In touch with life sciences

Maharani Lakshmi Ammani College and Padamshree Institute of Management and Sciences, organised a ‘National seminar on computational biology, pharmaceuticals and life sciences’, at the Maharani Lakshmi Ammani College for Women recently.

The use of new computer-based drug design techniques has been found to be cost
effective, identified in the optimisation of new drugs, and to streamline drug discovery.

   Keeping this objective in mind, this conference was held, which is being followed by a hands-on workshop on ‘Proteomics and genomics leading to drug target’, that will be on till December 7, where participants will have an opportunity to witness the cutting-edge technologies achieved in respective fields.

The chief guest of the seminar, M Vijayan, professor at IISc, delivered the keynote address.

He emphasised the role of macromolecular crystallography which is poised to scale new heights in drug development. N Viswanadhan Vellarkad, vice-president of Computational Chemistry, Jubilant Biosys, gave an illustrative insight on recent advances in drug discovery, and S Krishna Kumar IAS (retd) advocated on the need for the choice of course and career options, for the upcoming generation.

The conference covered the most exciting recent advances in industry in areas related to computational biology towards drug discovery and the developments by eminent scientists from IISc and reputed institutions and industries.

Ashwini G, a second-year MSc student, said about the conference, “The conference was an opportunity to discuss how drugs are made and their mechanics. We got to understand that these things are not really a miracle. The seminar was a life-changing experience, and those scientists have turned to be my role models now. We also got a chance to look at various research works.”

Mrinal, a student of BioTech Finishing School, said, “We got a chance to witness about 70 poster presentations, and attend more than 10 talks.

The whole seminar was a really informative experience.”  Varsha Yardi, a second-year student of M Sc (Biochemistry), said, “It was nice to get to know the reality of life sciences, and the wide options that can be explored, and the different trends in the industry.”