PU conducts awareness programme for children

To inculcate scientific temper and values of responsible science

School children at a skill development programme for school children at Pondicherry University. Photo: Special Arrangement

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Pondicherry University conducted an awareness programme for schoolchildren with the aim of inculcating scientific temper in young minds.

Students from various schools in and around Puducherry who participated in the workshop were taught about the methods and practices involved in the design and discovery of new drug molecules and their stages of validation from pre-clinical to clinical settings.

This BRSI (Biotech Research Society of India) funded event was launched by Prof. Jeevaratnam and Prof. H. Prathap Kumar Shetty.

Experts Dr. Maheswaran Mani, Dr. Madhu Dyavaiah and Dr. R. Rukkumani explained about the diverse sources of drug molecules, their initial testing on animals and final stages of testing in humans. Ethical considerations at every stage were emphasised so as to inculcate the values of responsible science in students.

Dr. S. Sudha Rani, Dr. Kitlangki Suchiang, Dr. C. Thirunavukkarasu, and Dr. Mohane Coumar coordinated a visit later to the Cell Culture facility, the Central Animal House Facility, and the facilities at the Centre for Bioinformatics, for a demonstration of the techniques involved.

Quiz competition

Towards the end of the workshop, an inter-school quiz competition based on the concepts explained earlier during the day was conducted.

Students from The Study – L’école Internationale, Kalapet, won the first prize. The first runners-up were students from Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Jipmer Campus (Shift 2), while the second-runners up were students from Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Jipmer Campus (Shift 1).

Prof. N. Parthasarathy and Prof. A. Dinakara Rao were the guests of honour at the valedictory ceremony.