Epigenetics centre to bring scientists together for value addition

For instance,a scientist working on the pattern formation in a hydra can learn a lot more from another working on a fruit fly to gain new insight into his/her own research,says Dr Surendra Ghaskadbi,a member of the core team which is headed by Dr Sanjeev Galande from IISER.

According to Prof L S Shashidhara,another team member from IISER,the centre calls for close and collaborative interactions and hence a team of scientists has been assembled at two scientific hubs — one a core unit in Pune at IISER and another a satellite unit at Hyderabad.

“Epigenetics is an emerging field of research that holds great potential to uncover the secrets of the blueprint of life,” says Ghaskadbi,a scientist from Agharkhar Research Institute,who has been working on hydra. The vision for the CoE in epigenetics is to build upon interdisciplinary energy by bringing together a group of established as well as young investigators with individual competence and expertise in diverse fields to formulate and test a set of novel and exciting hypothesis in the field of epigenetics,the scientists says.

There are four to five centres of excellence that have been set up by the DBT in the country and the CoE in epigenetics is one such in Pune.

The centre will focus on epigenetic modifications underlying a variety of biologically important phenomena and their role in gene expression,cell division,regeneration,cancer,behaviour,ageing and evolution.

Scientists are excited about the centre as they can utilise the facilities and implement their ideas in a shorter period of time.