It Takes a Village

Lab techs and project assistants, toolmakers and maintenance crew make invaluable contributions to research projects     Sandeep Eswarappa, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry in IISc, works with small, almost microscopic animals called tardigrades. As a young investigator setting up a new lab with an unfamiliar model system, he needed all the […]

How Biochemistry Research Evolved Over A Century

From studying indigenous dyes to developing cancer therapies, a look at the changing priorities of IISc’s Department of Biochemistry   The Department of Biochemistry at IISc turns 100 next year. It holds the distinction of being the first department dedicated to the studies of biological chemistry in India. In the century since it was established, […]

The Science of Gilbert Fowler

The first head of the Department of Biochemistry was one of the most consequential researchers of his time   Gilbert John Fowler wore many scientific hats: he was a chemist, a biologist and an environmental scientist – decades before environmental science became an active field of scientific investigation. He even fancied himself as an economist. […]

M Sreenivasaya’s Legacy

Having laid the foundations for fermentation technology research in India, he is remembered for the breadth and clarity of his scientific pursuits   In 1941, a new Fermentation Technology laboratory was set up at IISc. It was something of a travelling entity, having been founded at the Department of Biochemistry and transferred at different points […]

Neurolathyrism: An Unsolved Mystery

Experiments in PS Sarma’s lab at the Department of Biochemistry in the 1960s explored a mystery disease caused by excess consumption of seeds of a controversial pulse crop   For many years, the Department of Biochemistry at IISc worked extensively on nutrition. Its researchers have analysed the importance of vitamin B1 in our diet. They […]