The institute was abuzz with activity in the last month as we had a month-long celebration of Women Who Inspire. We had conversations, exchanged ideas, introduction to fields like data journalism and entrepreneurship, and got to know many more women in science. IGIBians continued unveiling their creative side, engaging in competitions celebrating women. You will get to revive your memories through the Creative Cauldron and News & Events columns that capture the many events in pictures.
We saw four diverse journeys – two of our alumni (Parul Ganju and Niti Kumar) and the other two journalists/authors (Minnie Vaid and Rukmini S.). The denominator in all these stories was the absence of gender discrimination which resonated with most of the research-dominated audience at IGIB. On the other hand, the narratives of their work – Minnie through ISRO’s magnificent women and their flying machines and Rukmini through Whole numbers and half-truths, made us ponder about the existing disparity and discrimination within our country that remains hidden and out of our bubbles. We heard (and will be hearing more) some of these conversations that got started during the talk series in the Women’s Day Special podcast series. We got glimpses of what science would have been like for women in the poem competition that was conducted in the last month.
“Science and human knowledge
Would still be so illuminating
We would just not know
The secret solution to so many puzzles
Or how to make science touch everyone everywhere
If not for the women in science.”
- Beena Pillai [Read the full poem in this month’s Creative Cauldron]
All the reminiscing of women in science was illuminating and a perfect way to conclude celebrating Women-Who-Inspire.
Then, as we will herald in another IGIB Reminiscence Day on 7th April, we invite you to look back in time when IGIB was involved in identifying variants of 1000 genes to map the genetic landscape of the country.
It is interesting to note that one of the papers covered in this month’s Research Highlights identifies variants, from the IndiGenome project that sequenced 1029 individuals, that seem to be involved in neurological conditions and neurodegeneration.
[Trivia – Reminiscence therapy has been shown to help people with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s to slow down memory loss.] We would encourage faculty, staff and research scholars to share their stories from their initial days of IGIB – at both the old and the new campuses.
One of our offerings this month is about neurodivergence. The World Autism Day special post will make you ponder whether the need for autism research should be focused on the understanding of perception or on finding a cure.
And lastly, to commemorate our favorite (or second favorite in the case of RNA biologists) molecule DNA, we plan some engaging activities in the month of April. And here’s where you IGIBians step up – we are open to get suggestions from IGIBians! Tell us, how shall we celebrate the code of life on 25th April? We welcome suggestions through comments or you can write an email to outreach@igib.in.
We will be back on 1st May 2023.
Edited by Nishtha Bhargava
Poorti Kathpalia, a scientist by training, is now pursuing her passion for making science fun and accessible through her sci-comm activities.