Micro-organisms have evolved an impressive array of gene regulatory mechanisms to adapt to the constantly changing environmental conditions. However, even the exquisite gene regulatory mechanisms cannot escape from the cul-de-sac of physical constraints, leading to stochastic or ‘noisy’ gene expression. Interestingly, instead of evolving mechanisms to subdue the noise and lead a detenninistic life style, micro-organisms seem to have evolved mechanisms to use this noise to their advantage.

Carbaryl is widely used as a pesticide in the agricultural field since 1958. Apart from the desired effects, the toxicity of carbaryl to beneficial organisms like bees, earthworm and marine fishes is a cause of concern. Its extensive usage has led to environmental pollution. Within a decade of carbaryl application in the agricultural field,many microorganisms with ability to degrade it were isolated. Pseudomonas sp. isolated from soil in our lab converts carbaryl into cell biomass via.

Aromatic compounds are most extensively used in various industries like plastic, paint, pesticide, petrochemical etc. These compounds are released into the environment due to various natural and anthropogenic activities leading to pollution. Biodegradation is a viable way to remove these pollutants to harmless metabolites. Multiple factors play an important role in efficient Multiple factors play an important role in efficient bioremediation of pollutants by microorganisms viz.

Acute critical care lung diseases like Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Acute Lung Injury have a high mortality rate worldwide and especially in developing countries like India. Several diseases can lead to critical lung conditions of ARDS like malaria, leptospirosis, and undiagnosed fever followed by pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and pancreatitis. Mechanical ventilation currently used for therapy in ARDS by itself harms the lungs. At present, one of third of ARDS patients succumb to the condition within the first couple of days of intensive care.

Anemia and micronutrient deficiencies are widely prevalent globally. This is particularly true in developing countries and amongst girls and women of child bearing age. While fortification is one approach, this is often limited by adverse effects on taste and low stability of the nutrients on storage and cooking. Gastrointestinal disturbances due to iron supplementation capsules also lead to low compliance. Further, since micronutrients deficiencies can often go undetected and require long periods of supplementation, this compliance for fortification or supplementation is limited.

Osteoarthritis is a progressive musculoskeletal degenerative disorder with clinical symptoms of joint pain characterised by the gradual loss of articular cartilage and inflammation of the joint. According to World Health Organisation statistics, about 9.6% of men and 18% of women aged over 60 years have symptomatic osteoarthritis and 80% of those with osteoarthritis will have mobility problems restricting them from performing major daily activities of life. In addition, injuries also lead to damage to the articular cartilage.

Over-active bladder is highly prevalent affecting around 15 million of the geriatric population in India. Despite its high rate of occurrence, it is predominantly under treated . Current treatment involves highly invasive and expensive submucosal intra-detrusor injection of Botulinum toxin through cystoscopy.Over 1.25 million patients in India have interstitial cystitis which causes intractable bladder pain and there are no treatments currently available for the same. The incidence of bladder cancer is also rising and shows high for Bladder Diseases recurrences.

Metastatic cancers and multi-drug resistant cancers are causes of high mortality globally. In developing countries like India, lung cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer and oral cancers have high prevalence rates. Present chemotherapy is non-specific and suffers from many systemic side effects like bone marrow suppression.

Our current focus of studies is towards investigating the cellular level biophysical mechanisms in the bladder that give rise to different facets of bladder function such as bladder contractility, sensory transduction and control of bladder function via known neural pathways. Any deviation from the physiology that underlies bladder function results in urinary incontinence.

Many organic and inorganic nanosystems are being actively researched for their efficiency in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Among them, plasmonic nanostructures for photothermal therapy (PTT) gain considerable importance owing to the advent of two on-going PTT based clinical trials making use of gold nanoshells for the treatment of brain and metastatic lung tumors. These plasmonic nanostructures also serve as efficient candidates for imaging, and thereby bringing out their multifunctional capabilities.