The study of model organisms is the key to unlocking mysteries about life on earth When I first started working with the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster after my Master’s, many of my friends and family members were greatly amused. After 17 years of education, I had finally admitted that all I was doing was […]
Category: Featured
Rodents to the Rescue
The small mouse has enabled giant leaps in biology research Claudius Galen (129-199 CE), a prominent physician in ancient Greece, obsessively studied anatomy – the science of how our bodies are structured and how our organs function. Since the ruling Roman government prohibited working with human cadavers, he dissected animals instead, to gain knowledge. […]
Monkeying Around
Neuroscientists at IISc study monkey behaviour to answer fundamental questions about brain function In 2021, Elon Musk took the internet by storm with his video game-playing monkeys. Using technology that transmitted neural data from the monkey’s brains directly to the computer screen, researchers from Musk’s Neuralink Corporation created systems in which the monkeys could […]
To Boldly See What No One Has Seen Before
From simple combinations of lenses, microscopes have evolved into complex tools giving us unparalleled insight into cellular secrets January 1665 saw the publication of Robert Hooke’s Micrographia. The beautiful illustrations of fleas, flies and other insects in it gave humanity an insight into the sheer beauty of the hitherto unobserved world of small creatures. […]
Brick by Brick
A behind-the-scenes look at the transformation of an empty space into a full-fledged research lab Setting up a new lab can be an exhilarating episode in the career of a faculty member. But it can also be a long and arduous journey, one that needs fellow travellers — often this caravan includes graduate students, […]