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Impressed with work happening on Drosophila in India, says French Geneticist
Julien Royet is here to participate in the on going 5th Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference
Julien Royet, professor of Genetics from University of Marseilles, France, on Thursday said she was very impressed with some of the work happening in India around Drosophila, the common fruitfly which has been a model organism to address basic and applied questions in life sciences.
Royet who is here to participate in the on going 5th Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference here said, “This is a great conference and good for us to meet colleagues from across the world to discuss new topics in Biology like immunology, neurobiology, etc. We exchange ideas and establish collaborations; decide to write grants together and also get to see how science in India is evolving. I am very impressed by some of the work here.’’
The conference which began on January 6 will conclude tomorrow.
“This conference throws fresh light on this model organism that has been an absolute forerunner of biological discoveries,’’ said Prof Sutirth Dey, IISER’s Professor (Biology). “Its relevance is further enhanced by the huge crowd gathered to listen to two Nobel laureates, Eric Wieschaus and Michael Rosbash, renowned for their work in development biology and chronobiology respectively,” said Dey.
“It is interesting that this fruitfly has a wide range of experimentation from being used to understand development biology which professor Wieschaus used or Circadian Rythmn (Biological Clock) that professor Michael Rosbash has used. There are more than 450 participants consisting of students and young researchers who have come here from all over the world,” she said.
The conference, being held for the first time in India, has not only brought top scientists together to discuss ideas and cutting edge research, but has also given students exposure to showcase their ideas, which they have done with 300 posters on topics like immunity and memory, among others.
Dey noted that the fruitfly has a very rich history and there are lessons to be learnt from research into this common fruitfly’s genetics, which is also relatively inexpensive.
