Engaging Communities Enabling Change

Imagine treating diseases not with pills or invasive procedures, but with carefully calibrated light. This is not science fiction; it is the emerging field of photobiomodulation (PBM), a non-invasive therapy that uses specific wavelengths of light to influence biological systems. As healthcare systems worldwide search for safer, cost-effective, and scalable solutions, PBM is gaining attention as a technology that could bridge cutting-edge science with real-world accessibility, particularly in countries like India.

Columns

Learning from dysfunction: Unraveling the mysteries of the developing human brain

Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra & Bhawna Dahiya

What if a gene behaves the same in a mouse and a human, but leads to entirely different outcomes? At BRIC-inStem, Bhavana Muralidharan is uncovering how unique regulatory networks shape the human brain, challenging long-held assumptions in biology while advancing our understanding of neurodevelopment, mental health, and precision medicine.

Columns

Viruses, more than just agents of chaos

Haripriya Parthasarathy

Viruses are far more than agents of disease. Tracing their discovery, extraordinary diversity, and mysterious evolutionary origins, this article explores how viruses challenge our understanding of life itself. From ancient giant viruses to the debate over a possible fourth domain of life, it reveals why these microscopic entities remain one of biology's greatest enigmas.

News

Same pill, opposite stories: The timing of Prozac treatment shapes the developing brain

Vir Gahrotra

A recent study from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai has uncovered that the timing of treatment with the antidepressant Prozac during childhood and adolescence can fundamentally alter the architecture of nerve cells and the emotional behaviour of male, but not female, rats in adulthood, long after the drug treatment has stopped. Male rats administered Prozac shortly after birth showed greater anxiety- and depressive-like behaviour in adulthood. In sharp contrast, male rats administered the very same dose of Prozac during adolescence had long-lasting decreases in anxiety- and depressive-like behaviour. The starkly opposite outcomes highlight that when it comes to the behavioural effects of a drug like Prozac, timing really matters!

Read the latest content for

Recent IndiaBiostreams Episodes

https://youtube.com/live/XNz15wMR-pg
IndiaBiostreams
What is Impact? A Conversation with ANRF
Moumita Mazumdar
IndiaBioscience hosted a live conversation with ANRF’s Aparna Gupta on what research impact means and how ANRF’s emerging framework could shape the evaluation of research, development and innovation in India.
2 September 2026 | 4:30 ‑ 5:30 PM IST

https://youtube.com/live/A-DUC92LR6c
IndiaBiostreams
EMBO-IndiaBioscience Webinar on Crafting a Successful Fellowship Application
David del Álamo & Thiago Carvalho in conversation with Manjula Harikrishna
A practical webinar to help senior PhD students and early postdocs navigate the fellowship application process, from choosing the right programme and host lab to writing a strong application.
10 August 2026 | 2:30 ‑3:30 PM IST

https://youtube.com/live/rJSLX3Wromw
Virtual Town Hall
Virtual Town Hall: i3c BRIC-RCB Ph.D. Programme 2026
Arvind K. Sahu in conversation with Siuli Mitra
The Virtual Town Hall on the i3c BRIC-RCB PhD Programme featured Arvind K. Sahu, Executive Director, Regional Centre for Biotechnology.
This session covered the programme structure, research opportunities, and the application process, followed by a live Q&A.
May 25, 2026 | 11:00 AM IST

Recent IndiaBiospeaks Episodes

Crafting your Career
Crafting Your Career (CYC) | 20 Informational Interview with Madhuri Dutta - Research Management
Madhuri Dutta in conversation with Sreshtha Mondal
This episode features Madhuri Dutta, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Commission Research at the George Institute for Global Health, India and leads research, management and capacity building initiatives. An Indian Research Management Initiative Fellow supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India Wellcome Trust India Alliance, Madhuri is also a part of the Global CORE Unit and works with colleagues from other regional offices of the institute. She has contributed to several courses, workshops and training programmes in research skills for early career researchers. Madhuri is interested in creating institutional processes that facilitate quality research and an enabling research environment.

Transparency in Peer Review of Scientific Publications
Transparency in Peer Review of Scientific Publications- Ep. 4 ft. Magdalena Skipper
Sreshtha Mondal
This podcast episode features Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief of Nature's magazine and research editorial teams.
Speaking with Sreshtha Mondal from IndiaBioscience, Magdalena provides the editorial and publisher's perspective on Nature's policy change from mid-June 2025. Hear her share details about how the decision came through after a period of trial, advice on how to make the best of this decision by reviewers, authors and communicators and a lot more.

Transparency in Peer Review of Scientific Publications
Transparency in Peer Review of Scientific Publications- Ep. 3 ft. Deepti Jain
Deepti Jain in conversation with Sreshtha Mondal
This podcast episode features Deepti Jain, Professor and structural biologist at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, India.
Speaking with Sreshtha Mondal from IndiaBioscience, Deepti provides an academic’s perspective on Nature's policy change. Hear her share details about the peer review process and its significance for scientific research, how structural biology, as a field, has been practising open research, and more.

IndiaBioscience

JOYI: Journey of a Young Investigator

(2025 edition)

This collection celebrates the stories of young investigators in attendance at the Young Investigators Meeting (YIM) 2025 held in North India at Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

Jobs More →

Junior Research Fellow
Ashoka University
Project Identification of Bioactive Lipids as a Liquid Biopsy Tool for Early Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and Evaluation of the Treatment Response
Deadline 20 September
Project Scientist
Ashoka University
Project Identifying and Validating the Potential Metabolic Targets in Luminal (HR+Her2) Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NACT) and their Impact on Tumour Microenvironment.
Deadline 20 September
PhD scholarship
Adelaide University
Project Machine learning to predict cancer drug response from pathology slides
Deadline 30 September

Grants More →

HFSP Accelerator Grants 2026
International Human Frontier Science Program Organization
The International Human Frontier Science Program strives to strengthen open scientific inquiry by initiating international collaborative, interdisciplinary and cutting-edge basic research in the life sciences. The program funds projects in basic research studying fundamental problems on all levels of life …
Deadline 22 September
BioCARe Programme 2026–27
Department of Biotechnology
Department of Biotechnology invites applications under the Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re-orientation (BioCARe) Programme for Women Researchers for the Year 2026-27.The fellowship is open to Indian Women Nationals upto the age of 55 years residing in India who are unemployed …
Deadline 23 September

Arturo Falaschi Short-term PhD Fellowships
Deadline 30 September
Ramanujan Fellowship
Deadline 31 December

Resources

Academia-Industry Transitions, Volume - II
Shakunthala Natarajan & Karishma Kaushik
Academia-Industry Transitions, Volume - II is a collection of stories and perspectives on the switchover from academia to industry. With articles on a wide range of topics from professional transition stories to collaboration initiatives, this compendium is a comprehensive career resource book for industry aspirants in different phases of their career.
You can read or download this e-book here. You can find the flip-book here.
Getting past the Ph(D)inish line
Ankita Rathore
The e-book, "Getting past the Ph(D)inish line: Challenges with, and interventions to better support, PhD experiences in life sciences in India," aims to address challenges that PhD researchers in the life sciences in India face, and it does so by offering a clear look at the difficulties they encounter during their academic journeys. At the same time, it shares real experiences and practical advice to help researchers overcome obstacles and make the PhD experience more rewarding.
You can read or download this booklet from here. You can read the flip-book version here.
YI 101: A peer guide for early-career faculty in the life sciences in India
Ankita Rathore & Karishma Kaushik
YI 101 is a peer guide for early-career faculty in the life sciences in India. Built to resemble a mountaineer embarking on a climb, the e-compendium discusses common challenges for life scientists in the country, and does so via inputs from peers who have traversed the YI journey recently.
Download this e-compendium from here.
You can read the flip-book version here.

Read the latest content for

Recent News

Governing the code of life: Key takeaways from the EBRC–IISc workshop on nucleic acid synthesis governance

How AI-led technology is enabling oral cancer screening at one’s fingertips

Navigating life science funding: Insights from YIM 2026

Integrating climate resilience, pest management, and nutrition: Takeaways from SUSTAiN 2026

Furthering evolutionary ecology and conservation science in India: Insights from RYIM Tirupati 2026

IndiaBioscience

Project Identification of Bioactive Lipids as a Liquid Biopsy Tool for Early Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and Evaluation of the Treatment Response

Project Identifying and Validating the Potential Metabolic Targets in Luminal (HR+Her2) Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NACT) and their Impact on Tumour Microenvironment.

Project Machine learning to predict cancer drug response from pathology slides

Shakunthala Natarajan & Karishma Kaushik

Ankita Rathore & Karishma Kaushik