Profile

I have been interested in science, especially biology and life sciences since my childhood. I used to be hooked on the telly watching Animal Planet and National Geographic! In school I was exposed to the fascinating world of biological molecules and microbes that set my future career. For my higher studies I completed a postgraduate degree in Biotechnology and then a PhD in Biological Sciences specialising in how microscopic microbes move.

Cilia are hair-like organs present on almost every cell of the human body (See image below). They are important for proper development of our bodies, vision, smell and fertility. I am interested in how these cilia are built. An exciting thing is that cilia have arrays of proteins moving in and out of them in the form of “trains” that are driven by motor proteins (similar to the motor of cars/trains). I use a DNA editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9 to create mutants and measure the different aspects of these trains under the microscope.