Artwork by Akshita Arora
From conversation on:
Oct 13, 2020
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Chemical Sciences is a primeval forest full of most intriguing phenomena that gets one thinking hard and deep about what they observed. From our kitchen shelves to prodigious laboratories, from our own bodies to the interstellar medium, chemistry takes parts in all frames. We discussed the captivating aspects of the discipline with Dr. Sreejalekshmi K.G., currently an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, who leads the group on organic molecules and functional materials at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology. Touching over multi-disciplinary fields of her work including combinatorial chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, and drug discovery, with strong relation to the biological sciences, she also gave a beautifully vivid perspective of her current research work and collaborations, and what it takes to thrive for our deepest passions. In the many ways our simplest questions toss and turn, the conversation with Dr. Sreejalekshmi K.G. led us into a constellation of scientific processes that affect our everyday lives yet lay hidden in plain sight. The conversation served as a microcosm of her beautiful journey in the field of science, embellished by the struggles and achievements through it, we discovered what it takes to live a life celebrating aliveness at every step.
The problem with drug discovery is that it’s a very long process, it takes at least 10-12 years to bring a drug into the market. The efficiency of getting an end result was very frustrating. So everyone thought about how to get more results at the end of the funnel…combinatorial chemistry was the answer!
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Sreejalekshmi K. G. Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
Dr. Sreejalekshmi K. G. is a researcher from the field of chemical sciences, who works on quite varied and multidisciplinary aspects of the field. She pursued her Masters and PhD from University of Kerala and presently holds the position of an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, where she leads the group on Organic molecules and functional materials. Her work touches various disciplines through Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Combinatorial Chemistry for material development, Dendrimers synthesis and application, Drug discovery, and Supramolecular assemblies. To further the horizons of practical applications, she also works on various application based projects. One of her current collaborations include working on crystal growth under microgravity, and specific investigations of space-flight induced processes in living organisms, as a part of the upcoming human space flight program-- the Gaganyaan mission, by the India Space Research Organisation.
Transcript
Shreya Mishra (Host 1) :
Welcome to another episode of zeroing in. I am Shreya Mishra and hosting this episode with me today is Fenil Shah, who recently graduated from IIST with a masters in Solid State Physics. Today we are in conversation with a researcher from the field of chemical sciences who works in a quite varied and multidisciplinary aspects of the field. She pursued her Master's and PhD from the University of Kerala, and presently holds the position of an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, where she leads the group on organic molecules and functional materials. Her work touches upon various disciplines through synthetic organic chemistry combinatorial chemistry for material development, dendrimer synthesis and applications in drug discovery and supra molecular assemblies. To further the horizons of practical applications. She also works on various application based projects. One of her current collaborations include working on crystal growth under microgravity and specific investigations of spaceflight induced processes and living organisms as part of the upcoming human spaceflight program, the gaganyaan mission by the Indian Space Research Organization. Through our conversation, we discovered the stories behind her journey and about her insights and perspective of science. A very warm welcome to Dr Sreejalekshmi K.G.
Dr. Sreejalekshmi K. G. :
Thank you so much, Shreya and Fenil for being along with me.
Shreya :
Mam it's really a pleasure on our end. So we'd like to begin the story from the very start. So looking back, could you tell us about your childhood aspirations and your thought process during the formative years. Also, if you had any role models to inspire you through all those years, we would love to talk about that.
Dr. Sreejalekshmi :
So first and foremost the declaration is that I am from a very very remote village. Okay, so the thing is, like I am basically from Trivandrum, so the place where I'm currently working in fact. So, going back or pacing back in my school days, I was a very sort of ambitious student, we had a very nice interactions with our teachers. okay. so in the school time, very close community discussions we were having and in those days, I was more particularly more interested in craft. Believe it or not, okay so yeah I used state champion for this art and crafts things to some exhibitions that were going on. The craft thing was actually more into my mind and the craft requires creativity, right. So, I actually acknowledged my craft teacher for creating that sort of spark in me, so that you think about, or, you can design something on your own. Okay so basically I grew up in a school like that so when I completed my 10th grade and I had a distinction of course. I mean the learning phase was there, no doubt about it. And then, during those times we had something called a pre degree, so it is not the plus to like what people have undergone. So during that pre degree I used to go to a college in my village near my home. So during all these periods, I have never been out of Trivandrum for my academics, so typically being in the college, I had, of course, some ambition related to pursuing my career in medicine, so the life and the education during those times were simply different. I would say, from what you see now, so career guidance or something like that was not available.
So the thing is I really really wanted to pursue a bachelor in medicine, so MBBS was my dream. So it happened that being from a middle income family, giving personal attention or giving every subject a special tuition or something like that was not feasible, and for me it was not at all, I mean, I also don't want such a thing. I just wanted to work on my own and gather whatever information at qualifying. So, say, exams, entrance exams specifically entrance exams, I think you all will agree that it requires some sort of training right, we may be knowing the subject area, we may be knowing the subject but at the same time, the proper training has to be there, because it is a problem, it is not only a problem solving it is a problem solving within the restricted time with some tips and tricks. Okay, so I'm not, I'm not telling that nobody I mean, I was not getting the training but the point is that I actually didn't want to go for, I mean, I didn't want to press my parents to add more of their expenditure. Okay, so I tried on my own, my own capability to pass that particular exam. But, unfortunately, or fortunately, I couldn't get through that entrance examination for our medical stream. Okay, so I think that was actually a turning point- so, after your plus 2. There was a moment or there was some delay in finalizing what I should do.
Okay, so basically, I wanted to pursue a bachelor's as well as Master's or the other higher degrees in biological sciences. Okay, so again, there also, there was a difference in opinion. So again, I'm talking about some 25 No, not 25, even more, but 30 to 30 years back in time. Okay, so again there was a problem with when I chose that biology. So my parents were telling me biology is not that of, okay. That's standard. Why don't you go for either physics or chemistry. Okay, so when there was a comparison between physics and chemistry, it is not that I didn't like physics, I liked physics, no doubt about it. But at the same time, sometimes some decisions we make, based on the teachers who we have encountered, so that is why for me. That was a very I mean, significant decision that has to be taken. So my decision for pursuing a bachelor's in chemistry, believe it or not, was based on two of my teachers who handled chemistry courses during my time. Okay, so I mean, somehow I felt those chemistry teachers were actually loving and caring. Okay, so I never actually, I mean, they were, what to say, empathetic people.
So, whenever we have a problem or, I mean, they will actually read it from your face. So typically, I thought that whenever you purchase something, you require a support right, I mean, it has to be or there has to be a moral support. So, in fact, two or three of the teachers who have a handle chemistry courses in my pedigree, those people actually inspired me to take up chemistry. Okay, so that is basically the background of how I entered into this particular area of chemistry, it was not very what to say. I mean, hardcore, chosen by myself. It was chosen by me, but at the same time, I had my inclination, and I have even today my inclination to balance the sciences, that is the point I wanted to highlight because once you have a dream, which is sufficiently strong enough, you will not leave it. Okay, so you will grab any opportunity where you can explore them that way, you can actually bring that dream into reality.
Shreya :
Well it's really wonderful to hear how you've stuck to your dream for so long. And fortunately for you it just came around a whole circle.
Fenil Shah (Host 2) :
Yeah, yeah, it's definitely reassuring to show that if you have a passion strong enough things will come around and your experiences, very instructive too. one thing I'd like to ask you, is that while you are deciding on choosing chemistry in the back of your head, did you have this thought that from chemistry you can easily connect to biology, which is what you really wanted to do. So, yeah, you mentioned that your faculty inspired you to go for chemistry but, was this a factor as well?
Dr. Sreejalekshmi :
Definitely, I don't have, I mean, even now I don't have any hatred for any subject but at the same time as Fenil pointed out, maybe at the back of my head or brain or heart or whatever. There was a possible roadway, which can lead to because there's. Anyhow, this whole body's biology, the whole biological mechanism is chemistry only right. So definitely when I was taking this chemistry thing, it would have been working in the back of my head. So chemistry can be a feasible path, and it proved to be right, also. But, again I would emphasize another point here in the current realm, there is nothing like a barrier or, like, say, borders between different disciplines, okay. If you pursue biology you have to be aware of so-called machine learning or artificial intelligence otherwise - even our drug discovery programs, we desperately require people who are willing to work across borders, I mean, they have to come to other disciplines…
Fenil :
That's, that's really essential, but that you pointed out there. So, now if it's okay with you, We'd like you to take us through your, your journey through your college days, and perhaps you can share some of your stories, experiences, or struggles, you went through during those times and how we proceeded from your bachelors, to your masters and then moving on further to do a PhD. Would you like to elaborate a bit on that.
Dr. Sreejalekshmi :
Yeah, sure. So, coming to the bachelors thing, again, the college was located some 2.5 kilometers from my home. So I used to run to the college. Okay, everything was either by walking or running. There were no buses. I want to say two wheelers or anything during my Bachelor's, so it takes hardly some 15 to 20 minutes for me, if I'm partially running and partially, what is a jogging deny of my college, Okay this college is again in my own village, I was doing my pre degree in that particular college and I continued with that college. There were huge struggles as we had different physical as well as mental disappointments in between, but somehow the teachers that I mentioned you already know, They were so nice to me, they were so nice to all the students that we simply forgot all the problems. And fortunately our Department of Chemistry in that particular college, they kept a very nice library. So, during even that bachelor's course we had exposure to the first books available on chemistry, the different branches of chemistry from our library. So that was a big boon, otherwise buying every book is not a practical thing and not at all knowing about those books is a big mistake. Okay, so I think yeah, from that bachelors straight to this PG program was based on the inputs by the same teachers, okay, if, if I had an opportunity to continue with my studies in that particular college itself, I would have done that, but at the same time, during those periods after completion of my Bachelor's, the college didn't have any Master's in chemistry.
Okay, so I have no other choice than to quit that institute and go somewhere else for a PG program. Yeah, so the PG joining is actually based on, again, advice from other faculty. Along with that, I chose for a center where I can pursue my master's program for sure, plus we will be getting more exposure because it was a research center. Okay, so all the colleges are not research centers, basically. So I chose my head Department of Chemistry University of Kerala, Karivattom campus, that is what we call it. So I finished my master's with a second rank in that department. So it was a great achievement. In fact, at the end of the masters when I approached that professor for discussions later to my doctoral program he listed three or four projects. So three of them were actually dealing with whatever projects were already ongoing in his group. Okay. And the fourth option that actually struck me more. That was actually related to something. So I am seeing for the first time combinatorial chemistry for drug development.
Combinatorial chemistry is actually just something unconventional chemistry we can call it, okay, because for chemistry people, if an acid and amine react, okay, if acid is A and amine is B, it is going to give you an amide, which is AB. So A plus B gives AB. That was our conventional thought right. But what is in combinatorial chemistry is, you will set as many as possible. You will take as many acids as possible, you will get all the amines as possible, and then you combine them all together. So, instead of one AB, you're actually going to get all the possible combinations. So you people may understand the difference between combinations and permutations right– so certain building blocks we go by permutations only for example in the case of amino acids, the sequence matters, but in the combination the sequence doesn't matter right, only the reactivity part is coming together. Okay. So, in the place of one AB we are good to get hundreds of 1000s of ABs depending upon how many building blocks I choose. Okay, so that is the essence of combinatorial chemistry, wherever the old orthodox conventional organic synthetic chemist will be looking into only one AB, I was more willing to look into hundreds or 1000s of AB. Albeit the fact that I'm going to get it in a mixture, not individually. Okay, so there are. So there are different techniques in combinatorial chemistry, where you can end up in a mixture of products, it can be even, even billion, a billion member library, so we call this collection as a library. Okay, so, more precisely, we call this collection a molecule or a chemical library. Okay. So, our aim is to build this library. So for combinatorial chemistry, it was actually helping the drug discovery area.
Okay, so the problem with drug discovery. The problem with just drug discovery is it is not a simple job. If one drug is to be discovered and optimized and then put into markets, it will roughly take 10 to 12 years minimum - [that’s the] minimum I'm talking about. Okay, so I discovered a molecule today, I cannot claim that it is going to be a drug tomorrow no way there are different phases of clinical trials and every step going on like that. So, in the beginnings of combinatorial chemistry, our combinatorial chemists were actually trying to move through. It was mostly used by the pharmaceutical industry.
Big Pharma refers to our drug like molecules right so the pharmaceutical industry if you go towards the screening of drugs in the pharma industry, There is a huge funnel sort of thing. Okay, on the top of the funnel, you could say millions of top pops, I'd say a few hundreds of compounds, what you get at the end of the funnel collection point. That is what matters, right. So, what used to be because the discovery process was very very very low yielding process, because you work a lot in the lab, but the end product, the end result, what you get, can be sometimes it's all frustrating you don't get anybody who qualifies to be a drug, you see you imagine that situation where this drug industry is putting billions of dollars, or maybe INR into the industry and nothing is coming out of the funnel. So they started to get how can we increase this collection point to at least two molecules, maybe at least two or three candidates, which can…
So one possible idea that they were suggesting is to put more into the funnel, at least something will come up. Okay, so how will you put more- we need more molecules, right. So how will we make more molecules? Combinatorial chemistry was the answer during that time. It happened that I started working on that. My professor actually liked the way it was working because somehow I call it, I don't. I am sort of a workaholic. I should call myself. That doesn't mean that I don't spend my time for my family. Equally, I spend time for my family also. And the secret I will reveal to you – I sleep less, but now I have to sleep slightly more, maybe four and a half to five hours per day. Otherwise some health conditions are also there. That's not a problem, we have medicines, okay. I'm working in the medical field. I should believe in medicines right.
So, that is the way in which I chose that particular cognitive tools and chemistry pathway so the whole aim of that combinatorial chemistry is to create what we call molecular diversity. So I want a particular core structure that we call and around that I have to build certain structures, which will be useful. So, immediately after finishing my master's project, I got an invitation from my very own professor – “Sreeja, why don't you join for a PhD program?”.
Okay, till that point of time, I didn't have any, any of such dreams of pursuing a PhD. Okay, with a master's also you can actually enter into a teaching job, no issues. I mean, we are qualified, with a so-called national eligibility test is there. So, but at the same time I had an open invitation from my professor, and from there onwards I started thinking about my PhD so CSIR UGC jointly conduct national level examination. If you qualify that examination with the junior research fellowship, you will be getting a national scholarship, and you can actually proceed with your PhD in any reputed national institute.
There again I qualified for the exam. Okay, then definitely, I want to go back to my guide because I wanted to work in combinatorial chemistry- that was my only motivation for me to join the PhD program. Then I went to my sir and told him that I qualified this exam. So, yeah, so then he thought you can go to wherever you want. Then I told I can go and do wherever I want, but will I get the same project to do that is my question. So then, half heartedly he agreed – “okay fine, you just join” – because while he was telling us that compared to other national lab facilities, the facilities that our department was having was very less, very less, to be frank. Okay. At the same time, there is nothing that can hamper your ambition, because once you find that some instrument is not ready immediately you're trying to find somewhere you can get that right, is not that telling that “I don't have this, I will not do that”, “I don't have this” – no, I was not like that! So, whatever was available in the vicinity and some customized equipment even, okay I even now I will remember some part, glasswares. We had a glass blower, So I paid him and made some custom design. So it works that way also.
In between the sub PhD work and my degree award, I went for teaching at the old - same college where I graduated. It was again a UGC vacancy so they called me and asked me whether I'll be interested in giving an interview. I simply went there, they were all happy! So I had my own teachers as my colleagues. Okay, so what a wonderful moment, you know, I mean it was so nice. After that, maybe after one and a half years, I had to come back because I had my PhD thesis defense and not. Okay, so I got my degree in 2006 February. So after maybe around six years.
Shreya :
So, now that we're talking about combinatorial chemistry. Could you tell us how this process comes together? I mean, from choosing the initial compounds to each step of identifying and filtering out the byproducts, and how to maintain the efficiency throughout the process? Basically, what are the intricacies involved in this? Could you just tell us more about the technical details probably?
Dr. Sreejalekshmi :
Sure, the technical details in the sense that- as I mentioned combinatorial chemistry is all about what to say, making as many combinations as possible, so that you can have a bigger library – a diverse library. So, in chemistry there is something called structure-activity relationship. With every molecular structure with every geometric structure assigned with a molecule – it is associated with a certain amount of energy, okay you people must be aware of conformers and all, right?
You can go on getting different-different molecules, if you're having a rotatable bond and stuff like that. So the thing is, the, the more the number of conformers available for a particular skeleton modular skeleton, you are having those many number of energies associated with that. Okay so those many numbers of molecules can interact with the substrate in N number of unique ways. And we are trying to find, for example, in the case of – I will talk about the drug discovery thing because I will actually continue with the same process even now – so, first and foremost you should identify, for what purpose you are trying to make this library, okey, for example, if you are trying to make it for attaching to a biological target. So, do you have something about the structure of that biological target?
For example, if it comes for an anti cancer practice company, your biological target is actually protein. Okay, it can be one protein, it can be N number of proteins. So usually there are different families of proteins like kinesins are there, many, many families of proteins are there. So, depending upon what you plan to use this particular library, you will be going for that particular target and so in the drug discovery also there are two broad regimes - one is structure-based and the other one is ligand-based.
So I'm currently talking about structure based drug discovery - SBDT. Okay, so in structure based drug discovery, you are having a familiarity with the target that you want to attach your ligand. So each member of your library- I am going to call it a ligand - Okay, so I want my ligand to go and sit in the active site of the protein in such a way that the protein cannot further act. Okay?
So as in the case of cancer, as you know that cancer is a process, is a situation or it is a condition where the cells are multiplying, indefinitely. Okay? So usually our cells need to multiply, but they don't, they don't really listen to any command. Okay, it's something like an arrogant sort of division happening- unnecessary or unwanted division. So in that process, what we plan is during that process of undefined or unwanted cell division- what we see is we will be getting a lot of proteins, which are overexpressed in those cancer cells. Okay? So those that make proteins are responsible for telling or giving the command to the cell that you just go and multiply. Okay. So our aim is to find that particular protein, who is actually leading to or who is the causative agent for that, indefinite uncontrolled cell division. Catch that guy, find out the active side of the guy. That is all done using x-ray crystallography. So, these are people who are working in protein crystallography, they actually deposit their structures in something called a ‘protein data bank’. What we do basically is that we fetch those structures from the protein databank. We refine those protein structures - so these refinements and all are currently happening through computational methods. The problem with this combinatorial chemistry is that if you go on synthesizing the compounds, you are unnecessarily going to waste that much of compounds or that much of chemicals – it is going to be an environmental hazard right? So what is the way out?
One way is actually to go for CAD-based drug discovery. That is computer aided design. You design your molecules on a computer, and then put these molecules inside the active site of the protein so we call the process as molecular docking. This docking should be perfect. If it is perfect- it is going to be the original candidate. In between, in fact, my team is now involved in the drug discovery hackathon by the Government of India - you people maybe aware of that - against this Covis-SARS. Yeah, so we are actually trying to go by and I think our libraries are getting pretty good shape. So we are going to that screening process will happen now. If everything happens, or fits in good place - I think we are also having a very pretty good chance - or at least from our institute, there is a team.
Okay, so we are actually trying to find a needle in a haystack. That is the problem with drug discovery. So now fortunately we have methods in which we can at least have a good guess. Earlier thing is a wild guess, now it is a pretty good guess to make, depending upon how much of affinity your ligand is going to have with this particular protein. So we screen our molecules; we call it as in-silico screening on computers only. So these in-silico screenings will give pretty good rankings of our ligands. So there are different scales in which we rank them; one of them is actually what we call the docking score on dock score. So, [about] how good it. Okay, so we need the minimum energy when these two guys are interacting- we need the minimum energy means that they are the most stable.
So like that we will be ranking our ligands, and then the next step is maybe the top 10 or 15 or something like that we will synthesize chemically. So, there the problem, the bottleneck, is that every material or every molecule that you design may not be synthetically feasible. How do you make it synthetically feasible or how do you make the structure that is synthetically feasible? There we go for something called reverse engineering in your language and we call it as retro-synthetic analysis [laughs]. Okay? So this retro synthetic analysis is like working back- so, I have the end molecule with me, break it into different pieces, so that I end up with something - some reagent which is commercially available. Okay, so that is one more limitation with this combinatorial libraries because the reagent should be available, the synthetic process should be available, then only you can make them in reality. Seeing is believing, right? So you have to synthesize this molecule but now from that 50,000 or million compounds, now we are coming down to, say, five or 10 or 15 or 20 like that. So that is a huge - tremendous advancement.
Shreya :
This is quite fascinating and intriguing. So, now, just to consolidate it all together - could you tell us about the current research direction that your group is addressing at the moment, that would be really good!
Dr. Sreejalekshmi :
Here also currently with my PhD program and all, we do the core areas where we have expertise. For example this drug discovery is going on. In that we, brought in another new - which is not a new concept - [but] it's actually 4th architecture as we call - dendrimers. Dendrimers are actually organic molecules only, but they have a unique architecture. It is something like a very spherical architecture - very symmetric architecture. So the advantage is that if it is as a sphere, you are having pretty good surface area right? So my aim is to put as many people on the surface as possible, so that this person goes and sits inside the protein, very nicely, isn't it, so that is why we brought in these dendrimers!
Even though from the outside people may feel, especially people from outside the chemistry domain may feel that it is highly diversified - no, [instead] it is a highly unified area. The moment you synthesize a molecule, it need not be the one and only use! For example if you could tell that tri-nitro-glycerine is used for heart diseases, and it is an explosive right? So how can…[laughs] Yeah, there are people and there are molecules like that - they find multi level applications. That is why I call it as a multi-functional material discovery. At the core of it, we are making simple molecules, and we find their potential to certain applications, we expand in those areas. It does not take much of external efforts – no! It all in within us!
Fenil :
Along the same lines, I would also like to ask you on a recent proposal that has been selected for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission and you are working on that. So, if I'm not wrong, that also has a very strong collaboration between biology and chemistry. So, would you like to tell us more about the whole process that this went through about the proposal, basically?
Dr. Sreejalekshmi :
Yeah, sure. So, in 2018 August 15 only we had that big announcement right. Then, immediately there was an announcement of opportunities for microgravity science payloads. Then I talked to my current collaborator, then he told that let us put some proposal there. So despite so much of struggle - because spaceflight experiments - once you have done it, it is okay, I mean you can manage. Otherwise there are very, very small things, okay! There is something called a ‘bill of materials’ - you will not believe even one screw that they put in there should be listed, and it has to be space qualified, this and that - so much of complexity.
It was not only fortune from our side, I would give more credit to the hard work that we put during the preparation of the proposal. It was a learning process, it is not that easy. It was not at all easy, because you have to be out of your domain, for some time – then you learn this domain and then you try to make them crosstalk. That is what I do. Because, it is something like taking your spirit out of your body and giving it to somebody else. It is now easy! [laughs]
But, I don't know why, [maybe] because we were having some, I think, three or four rigorous reviews, and you won't believe - we had hardcore biology people sitting some 10-15 around us, and then [imitates bullet shots] they actually! Then also we have to be like that we are putting Kevlar and sitting like this, bulletproof and all. So, that is something that happened and actually it's a huge credit that should be given to my collaborator. He was very patient to listen to whatever I was saying. And then immediately a question came- “what is the element of novelty that you are going to add in this particular payload?”
The payload is actually using the fruitflies - Drosophila melanogaster, these are actually Camden bee flies we call them - so these Canden bee flies are being used as animal models to study the spaceflight-induced changes happening to kidney stone formation. So, immediately there was a huge round of crosstalk between my colleagues, “drosophila and kidney!” “Does this fly have a kidney at all?” And it is a very genuine question! But for you people - Drosophila, does not have a kidney - they do have something analogous to our kidney, or more perfected than our kidney in fact. It is called malpighian tubules - MTB we call it. So in Drosophila, with a malpighian tubules - they develop kidney stones and that is documented in literature. Okay, so if something is documented in literature, and if we are proposing it as part of the spaceflight - immediately the review people will ask, “What is that element? - NASA must have done many things - what is it that you want to do there?” Then immediately my chemistry came to help - you know, [smiles] my synthetic organic chemistry came to help- because anyhow, we are preparing so many biologically relevant molecules, right? Molecules for our medicine, this and that and all. Why don't you try screening a set of molecules against this kidney stone formation? Okay? If we can reduce the risk of kidney stone formation or just avoid them altogether - that is great, right?
So that is why, currently the payload is having that novelty component - that is the contribution of IIST, okay? That is, we are having a host of combinatorial library synthesised molecules for screening against what we call as nephrolithiasis. So we are looking for anti-nephrolithiatic compounds. That is the novelty associated with this payload. So that is the contribution from in my lab site.
So then, again, I'm going back to my roots only right? I'm finding - I'm actually putting my chemistry, wherever it can fit. The only thing is that -because for you also - you can learn your subject deeply- no doubt about it. But, while you think about a proposal, be totally unconventional - let your peers come and join you. “What this guy is doing?” “Why he or she is mad?” Something like that. If you get such comments - you're going to be somebody really worthy. [laughs] I am telling this from my personal experience.
So this is the whole essence of it. Currently we are in the process of finalizing the hardware. The project has two components. In fact, IIST laboratories have started biology work. Our Drosophila flies have arrived, we started dissecting them. When you come back to the institute, come to my lab and see - Drosophilas are happily flying here and there [smiles]. For me it's a dream come true for me. Yeah, that is why I told you- [if] you have the passion- it will come, it will come to you. Okay? But it should be the real passion, and you should be willing to learn every time. It’s not easy.
Shreya :
Ma’am well, this entire journey is really inspiring for all of us. So concluding with everything. We'd like to thank you for joining us today and we're extremely glad to hear so many stories from such an incredible perspective and really, really thanks a lot for that. So before concluding, I'd like to ask if there's anything that you'd like to add, and convey to the listeners that we didn't get a chance to discuss here today so please let us know.
Dr. Sreejalekshmi :
In fact we had a very sort of informal discussion. Okay. And personally I believe that informal discussions with faculty and students - they do wonders than close classroom sessions. In fact, these type of interactions are the most welcome interactions. The way the institute is, I mean it's looking forward to the younger students – it is actually through these deliberations – it is not that we keep somebody as big and somebody as small. No! Everybody has some unique key with them. Okay? You show the lock, they will open it! And you will find treasures inside, right? So that right key-right lock, you have to explore no, then otherwise where will we find them?
So in fact, thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity! I loved seeing you all smiling. It's a very humble note at which I wanted it to end. Because I had very humble beginnings, and I wish to pursue those humble things - that [through] whatever I'm doing, and try to bring as many smiles as possible, and intellectual - whatever - academic, or any knowledge-level enhancement in each one of my students, or whoever is coming into interaction with me. That is my closing note.
Shreya :
This was Zeroing In with Dr. Sreejalekshmi K.G.. It was brought to you by The Sounding Rocket, in collaboration with the IIST Alumni Association for the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.
We extend a sincere gratitude to Dr. Sreejalekshmi K.G., for sharing her incredible journey in the field of chemical sciences, and an elaborate work in drug discovery. On behalf of the zeroing in team which includes Naman Jain, Fenil Shah, Prajjwal Patnaik, KVNG Vikram, and I am Shreya Mishra. Thanks a lot for listening to this episode. If you have any suggestions you can write to us on zeroingin@outlook.in or contact, and follow us on our Instagram handle @zeroinginpodcast, or the sounding rocket page on Facebook.