Blog that shares the views on research, its impact on disease, society and life science industry
I feel nostalgic and proud of the journey that we started 8 years ago with the very humble and passionate team at Leucine rich Bio. I remember starting out with a basic computer and few exceptional colleagues with a vision to bring in a new paradigm shift in life science and healthcare domains. The first few years went by doing research projects with marquee institutes, companies and universities…
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a major pandemic facing the world today caused by SARS-CoV-2 which has implications on our mental health as well. The uncertain future, fear of job loss, lockdown and negative news all around have taken a heavy toll on the mental health of individuals from across the world. Stress and anxiety can affect the COVID-19 patients even more. Recent study suggests…
O ur journey in the microbiome domain started in 2015. We had launched our company, Leucine Rich Bio pvt ltd. in the Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru in the late half of 2014. We integrated our expertise in genomics, systems biology, molecular biology, information technology and bioinformatics to build a robust system that could address the challenges of the microbiome domain. We curated tons of…
Covid-19 is a major pandemic facing the world today caused by SARS-CoV-2 which has implications on our understanding of infectious diseases. Although, SARS-Cov-2 primarily causes lung infection through binding of ACE2 receptors present on the alveolar epithelial cells, yet it was recently reported that SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found in the faeces of infected patients. Interestingly, the intestinal…
Any new development in life science and healthcare starts with baby steps and slowly but surely takes the world by storm. Whether it is small molecule based, high-end genomics guided targeted cancer therapy or the immuno-checkpoint inhibitors which are taking cancer treatment to the next level of personalization and precision. In the last decade one small buzz word has created quite a noise and is…
“Startups” in today’s day and age can provide two important deliverables to the society: - · Employment · Innovation and possible disruption in the domain they are active in No doubt Governments across the world and more specifically here in India are trying to support start-ups. However, for entrepreneurs, it is a long winding road that they need to traverse to see light at the end of the tunnel.…
New technology and novel products and services always hit the hurdle of convincing the market about the need of the technology especially when the “ordinary” seems to be the norm. The naysayers will always discourage the new thoughts and solutions by comments like: - · “Oh! the market is not ready yet” · “There is an alternative, probably a cheaper one, why would then the market change?” (This is…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 In the world of ‘start-ups’ especially in the life science domain, there are various factors that make it attractive or unattractive. For a start up, initial years is all about product development, team building and then followed by massive marketing. A good product if not marketed well is as good as an unknown commodity and…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Getting a PhD is always a very big achievement more so if one has received that degree from a prestigious Institution. Many who are interested in pursuing a PhD do so mainly because of love for “science”. There is no better happiness but to see or find something novel during the course of various experiments that one…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The new ‘start-up’ culture developing in India is a good sign. Investors are getting more interested in this space; however, the investors also need to look beyond the e-commerce space. Many life science based organizations can be a good bet for middle to long run outlook. Life science offers a big arena to potential…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 What is talent? How do you judge it? Shouldn’t qualification, experience, useful contribution in the past etc. be the yardstick to measure potential in an individual? There is also something called as an ‘inherent’ potential which might not come across…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 India is a country where academic excellence is given a priority from the very childhood. Parents encourage children sometimes even going to the extent of coaxing them to leave other activities and focus on ‘studies’ to get into good colleges and get a good degree (read engineering/medicine). People who follow their passion…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The recent announcement of collaboration in the field of type 2 diabetes between Boehringer Ingelheim and Connexios LifeSciences, a Bangalore based drug discovery company is good news for the entire Indian ‘innovation’ ecosystem especially in the field of life sciences . First, to the credit of the investors of Connexios…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 I believe there would be a general agreement on the fact that companies in today’s world need to innovate to survive. However, the conundrum is how much of the company’s revenue (small/medium enterprises) or initial funds (as for start-ups) be focused on the research activity? Let us take examples of two types of business…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Biomarkers are the Holy Grail for detecting diseases. Natural biomarkers are sought after molecules for effective screening of patients. Biomarkers in clude detection of proteins, RNA, DNA to now even micro RNAs. However, detection of natural biomarkers is fraught with issues of specificity, feasibility , price etc. Now, a…
Debojyoti 12.00 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ‘People’ are the main asset for any company or institution, more so for the research and innovation based organizations. Companies which are known to put ‘employees’ in the fore front are found to be more productive, positive and in the long term provide value to not only to its share holders but also to the…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Every idea has its place under the sun. Two industries, pharmaceuticals and aviation which are known to be ‘high risk – high gain’ business are strikingly employing similar practices in order to maximize productivity and profits. Everyone would agree that both aviation and pharmaceutical businesses require ‘deep pockets’ to…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Antibiotics , once hailed as magic bullets for battling infection are now facing serious challenge from their adversaries, the bacteria, which are hitting back with renewed vengeance. A recent case of a patient in New Zealand dying of bacterial…
udatha 12.00 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 My connect with the world of enzymes started during my Biochemistry graduation days learning about enzymes, enzyme kinetics, enzyme inhibition (competitive, uncompetitive, non-competitive) etc. Little did I know that enzymes would play such a diverse role in today’s society! Enzymes and their applications can be…
Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 In today’s world ‘stress’ has become a common household phenomenon. Professional, social, economic and personal issues drive people to unimaginable level of stress and the outcome is that 1 in 4 people are afflicted with depression (Mental health statistics, UK). True, happiness is a state of mind but it is also a fact that…
Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Type 2 Diabetes is a lifestyle disorder of an epic proportion. It is widely speculated that US, India and China are or are going to be the worst affected by this problem. Current therapies focus on various strategies to control blood sugar but there is…
Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The long held notion of ‘junk DNA’ has been found to be incorrect (ENCODE project), similarly, characterizing the gut microbiota as bystanders in the intestinal tract is now being widely challenged (Osborn O, Olefsky JM (2012), Nature Med 18(3):363-374). A recent paper in Proceedings of National A cademy of Sciences (PNAS)…
Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Recently, the Apex court of India rejected the patent application of Novartis’s anti-cancer drug Gleevec (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/landmark-verdict-gives-big-boost-to-cancer-patients/article4569056.ece?homepage=true) As per Indian law…
Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Biology, like any other stream of modern science has seen great discoveries leading to mind-blowing inventions and a better understanding of disease, disease progression and ‘life’ in general. Great discoveries starting from the discovery of penicillin (in 1928 but actual use started in the 1940s) to advances in stem cells…
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The phrase ‘my gut feeling’ has got another scientific validation with some new metagenomics studies published recently. After all, it seems that the gut can dictate the potential well being of an individual. A case in point is the latest paper in Nature journal in which the researchers conducted a gut metagenomic study on…