Department of Biotechnology, Sathyabama Ins�tute of Science and Technology

Volume 1 || Issue 1 || July 2016

The Bionove
VISION OF THE DEPARTMENT
The department of Biotechnology envisages to empower the
students with analy�cal skills and to create an ethical workforce,
The 'Bizarre Issue
competent to transform the future with social consciousness on
par with global standards.
MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT
1. To enable the students to acquire technical skills in core Ms.Pamela Irene Ekka
aspects of Bioengineering pertaining to the development of Ms.NancyBiji
innova�ve technologies. Mr. Padmanabhan
2. To increase the employability of students by exposing them to
various industrial, academic and research environment. Staff Editor:
3. To inculcate leadership and inter-personal skills by involving Dr. MasilamaniSelvam
students in diversified ac�vi�es..
4. To ins�l the societal and ethical responsibility in our students.
PROGRAMME EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES (PEO's)
PEO1: To prepare globally competent graduates having strong
fundamentals, domain knowledge, updated with modern (Inside) The
technology to provide effec�ve solu�ons for engineering
problems. science of
PEO2: To acquaint the graduates to work as a commi�ed
professional with strong professional ethics and values, sense of falling in love
responsibili�es, understanding of legal, safety, health, societal,
cultural and environmental issues.
PEO3: To mould commi�ed and mo�vated graduates with
research a�tude, lifelong learning, inves�ga�ve approach and (Inside) Flesh
mul�disciplinary thinking.
PEO4: To prepare the graduates with strong managerial and ea�ng infec�ons
communica�on skills to work efficiently as individual as well as
in teams. and more!
UK WOMAN CONTRACTS RARE
FLESH-EATING' STD -Pamela Irene Ekka
A rare sexually transmi�ed disease (STD)that can destroy genital �ssue has turned
up in the United Kingdom, according to news reports. The disease, called
donovanosis, was diagnosed in a woman in Southport, England, within the past
year, according to local news outlet Liverpool Echo.

The woman, who has not been iden�fied, is between the ages of 15 and 25,
Liverpool Echo reported. Donovanosis is an STD caused by a bacterium called
Klebsiella granuloma�s, according to the Na�onal Ins�tutes of Health (NIH). The
disease is rarely seen in the United States, with only about 100 cases reported per
year, mostly among people who have traveled to or are from areas where the
disease is common, the NIH says. Donovanosis is also rare in the U.K. But is
common in some tropical areas, including parts of India, Papua New Guinea, the
Caribbean, central Australia, and southern Africa, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Preven�on.

The disease can start out as small, painless sores (ulcers) on the genitals. The sores
slowly get larger and form raised, red bumps that bleed easily, according to SA
Health, the public health system in South Australia. As the disease spreads, it can
destroy genital �ssue and cause the skin around the area to lose color, the NIH says
The infec�on causes lesions and skin disintegra�on as the flesh effec�vely
consumes itself," Shamir Patel, a pharmacist for the Bri�sh online pharmacy
Chemist-4-U.com, told Liverpool Echo.

In the late stages of the disease, symptoms can look like those of advanced genital
cancers, the NIH says. The disease is spread through sexual intercourse, but in very
rare cases, it may also spread through oral sex, according to the NIH. Symptoms can
appear between one and 12 weeks a�er exposure to the bacteria. Donovanosis is
treatable with an�bio�cs, which usually need to be taken for several weeks.
Trea�ng the disease early can reduce the risk of complica�ons, which can include
genital damage and scarring, the NIH says. News of the woman case emerged a�er
Chemist-4-U.com submi�ed a Freedom of Informa�on Act request to U.K.
hospitals as part of an inves�ga�on

Into STDs in the country. It’s unclear how the woman became infected, or if she
experienced complica�ons from the illness, according to the Daily Mail
THE SCIENCE OF FALLING IN LOVE
-Oviya K

Many people firmly stand behind the idea of love at first sight. This instant a�rac�on and
connec�on you make with your partner let’s you know they are meant to be in your life. However,
science argues that ‘love at first sight’ is all about your genes.

How Your Genes Contribute to a Happy Rela�onship

Researchers looking into love, and the role your genes play, found that the same gene responsible
for transpor�ng serotonin in the brain plays a large part in a rela�onship sa�sfac�on. Serotonin is
another love chemical responsible for your infatua�on with your partner, as well as being
responsible for your overall mood. One study revealed that when at least one partner carried the
short version of this gene, they were more sensi�ve and a�en�ve to their partner and had a
posi�ve a�tude in their rela�onship than those who carried the longer version. The serotonin
levels of new lovers are similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder pa�ents.
Your genes can also have an impact on who you choose to start a rela�onship with. A 2012 study
done in France used a whole-genome scanning technique, in which they found that your genes
and biological func�ons may affect who you choose as a partner. The genes responsible are the
same ones that contribute to the appearance of your skin, decide your behavior, and structure
your immunity. Even more, research suggests that the same genes responsible for your
subconscious mind can have an effect on who you desire to be with roman�cally.
How do your genes play a role in dopamine, vasopressin, and a�achment? Research on the
gene�c basis of pair bonding found that monogamous male Voles showed a structural difference
in their V1 receptor genes when compared to unfaithful males. The V1 receptors are located in
the blood vessels and are responsible for vasopressin.
Vasopressin is some�mes called the ‘commitment hormone’ and makes people more
protec�ve, jealous, and monogamous with their mates.
Dopamine, created by your COMT gene, also plays a large role in falling in love. This
is no surprise since the brain releases dopamine as a reward response. This signals
pleasure responses throughout the body and makes you feel giddy and high on love.
The more dopamine you get from your spouse, the more you crave it. This also
triggers the slight ‘obsession’ you feel when you first fall in love with someone. This
explains why new rela�onships are highly responsible for the release of dopamine
since there are s�ll so many things to experience during puppy love. New
rela�onships trigger the reward center of the brain more easily than they do when
you are in a long-term rela�onship.
THIS 87-YEAR-OLD WOMAN
DONATED HER BODY SO
DOCTORS COULD SLICE IT
INTO 27,000 PIECES
-Priyanka Singh
Susan Po�er knew before she died that
she, or at least her body, would make
history: Not only would hers be the first
diseased cadaver (and one containing a
�tanium hip) to be frozen, sliced up and
digi�zed for all to study, but she also came
with a detailed backstory. That's because
the Texas woman when she proposed to
doctors that her body be immortalized for
medical students, thought she would die
in the near future. She lived another 15
years, during which every bit of her life
was documented.
Po�er is the subject of a profile published
as part of the upcoming January 2019
issue of Na�onal Geographic. The profile
focuses on Po�er, her personality and
what drove her to become, as the author
of the story called her, an immortal corpse
And, unusually, Po�ers personality will
also be part of how future medical
students encounter her corpse. The
slicing-her-up-into-27,000-pieces bit is a
purely prac�cal project.
.
Those pieces, each three �mes too thin for a
human eye to detect its edge, have since
been scanned into a computer, forming a
kind of scrollable digital record of her body
at the �me of death. It’s now part of the
Visible Human Project, an effort to create
digital cadavers that students can dissect on
their computer screens, over and over
again. But unlike previous cadavers in the
project, Po�er’s will come with video
recordings of her in life, talking about her
illnesses and the medical decisions that le�
their marks on her body.
Po�er wasn’t the first person recorded into
the Visible Human Project library, as
Na�onal Geographic reported. That
accolade goes to Joseph Paul Jernigan, a
39-year-old man chosen because he died
unnaturally, executed by the state of Texas.
So his remains made for a good example of a
healthy-seeming body, unusual among
people in a posi�on to donate their corpses
to medical science. He was chopped into
just 2,000 slices, each a millimeter thick, in
1993. A second, 59-year-old female, her
name unknown, was chopped into 5,000
0.33-mm slices a year later a�er she died of
heart disease.
.
 THIS MAN GOT A SEEMINGLY
HARMLESS BUG BITE. IT TURNED
INTO A FLESH-EATING INFECTION.
What started as a simple bug bite on a young man’s
knee soon turned life-threatening when the itchy
bump developed into an infec�on with flesh-ea�ng
bacteria, according to a new report of the case. The
21-year-old man went to the emergency room a�er his
right knee became swollen and painful, and he had
trouble walking, according to the report, published in
the November issue of the American Journal of
Emergency Medicine. He told doctors that he had not
injured his knee, but that he had go�en a bug bite there
three days earlier. I was really surprised to see that
this otherwise young and healthy guy could barely
walk, said Dr. Jacqueline Paulis, an emergency
medicine physician at New York University School of
Medicine, who treated the pa�ent and is the lead
author of the report.
An exam revealed that he had a bump on his knee that
was discharging pus, and �ssue in the area had started
to die or become necro�c. He also could not move his
knee joint, which raises a lot of red flags for doctors
that there’s something deeper going on," such as an
infec�on,
Paulis told Live Science.
The pa�ent also felt sharp pains in his chest when
breathing, and he started having flu-like
symptoms a day before arriving in the ER. An X-ray of
his knee showed that there was air underneath his skin
�ssue, which can be a sign of a "flesh-ea�ng" bacterial
infec�on, known medically as necro�zing fascii�s. (Air
gets under the �ssues because some species of
bacteria that cause necro�zing fascii�s produce gas.)
Necro�zing fascii�s is a rare but serious infec�on of
the �ssue just under the skin, as well as connec�ve
�ssue, that spreads quickly in the body and can result
in the loss of limbs and even death.
There are several types of bacteria that can cause
necro�zing fascii�s, including group A Streptococcus
(group A strep), Klebsiella, Clostridium, Escherichia coli
and Staphylococcus aureus, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Preven�on (CDC). Most
commonly, people get necro�zing fascii�s when the
bacteria enter the body through breaks in the skin,
including cuts and scrapes, burns and surgical wounds,
the CDC says.
.
-Sahiti K
However, when this happens, usually our
bodies and immune systems are healthy
enough to contain that and mi�gate it," Paulis
said. In very rare cases, necro�zing fascii�s can
develop, but this is usually seen in people with
other risk factors for the disease, such as older
age, diabetes or kidney disease.
Paulis said she doesn't know why the pa�ent
developed necro�zing fascii�s when he had no
other risks factors for it.; He was the epitome of
health, 21 and young, Paulis said. It was also
unclear what type of insect bit the man, the
report said. But the man’s blood and wound site
tested posi�ve for the bacteria
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA),which caused his infec�on.
Tests also revealed that the man’s infec�on had
caused him to develop yet another rare
complica�on — a sep�c pulmonary embolism.
This is a clot containing bacteria that travels
from the site of the infec�on to the lungs, where
it blocks blood flow and causes abscesses. Paulis
said one reason she decided to publish the case
was to make doctors aware that the
combina�on of skin and lung symptoms could
indicate an infec�on along with a sep�c
pulmonary embolism — a rare disease
combina�on that she has seen only a few �mes
in her career. I think we should have it on our
radars as emergency physicians. Paulis said.
The man was treated with intravenous
an�bio�cs and surgery to remove dead
�ssue in his infected knee. He recovered fully
and was able to leave the hospital
a�er a few weeks, Paulis said.
ase their awareness.
 Moon Shot to the Head: Global
Ini�a�ves Target the Brain
-Gandra Nikitha

Big Science in 2013 embraced not a search for yet another subatomic
par�cle, but a quest to elicit the fundamental workings of mind and
brain. Large-scale endeavors worldwide embarked on extended
sojourns to decode the signals coursing along the 100 trillion
connec�ons that �e together 86 billion neurons of the human brain.

Hacking the 1.36-kilogram organ that resides underneath the skull

may take decades, perhaps centuries. S�ll, one giant leap for
neuroscience—or at least one small step—came as the Obama
administra�on announced that its second-term showpiece science
project would target the brain.

Earlier this year Pres. Obama announced the Brain Research Through
Advancing Innova�ve Neurotechnologies, or BRAIN, ini�a�ve. It
intends to develop tools that can provide a recording of thousands or
even millions of neurons. The goal: gaining an understanding of how
physiology—brain cell ac�vity—translates into mental func�ons. It
would reveal the secret of how your neurons file away for later recall a
just-learned phone number or perhaps recognize the bloom of a red
rose.

A s�ll-more ambi�ous undertaking had its formal start the second

week in October under the aegis of the European Commission. The
Human Brain Project targets a full computer simula�on of the body’s
master controller within 10 years—incorpora�ng the findings from an
array of projects, ranging from analyses of cogni�on in mice and men
to building faster supercomputers. Other brain ini�a�ves in China,
Israel and Australia are underway. A remarkable consensus seems to
be emerging that the yawning gap between mind and brain cannot be
bridged without the sustained enterprise of the best and brightest
from every corner of the globe. —Gary S�x