Director, BRIC – Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (BRIC-CDFD)
Coordination Physiological plasticity & memory encoded by chromatin & mitochondria: From fundamental discoveries to national missions
Accelerated aging and emergence of non-communicable diseases is a major cause of concern. While lifestyle and specifically dietary/metabolic inputs are known to drive these, molecular mechanisms that govern emergent properties of the system are far less understood. We are interested in unravelling molecular mechanisms that link metabolic or dietary inputs to cellular and organismal physiology with a specific emphasis on components that couple and regulate plasticity. Our research has provided a comprehensive systems level understanding of the pathways involved in metabolic-sensing and their role in metabolic and energy homeostasis at molecular, cellular and organismal levels with implications on aging, diabetes and obesity. Investigating or identifying rules of engagement that dictate emergence of phenotypes and encompass the myriad components that make up living systems is tantalizing. Based on close to a decade’s work (in our group), we are now trying to dissect out emergent properties of molecular components that dictate physiological homeostasis, which is essentially a culmination of both evolutionary history of the species and life history of an individual (organism). This is exciting since metabolism is one of the biggest contributors of noise or randomness. Moreover, given the dynamic oscillation of metabolic/energetic status in all living beings, it is still unclear how response thresholds, information gating and fidelity of state reversals are achieved. Our recent work has led us to propose if/how molecular/metabolic oscillations could lead to a cumulative and long-lasting consequence on phenotypes.
International Seminar Programme
Hundreds of videos, tens of playlists providing free scientific content worldwide