MICROBIOLOGY - Little deep inside it.

“Give us this day our daily bread...” (Matthew 6:11)

Even before this famous Biblical statement was made, the tiny ‘animalcules’ had greatly shaped the human civilization. Be it bread making or wine brewing, milk curdling or botulism, nitrogen fixation or antibiotic production, the role of microorganisms in our daily lives cannot be overemphasized. The branch of life science that deals with the study of these excellent creatures is called Microbiology. As a vividly interesting subject, it encompasses various interdisciplinary fields such as Industrial, Agricultural, Medical, Food and Environmental Microbiology. There is hardly any scientific domain where the application of microorganisms can go unappreciated. Be it in generation of electricity from microbial fuel cells, synthesis of biodegradable plastics, production of nanoparticles, manufacture of single cell proteins or biodegradation of toxic environmental pollutants, microbes have made their
presence felt.

At the Department of Microbiology, Center for Post Graduate Studies, Jain University, this subject is taught with great fervour. Here, the rich experience of the teaching faculties, together with well-coordinated practical approach towards each subject enables the young learners to divulge into the depth of the unseen world of microbes and evolve as potential researchers. The carefully designed in-house projects aim at inculcating research temperament in students culminating into conference presentations and journal publications by the amateurs. Additionally, the two years Masters program equips the students with interpersonal skills through co-curricular activities such as seminar presentations, group discussions, debates, quizzes and open house. In the pursuit of knowledge and in order to keep the inquisitive minds abreast of the latest developments in Microbiology, guest lectures, workshops and educational tours are organized on a regular basis. Furthermore, an actively functioning placement cell assists the students to become a part of several reputed corporate and research organizations. The rigorous program also paves the way for higher studies in prestigious institutes/universities in India and abroad.

We welcome you to this fascinating world of Microbiology where we believe that your talents shall be nurtured and horizons will be broadened, because this journey is fun!


Written By,
Dr. Arijit Das
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology
Center for Post Graduate Studies
Jain University

Large Hadron Collider - The Big-Bang Experiment!!!!!

For centuries now, scientists have been working on some of the biggest puzzles in the universe i.e. How the universe was formed? What was it made of earlier? What’s the physics behind all these phenomena? and so on. Various experiments of different magnitudes designed and conducted all around the globe had given a very little information regarding the birth of the Universe and several other questions associated with it.

Among several such projects which are in quest of finding the answers to these questions The Big-Bang experiment has stood out to be a very significant one. This multi-billion dollar project aimed at answering these questions and also finding several sub-atomic particles such as Bosons.

The LHC acronym for Large Hadron Collider is the brain-child of many scientists all around the globe. Though the earlier ideas of this monster accelerator and detector was to European Organization for Nuclear Research or CERN, but because of the technical and financial glitches several foreign universities, institutes and organisations were roped in.

The LHC is located in the Franco-Swiss border deep underneath the ground under certain restricted conditions. The main aim of this project is to observe the collisions of the particles sometimes even heavy atoms, under the conditions that were said to exist during the formation of early Universe. In astronomy, there are two predominant theories to explain the formation and growth of The Universe. The first is The Big-Bang Theory that proclaims that the Universe was formed from a primordial ball of very hot gasses and is growing, and second is the Steady State theory that claims that the Universe has remained steady from the day of its formation. The LHC attempts to verify The Big-Bang theory.

The particles are accelerated to very high velocities in the LHC, at times reaching 99.999999% the velocity of light, at different stages. This is achieved by pulsating electric and magnetic fields. Each stage induces some energy to the particles and accelerates them to higher velocities. After reaching higher velocities the energy supplied to the particles translates itself into mass, thus increasing the mass of the particles to some extent. The energy in the final stages of the collider reaches upto range of few tera electron volt. There are 4 main detectors in LHC namely ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb to record and collect the data of particle collisions. The collected data is stored in huge mainframe computers on site and also on several systems around the globe. Complex algorithms have been devised to store, retrieve and analyse the data. 

LHC has been functional and doing scientific experiments since 2009. The first set of data was collected between 2009 and 2013. After upgrading the LHC has been conducting experiments since 2015. The first run played a very significant role. The data collected upon analysis gave results that were mostly theoretical and were thought to be impossible to be seen in reality. The path breaking finding was the discovery of Higgs Boson, but its findings also include creation of quark-gluon plasma, creation of new composite particle having a bottomonium state, tests on supersymmetry, discovery of two new heavier subatomic particles belonging to baryons and some exotic hadrons called the tetraquark and pentaquark particles.

4 th July, 2012 was a very special day for physicists. The CMS and the ATLAS of LHC reported to have discovered a new particle that has the same mass as that of the Higgs Boson, as predicted by the Standard Model of particles. Higgs Boson is expected to have originated from the Higgs field which is thought to exist throughout the space, playing a vital role in understanding of electroweak forces and explaining how elementary particles like quark got mass. It’s named after the physicists Prof. Peter Higgs who contributed significantly towards understanding of such a field and the particle associated with the field. This resulted in Prof. Higgs winning the 2013 Noble Prize for Physics along with Prof. Francois Englert.

Apart from conducting collision experiments with protons, anti-protons and smaller particles, LHC has been conducting experiments with much heavier particles like lead atoms. The scientists expect much more interesting outcomes with lead-proton collisions and are planning to conduct these experiments majorly during the second run. They expect that it would give an insight into understanding what would have happened, what new particles were created a fraction of a second after the Big Bang and help us understand the Universe much better.

Why to take JAIN UNIVERSITY for your BIOTECHNOLOGY Courses???

I have spent about more than 12 years in the field of teaching Biotechnology and other related courses. While working as faculty for Biotechnology at Jain College (affiliated to Bangalore University and presently Jain University), the institution has provided a niche for both teacher and student to explore into research field, which is very unique. 

This has resulted in rapid expansion of knowledge within a short period of time. The effect of pursuing research by guiding PG students (MSc / MPhil / PhD) has culminated in the form of research articles being published in some of the impact factor journals.


Written By,
Dr K V Ramesh.

BIOTECHNOLOGY

I joined the Department of Biotechnology, Jain University, after gaining teaching and

academic experience from other institutes. I found the department of Biotechnology at Jain

University unique in certain respects. Biotechnology is a subject that is inter-disciplinary in

nature. Biotechnology encompasses the interface in sciences and technology. Students are

taught diverse subjects in life Sciences thus enabling them to innovate in the technology

stream too. 

The department includes faculty who are specialized in diverse subjects

including cancer biology, health sciences and the plant and animal sciences. The department

provides a holistic view to succeed in the inter-disciplinary work culture that exists today

either in the private or public sector. The university hosts a full-fledged PhD program in

diverse research fields. Therefore, the department also provides a unique setting that does

not exist in many university departments. PG students of the Biotechnology departments

are free to interact with PhD students who perform full-time research and therefore they

bridge theoretical knowledge with scientific practice. Most other institutes that I have

knowledge of work in isolation, i.e., research and academic activities are separate. Hence, I

feel this is a good conducive environment for learning and practicing science.

Written By,
Dr. Jitesh Narayanan 

Learning through Journal Pages: A Biochemistry study tool to be in touch with the research world.

The primary purpose of scientific papers are to share one’s own research outcome with the scientific community. They also serve as a means to review the research conducted by others. It plays a crucial role in the advancement of modern science because the work of one scientist builds upon that of others. 

Incorporation of scientific paper learning/reviewing in the curriculum provides a special opportunity for students to be in touch with the research world and also to update themselves with recent advances in the field of biochemistry. Post graduate students of biochemistry department are provided with a platform for such an activity on a weekly basis. Through this approach we intend to help them to discover the hidden scientists within them.