‘Think independently, don’t be shy about standing out’: Prof Yamuna Krishnan to aspiring women scientists

Ahead of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11), Dr Krishnan in an interview with The Indian Express reflected on the concerns related to inadequate representation of women in science.

“There are deep social problems of gender inequity and unless those are addressed, we will continue to see inadequate representation of women in science. There is no easy solution, except to encourage the women who do make it past the barriers, instead of discouraging them or downplaying their achievements,” she said.

A few excerpts from the email interview:

Can you walk us through your journey from obtaining a PhD in organic chemistry to gaining global recognition as a biophysicist in DNA nanotechnology? What influenced your decision to explore this interdisciplinary field?

I got my PhD in Organic Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and then went to Cambridge UK for four years for a postdoc with Dr Shankar Balasubramanian. After that, I returned to India to the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), in Bengaluru and set up my independent group there, because I found my future colleagues’ work extremely exciting and I wanted to contribute to their research somehow. Then we invented a DNA-based nanotechnology to unveil the chemistry within organelles and then relocated to the University of Chicago in 2014 where I have been ever since.

Can you elaborate on current research in DNA nanotechnology and its potential applications in treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders? Is there any other area or field that you are currently working on?

Well, the innards of organelles were not mapped out prior to the development of our technology. Therefore, the organelle environment has remained unused and unexplored in our understanding of health and disease. It’s an ongoing effort to see if we can use the organellar environment as a powerful readout of disease severity.

What potential advancements or discoveries in DNA nanotechnology are you most excited about? How do you see the field evolving over the next decade?

We have been able to deliver DNA nanodevices organelle specifically to a certain class of immune cells called macrophages. It would be very interesting to see if we can do the same for other cell types, and bring hyper-specific organelle-level delivery to more cell types.

How do you perceive the current state of India’s research ecosystem? What are the most critical improvements required to elevate it to international standards?

India has a long way to go. We are investing a fraction of what China and the US are investing in research and higher education. Most critical is to acknowledge frankly that if we don’t actively engage internationally, we will lose the game. The ability to send students and young faculty abroad to train or various durations and return to work on problems that are of current interest, with cutting-edge methods, is going to be central. Student applications from the best schools in China, for example, are way more attractive than those from the best schools in India – at every level – simply because they have a much more modern level of training and are more ambitious in their thinking.

In your view, what opportunities do facilities like the Ashoka Zeiss Core Imaging Facility create for India’s research ecosystem and foster global competitiveness?

The Zeiss-Ashoka facility is precisely the kind of effort that can move us in a direction towards leveling this difference I talked about. We need dozens more centers like this, not just one. But this pioneering center is a start. The key will be how it is run on the ground, and its accessibility to those from other Indian institutes. I have seen many so-called national facilities in government institutes that are not really open to scientists from neighboring institutes in the same city, let alone the state. If such a model works well in a private high-quality institution such as Ashoka, then perhaps this would be a great way to democratise high-end science.