we want to be global leader in research then I feel more stress has to be given for recruiting highly talented faculty in these universities, who can guide and encourage talented students to take up research as a career.

Information and Communication Science & Technology

Interviewee: Manish Kumar

Department of Master of Computer Application, M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru

On his work to counter possible cyber terrorist attacks

Information technology (IT) has exposed the user to a huge data bank of information regarding everything and anything. However, it has also added a new dimension to terrorism. Recent reports suggest that terrorists are also getting equipped to utilize cyber space to carryout terrorist attacks. The possibility of such attacks in future cannot be denied. Terrorism related to cyber is popularly known as cyber terrorism.

India has established a niche for itself in the IT Sector. India's reliance on technology also reflects in the fact that India is shifting gears by entering into facets of e-governance. India has already brought its departments dealing with income tax and passports under e -governance. Sectors like police and judiciary are to follow. The travel sector is also heavily reliant on this. Most of the Indian banks have gone on to full-scale computerization. This has also brought in concepts of e-commerce and e-banking. The stock markets are also not immune. These sectors are also targets and attacks on them can paralyze the economic and financial institutions. The damage done can be catastrophic and irreversible.

We are working on information security particularly on Intrusion Detection System which can help the country to combat with cyber attack more efficiently.

On what needs to be done to ensure research is effective and relevant

Today, there is increasing interest in research for academic and career development, but there should be applications of the research to uplift the society. There should be better collaboration and coordination between government and research institutions. Government should give more priority to the research work which is done for betterment of society, not to those done just for PhD thesis or career development. Government should also constitute a body including the members from government as well as private institutes to monitor the research work going on in each field in each institution throughout the country and ensure their effective implementation or relevant output for the betterment of the society.

Veterinary Sciences

Interviewee: Bhaskar Ganguly

Animal Biotechnology Centre,

College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,

G B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pant Nagar
 

On his work to improve productivity in livestock

My paper, Computational designing of a Multi-species Subunit Poly-epitope Fecundity Vaccine, discusses the application of computational tools to designing a vaccine for improving the fecundity of livestock. Fecundity refers to the number of young ones born to a female animal at the consummation of each pregnancy. Some hormones are responsible for reducing the fecundity of livestock; the study uses computational tools that employ simple tenets of biochemistry to identify regions within two such hormones, viz. inhibin and follistatin, that can be used in a fecundity vaccine.

Livestock sector in India is struggling to achieve productivity. Indian livestock leads the world in net production but has one of the lowest productivity. In India, 70 percent of the livestock is owned by the landless and marginal farmers for whom these livestock ia a source of livelihood. Providing a means of increasing fecundity would go a long way in improving the productivity of livestock.

A computational approach greatly reduces the total time and cost of experimentation, but has the notable advantage that it slashes upon animal experimentation and bears no animal ethics concerns. The methodology adopted can also be used for designing of other vaccines.

What should be done to ensure that effective and relevant research is carried out in India?

India being a developing nation, expenditure on research is still an extravagant proposal. Under such circumstances, it becomes imperative that low cost and purpose-oriented research is undertaken. Indian philosophy classifies sciences as lucifera that brings new facts to light and fructifera that applies known facts to offer solutions for extant problems. I believe that contemporary Indian research must stress upon fructiferous science that addresses problems of the common man.

Problems are everywhere and it is best that solutions should also come from the people who face these problems. I dearly wish to see an Indian society where scientific temper flows free, and felt needs of the masses are voiced and addressed. Retaining the best minds in science and research is also crucial.

Chemical Sciences

Interviewee: Sushila Singhal

Chemistry Research Laboratory,

Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi

New Delhi

On her work that could prove significant in cancer detection and treatment

Our research work comprises of synthesizing functionalized polymers with DNA nucleobases and an inorganic component in order to make a hybrid material of interdisciplinary interests. It is observed from its structural and molecular framework that it can prove beneficial in cancer detection and treatment as it has biosensing features and drug loading capability which can also tackle the issue of low drug solubility and toxicity towards healthy cells. Thus it can contribute effectively in shaping India's future in healthcare sector in which several more milestones are to be achieved.

On making research relevant and effective

The basic research values, its ethics and options of a secure future in this field should be imbibed in young minds for developing their interest in research. Also, with growing population and demands, more research institutes should be built with world-class facilities. Also, at the graduate level itself, students should be involved in research work as is happening in the University of Delhi which has taken an initiative of innovative projects for college students. Moreover, there should be practical knowledge of handling the instruments and techniques which is usually not in practice.
 

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