Journal Talk Series

Is it really wise to choose mates wisely?

R Akilan (4th Year BSMS Student at IISER Pune)

Exploring evolutionary consequences of interspecific mating.

We developed a mathematical model to explore the ecological and evolutionary consequences of interspecific matings. Our findings lead us to question whether evolution of increased discrimination is really beneficial or more complicated.

Making sense of cancer in the lihgt of ecology(and eventually, evolution)

Vibishan B

Cancers are a rather unpleasant bouquet of challenges. While the pathology itself comes from uncontrolled growth, our attempts to tame this growth have been thwarted by drug resistance, diversity within cancer cell populations, and pervasive mutation that enable adaptive change. In thinking about these challenges, some of us have found that principles from ecology and evolution could be of some use in getting to better answers and solutions. Based on my work, both during my PhD at IISER Pune and now as a postdoc at IISc Bangalore, I will touch upon some of the research directions that are emerging in this area and what the future of cancer treatment might look like. Knowledge of basic cancer biology, while helpful, is not a prerequisite.

Grid Cell Modules

Srirang Nabar

On the emergence of discrete modules in grid cells.

This talk explores grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex, their spatial firing properties, and theoretical models explaining discrete module formation without fixed-scale interactions.

Talk by Akash

Akash

Most proteins fold while getting synthesized on the ribosome during translation. There is increasing evidence that the ribosome itself regulates the way the protein folds, with interactions of the ribosome and the nascent protein chain having an important effect on the proteins thermodynamic stability and rates of folding and unfolding. Cotranslational folding differs from in-vitro refilling studies of analogous isolated counterparts, but we don't fully understand why proteins fold differently during translation than they do in refolding studies. The ribosome-bound, unfolded state of a protein has not been characterized in detail, but it's likely important for understanding folding thermodynamics and pathways. In the paper "the ribosome lowers the entropic penalty of protein folding", the authors use PRE-NMR spectroscopy combined with atomistic molecular dynamic simulations to determine the structure of the unfolded nascent protein, and have found that the ribosome drives an entropic destabilization of the unfolded state of a protein on the ribosome, compared to the unfolded state in isolation. Today, we'll discuss these results and investigate how the ribosome reduces the entropic penalty of protein folding by up to 30 kcal/mol.

Talk by Somyajyoti Pal

Somyajyoti Pal

Social insects are fascinating creatures. They work together in orchestrated manners to perform tremendous tasks. Over this summer, I looked at one such insect- the mighty termite. I set out to document and learn about their behaviour, mostly in the context of how one-on-one interactions among them unfold. Join us this Friday as we dive deep into the world of these tiny beings and marvel at the ingenuity of their actions!.

Talk: Dyneins are weird(ly interesting)

Aniket Kumar (3rd year BSMS student at IISER Pune)

The mechanics behind dynein and kinesin motor protein transport.

Explores the collaborative force generation of dyneins and the intriguing balance of transport events despite kinesin's numerical disadvantage, using a theoretical model incorporating force-induced deformation.

Talk by Vinayak Patel

Vinayak Patel

Discussion about the paper titled "TOWARD A METABOLIC THEORY OF ECOLOGY" which proposes a comprehensive framework for understanding ecological processes across all levels of biological organization, from individual organisms to entire ecosystems, by grounding them in fundamental principles of metabolism

Stable marriage problem and microbial communities

Arjun Mandyam Dhati

Exploring microbial community dynamics through the lens of the stable marriage problem.

Presented the paper titled 'Multiple stable states in microbial communities explained by the stable marriage problem'.

Talk by Kaustubh Kulkarni

Kaustubh Kulkarni (4th year BSMS student at IISER Pune)

We'll mostly discuss the question why is it that in most species it is the females which care for offspring while males only compete with each other and fuck around? Is it really accurate? what does sex ratio have t owith all of this?