UG Teaching & Research

UG Teaching & MS Research

BIO420: Developmental Biology

Years Taught: 2009, 2012, 2014-2017, 2018(NKN), 2019-2025.

Course taught with Richa Rikhy

The Course will follow the development of invertebrates and vertebrates from the egg to the embryo. Basic concepts of developmental biology as also principles and mechanisms that help form and shape the organism will be taught and discussed. Model organisms (Drosophila, C. elegans, Xenopus and Stem cells) will be discussed in detail. The course content includes, Introduction to positional information, axes, coordinates and morphogen gradients; Commonly used Experimental methods; Modes of cell-cell interactions during tissue organization: Self-organization, lateral inhibition, induction, and recruitment; Growth and differentiation; Evolution of body plan; Stem cell biology and tissue repair

BIO320: Genetics

Years Taught: 2008-2022

Course taught with Richa Rikhy

The goal of this Course is to build upon Basic Genetics, which the students learnt in their high school and the first few semesters at IISER-Pune. This course is designed to revise basic concepts and then move on to advanced concepts.

A student who completes this course is expected to be conversant in the Science of Genetics, its history as well as current advances. A strong emphasis will be laid on modern tools & techniques as also the utility of model organisms, which are the workhorses of the science of genetics.

With these aims in mind, the course will follow a path wherein the students first read Classic papers, which defined the field of genetics in the 19th and 20th centuries. This thread of understanding will be followed till the present with the latest papers (1980-2010) being discussed in the course.

Undergraduate Practicals

Years Taught: 2008-2010, 2013-2023.

UG practicals taught include a module on teaching Drosophila genetics, using live flies in the Fly lab. Students are introduced to mutations, concepts of Balancer chromosomes, the UAS-Gal4 system. Students set up crosses and also drive expression of GFP in different tissues and visualise the same.

Modules of molecular biology related to handling DNA and Proteins are also taught.

Tools/Techniques such as PCR, Agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and measuring protein/DNA concentration using spectrophotometry are also taught.

Courses taught in the Past

BIO410: Advanced Biochemistry (2008, 2009, 2010)

BIO491: Current Topics in Biology (2010, 2011, 2013)

BIO311: Advanced Cell Biology (2008)

BIO202: Systems Biology (2009)

BIO101: Introduction to Biology I: The Science of Life (2008, 2011, 2012)

BIO102: Introduction to Biology II: Cell Biology & Genetics (2011, 2012)

BIO323: Immunology (2012)

BIO313: Advanced Molecular Biology (2013)

MS Theses

“Roles for Dorsal interacting Proteins Dip1 and Dip2 in Drosophila development” (2009) Senthil Kumar A.

2. “Post-translational regulation by SUMO in the innate immune response of Drosophila melanogaster - A Quantitative Real Time PCR approach” (2010) Ritika Giri.

3. “The Hydra SUMO Cycle” (2011). Umair Khan.

4. “MADF-BESS family of transcriptional regulators: Redundancy, gradients and lineage specific expansion” (2011) Shalaka Chitale.

5. “A Drosophila Homolog of Mammalian Rhes: Characterisation, Comparision and Novel interactors” (2011) Sakshi Korde.

6. “RNAi based screen to identify genetic interactors of VAP-B” (2011) Hemant Kumar Verma.

7. “A biochemical and biophysical characterization of Drosophila VAP-MSP(P58S)” (2012) Manoj Sahu.

8. “Development of threshold sensitive NF-kappa B reporters for live imaging of NF-kappa B transcription in Drosophila melanogaster” (2012) Srija Bhagvatula.

9. “Role of MADF-BESS gene family in gene regulation and wing development in Drosophila melanogaster” (2013) Apurv Kulkarni.

10. “High throughput RNAi screen to identify modifiers of ALS8 aggregation using automated computational analysis” (2015) Lokesh Pimpale.

11. “Does SUMOylation regulate the activity of dAac11/hApi5?” (2017) Darshini Ravishankar.

12. “A Maternal role for Drosophila Caspar” (2019) Neel Wagh.

13. “A Maternal role for Mon1” (2020) Anjana T.

14. “Biological roles for the SUMOylation of Arginyl tRNA Synthetase” (2020) Aarti Kejriwal.

15. “Uncovering roles for Caspar in Drosophila development” (2020) Jyothish S.

16. “Age-dependent deterioration in motor functions, circadian rhythm and sleep in a Drosophila model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis 8” (2022) Vidyadheesh Kelkar.

17. “Roles for Caspar and TER94 in early Drosophila development” (2023). Shruti Pawar.

18. “A Role for the Orphan Serine hydrolase CG17192 in the Drosophila immune response” (2023) Mrunal Pazare.

19. “Age-dependent aggregation of neuronal VAPB aggregates in the Drosophila brain” (2025) Pulkit.

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