Science Slam at TIFR Hyderabad
On September 20, 2024, we held a Science Slam in TIFR Hyderabad where participants presented their work or discussed a concept in a simple, not-so-technical language and in some instances, with a little bit of humour. And all of this in 5 minutes! Meet the speakers of Science Slam of 2024!
Sunayana Sarkar presented her PhD work on how fruit flies can be used as a model system to study the roles of polyphosphate in higher eukaryotes. And Sunayana bagged the first prize in this Science Slam!
Susmita Sarkar shared her PhD work on protein aggregation. With a help of a pearl necklace, she discussed the conformational changes in a protein. She focussed on inhibition of aggregate formation & possible dissolution of early stage aggregates. Susmita won the 2nd prize!
Anusha Shankar spoke about how birds like sunbirds, hummingbirds, and nightjars might manage their energetic needs in response to varying environmental gradients.
Anandh Muthiah is exploring ways to create a link between proteins and external molecules such as dyes and drugs which could be used to target unhealthy cells.
Shreejit Saha spoke about effects of Benzoyleneurea on liver cancer cells, a project that he worked on as a Masters student prior to joining TIFR Hyderabad.
Resmi Bera was quite fascinated with a diagnostic technique that can detect multiple biomarkers in a single assay. Drawing comparisons with the widely used ELISA assay, she gradually introduced how DNA barcoded antibody technology works.