About me

    I am a Biotechnology undergraduate student at Centre for Biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai, India. I will be pursuing my Master's Degree in Molecular Engineering of Biological and Chemical Systems (MEBCS) from the Singapore-MIT Alliance.

Ever since my childhood my dream was a career in the biological sciences, which later turned out to be biotechnology. I did my schooling from Kola Perumal Chetty Vaishnav School and my higher secondary from SBIOA model school majoring in Mathematics and Biology (The physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology group). I came school third in my tenth and eleventh standard. In the year I passed out from school I got 95% overall and specifically 98% in the sciences. I then wished to do biotechnology as I was thrilled at the idea of how organisms can be manipulated by genetic engineering and made more beneficial to humanity and to see and learn the intricate yet so simple day to day, biological systems all around us. I studied biochemistry, Molecular biology, bioorganic chemistry, Bioprocess, Biotechnology, Genetic engineering and immunology. The course is well rounded and gave me a complete introduction to all concepts in biotechnology. I love to do a PhD in Molecular Biology.

Research Interests

    My research interests are in the fields of virology, oncology, genetic engineering and stem cells. Viruses are one of the complex organisms which rather fascinate me. Being so small and simple is their advantage. They rapidly change to evade host defences. Nobody cares if they die. They disappear at one place and reappear elsewhere. They are in between living and dead. That fascinates me about them and to study them. My research interest also lies in studying tumors and especially those due to cell cycle signalling proteins and checkpoints. These naturally occuring things, both viruses and tumors share common characteristics. Cancer cells intelligently evade host immune systems, increase angiogenesis by tricking the system to bring in more nutrients for its survival (like a parasite) and proliferates cleverly. So do viruses.They express a sort of 'intelligence' comparable to higher organisms, especially humans. They are smart, evade enemies intelligently and survive. That...thrills me. Is it due to natural selection? The survivors take over and multiply...That makes them appear smart? I hope I get answers to these questions from my research.

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