National Workshop & Hands on Training on ‘Teaching and Learning Biology with Drosophila. (Half day workshop conducted by Ms. Rayana and Dr. Girish)

Venue: Department of Zoology, Manasagangotri, Mysuru.

The department organizing the event :
DoS in Zoology, University of Mysore, Mysuru in collaboration with
DoS in Biochemistry, Pooja Bhagavat Memorial Mahajana Post Graduate Education Centre, PG Wing of SBRR Mahajana First Grade College(A), Mysuru.

Purpose and Scope of the event:

To provide research scholars with practical skills and hands on experience in Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism for scientific research. The workshop consisted of both theoretical and practical sessions. Theoretical sessions covered topics such as Drosophila biology. Practical sessions included hands-on training in behavioral and neurobiological assays. Participants gained expert guidance, feedback, opportunities for networking, exposure to advanced techniques and technologies. The workshop achieved its objective and provided participants with comprehensive knowledge and hands on experience on using Drosophila as a model organism. The workshop was successful with 35 research scholars from different universities across the world.

Details of the talk/event/activity

The Workshop was organized from 21 to 23 December 2023 at the Department of Zoology, Manasagangotri, Mysuru. The Drosophila workshop started with a formal inauguration. The practical workshop was designed to teach and train research scholars the basics of Drosophila and how drosophila can be used as a model organism for research. The resource person explained how to explore the genetic and molecular mechanism underlaying various biological processes, by utilizing drosophila as a model organism. Explained the basic morphology and behavior of drosophila. As part of the half day workshop conducted by Ms. Rayana and Dr. Girish, the principle and procedure were taught and discussed with students. In the afternoon, a practical session was conducted under the guidance of a resource person. Research scholars performed various assays and the results were obtained accordingly. In the practical session, scholars were taught to prepare the homogenate for the experiments in a stepwise manner and how to use the drosophila larvae in the experiments and interpret the results obtained.

A brief profile of the resource persons

Dr. Girish Chandran

Assistant Professor, Coordinator DoS in Biochemistry, Pooja Bhagavat Memorial Mahajana Post Graduate Education Centre, PG Wing of SBRR Mahajana First Grade College(A), Mysuru.
Qualification: M.Sc., (CSIR-JRF-NET), Ph.D. (Univ. of Mysore), Post Doc (USA)
Areas of Specialization: Drug development, small molecules, peptides, Nutritional interventions, Diet Therapy, quality foods, Neurodegenerative disorders, Pain, Behavioural aspects in Drosophila and Mice, Enzymology, Plant Biochemistry, Diabetes, Migraine, cancer, cross interactions drugs, comorbidity and therapy.
Current Areas of Interest: Diabetes, Migraine, cancer, cross interactions drugs, comorbidity and therapy.

Ms. Rayana Lavitha D Silva

Assistant Professor, DoS in Biochemistry, Pooja Bhagavat Memorial Mahajana Post Graduate Education Centre, PG Wing of SBRR Mahajana First Grade College(A), Mysuru.
Qualification: M.Sc.,(K-SET)
Areas of Interest: Neurodegenerative disorders, Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases and Analytical techniques.

Target audience and number of participants/ beneficiaries

Target audience was Research Scholars from different Universities across the country(total participants: 35).