The Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Association of Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science (PCACS), New Panvel, organized a National Level Seminar on “Recent trends in Biotechnology” on 8th September, 2018 (Saturday). One hundred and ninety six participants comprising students & faculty members from different colleges including PCACS participated in the seminar.
Dr. Aparna Chaudhari explaining about the current molecular approaches
Guests listening to the presentation
The distinguished guests formally inaugurated the event at 9.30 a.m. by lighting the lamp. Ms. Deepika Sharma, Vice Principal, PCACS welcomed the gathering. Opening remarks were given by Prof. Meenakshi Johri, Convener of the Seminar.
Dr. Ambak Kumar Rai, Assistant professor, Department of Biotechnology at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad delivered the Key note address on “Horizon of host-pathogen interactions: An off beat approach of Leishmania in modulating the host response and favoring its own survival. He spoke about the disease Visceral Leishmaniasis, which is tropical disease caused by sand flies. The life cycle of the parasite Leishmania donovani was explained by him. He also spoke about the symptoms seen in the patients. The approach towards getting the host immune system to function normally along with drugs was also told by him. After his talk the students interacted with him. His lecture was very interesting and informative.
The first technical session was started by Dr. Aparna Choudhari who is the Principal Scientist & Head in Fish Genetics and Biotechnology division at ICAR – Central Institute of Fisheries education, Versova, Mumbai. Her talk was on “Current molecular approaches for disease prevention and control”. She began her talk with the concept of vaccines and the different types of vaccines available. She also spoke about why vaccines are important for fishes just like humans. The approaches of different vaccines designed for fishes till now was explained by her. The methods used for vaccinating the fishes and the results obtained was also told by her. Apart from that she advised the students to take proper care while disposing different chemicals and solutions as they affect the marine life. The session was then open for interaction where students and teachers interacted with her.
The next speaker in the first technical session was Dr. Prasenjit Bhaumik, Associate Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay. His talk was about “Molecular insights into the catalytic mechanism and allosteric co-operativity of an enzyme”. He began his talk by explaining what is an enzyme and about enzyme-substrate reaction. He then spoke about a specific enzyme Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). The structure of the enzyme was explained by him with a 3D structure diagram. He explained in detail the conformation of the enzyme when bound to the substrate, inhibitor, co-enzyme and reaction intermediates based on his study.
The second technical session began at 2.00 p.m. following lunch. The session commenced with the lecture of Mr. Prasanna Rao, Cheif operating officer, Sampurn(e)arth Environment solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai. He spoke about “Waste Management Solutions by Biotechnology”. He began his session by explaining the concept of waste and how is it generated. He told the audience about why nothing on the planet is waste including plastic. He showed an AV about how can we return what we take from the nature with the help of an example of biogas production. He also told everyone how they can contribute in helping reduce the waste generated by separating the waste as dry waste and wet waste. The dry waste goes for recycling whereas the wet waste can go for biogas production and the remaining waste from this production can be used as compost.
The Valedictory session was held at 3.30 p.m. where, Dr. C. K. Prashant, Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology, PCACS gave the concluding remarks. The seminar ended with distribution of certificates by Mr. Prasanna Rao, followed by Vote of thanks by the Convener, Prof. Meenakshi Johri.
The students and faculty members were very interactive throughout the lectures. The seminar received a good feedback form the audience. Overall the seminar was very encouraging and was well appreciated by the guests, students and faculty members.
