Patent Literacy Mission of HRDG

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CSIR Contribution Towards Academic Excellence in the Frontier Areas of Science & Technology

792-797The paper highlights the role of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and its network of 39 laboratories towards the development of new knowledge base and creating a knowledge bank of highly talented scientists in the most advanced areas of science and technology (S&T). CSIR through its Human Resource Development Programmes provides financial support to about 1000 PhD students at any point of time in the form of JRFs and SRFs and subsequently producing about 250 PhDs/y in the frontier areas of S&T

Are bright students coming back to science? -A study

248-250In the last decade, there have been indications of a declining trend of students taking up science and scientific research as a career. New programmes were started by CSIR to attract young bright students towards science. Early indication suggests a reversal in declining trend

New initiatives for national S&T manpower development by CSIR

592-595Much has been talked about the decline in trend of interest in science in our country. This is apparent not only in doctoral and post-doctoral research but also extends to the graduate and post-graduate courses in science. Evidently, career in science does not seem to hold fascination of fresh graduates and post-graduates. Thus the first step to create scientific temper among the youth would be to create a belief in the value of science. From here we can take them further to create an interest so profound that they choose to take up science as a vocation. In an attempt to achieve this, CSIR has taken initiative by starting new schemes for attracting students towards science

Study on the relative number and cost of EMR schemes in major disciplines of science including engineering

330-335About 170 EMR schemes are selected every year in 6 major areas of science including engineering. Five years data show that there is a wide variation in number and percentage of schemes recommended in different disciplines. There is a strong correlation between the number of schemes funded by CSIR in the Physical sciences disciplines (including Engineering, Mathematical, Earth and Environmental sciences), Biological sciences, and Chemical sciences and proportion of post-graduates that complete their PhD in these areas. More centers of research are needed in the physical sciences in order to produce more of highly trained manpower in these areas

Intellectual Strength of CSIR - An Analysis of Manpower

168-172An analysis of the age, qualifications, and positions of the 5200 scientists of CSIR reveals that a majority of them possess higher degrees in comparison with those at junior levels. The scientists and engineers are distributed in the ratio of 2:1, subscribing to the theory that "Good technology is supported by high science"</span

Harnessing Peptide-Functionalized Multivalent Gold Nanorods for Promoting Enhanced Gene Silencing and Managing Breast Cancer Metastasis

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) has become the cornerstone against undruggable targets and for managing metastatic breast cancer. However, an effective gene silencing approach is faced with a major challenge due to the delivery problem. In our present study, we have demonstrated efficient siRNA delivery, superior gene silencing, and inhibition of metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) using rod-shaped (aspect ratio: 4) multivalent peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles and compared them to monovalent free peptide doses. Multivalency is a new concept in biology, and tuning the physical parameters of multivalent nanoparticles can enhance gene silencing and antitumor efficacy. We explored the effect of the multivalency of shape- and size-dependent peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles in siRNA delivery. Our study demonstrates that peptide functionalization leads to reduced toxicity of the nanoparticles. Such designed peptide-functionalized nanorods also demonstrate antimetastatic efficacy in Notch1-silenced cells by preventing EMT progression in vitro. We have shown siRNA delivery in the hard-to-transfect primary cell line HUVEC and also demonstrated that the Notch1-silenced MDA-MB-231 cell line has failed to form nanobridge-mediated foci with the HUVEC in the co-culture of HUVEC and MDA-MB-231, which promote metastasis. This antimetastatic effect is further checked in a xenotransplant in vivo zebrafish model. In vivo studies also suggest that our designed nanoparticles mediated inhibition of micrometastasis due to silencing of the Notch1 gene. The outcome of our study highlights that the structure–activity relationship of multifunctional nanoparticles can be harnessed to modulate their biological activity