BRIEF ON PROJECTS

At the SRM Institute of Science and Technology, I did a Minor project on ‘Isolation of
probiotic organisms from Human Breast Milk. This was a six-month project for a whole
semester. In this, we collected human milk from the hospital in Chennai. The extraction of
probiotic bacteria is very important, as these improve the health quotient of the food. We can
use these bacteria to take probiotic supplements for people who are deficient and cannot
consume milk for probiotics because they are lactose intolerant. Most of the probiotics do not
exhibit antagonism against pathogens, however, all of them agglutinated different pathogens.

In the final semester of my study at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology, I did a
major project on ‘The Effect of Heavy Metals on the Gut Microbes of Zebrafish’. This was a
hands-on experience in the laboratory, and we fed the heavy metal, cadmium to the zebrafish
and observed its behaviour. It was seen that they became sick with an increasing
concentration of cadmium. The fish had impaired motor ability and the one with the highest
concentration of cadmium could not survive. The hatching success was also observed to
decrease in these fish. The main concentrations of cadmium used in the experiment were
relatively low and comparable to the levels of environmental contamination humans and
animals regularly encounter.

At the University of Sheffield, I undertook a module on Advanced Biochemical Design

Project.
This module exposed us practically design an antibiotic called Tetracycline from the
Bacterium Streptomyces rimosus. We designed the process flow diagrams which involved
various processes like centrifugation, liquid-liquid extraction etc in a flowthrough manner
which resulted in Oxytetracycline at its culmination. The same was summarized in a
tabulated form after mass balancing.
During the conduct of the module, we also researched various manufacturers to understand
the type of equipment, which are currently in use, namely centrifuges, crystallizers etc. We
also had to prepare and present the conduct of the whole module through a PowerPoint
presentation by summarising the process flow diagram and methodology adopted by us in the
conduct of the project. The final submission was in the form of a comprehensive design
report.

While undertaking the module on Advanced Biochemical Engineering in which we did

numerical on mass balances and stochiometric. In this module, we learned the usage of
classical chemical engineering principles of mass balance, energy balance and mass transfer
to unit operations used in the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals. The application of
mathematical models to the unit operations was also covered. This module was specifically
important in teaching us the unit operations used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. This
included fermentation, cell culture reactors, homogenisation, centrifugation, filtration, and
chromatography. Moreover, unit operation-specific models were also applied to predict the
effectiveness of these operations.

In my Final Semester, we were a team of five involved in our research project module
working on a laboratory-based project towards engineering’ E. Coli strains for recombinant
expression of a putative PETase’. Our supervisor is Dr Antonio Ariza who is an Assistant
Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, who helped us a lot during the project. We used
different strains of E. coli in this experiment like Rosetta, BL21, and DH5-alpha. The PETase
gene was inserted into the bacteria, and we extracted the enzyme from the organism by the
affinity purification process. However, the enzyme we extracted was not in its purest form.
We still proceeded with our protein assay, which did not give us good results. However, we
got good results in the weight loss method of protein degradation. In this, we put the bacterial
culture which had the enzyme in the falcon tubes with the pieces of PET into it. If there was a
loss in weight of the system, then the PETase degraded the plastic. And fortunately, there was
some loss in weight of the plastic particles, and this suggested that the enzyme works.

MY INTERESTS AND INTERNSHIPS I UNDERTOOK

I want to study for a PhD because I believe that I have the patience to do a PhD as it can
become tiresome at times during the research. However, I think that I have enough passion
for science to be able to overcome that. I have done two internships during my bachelor's,
two projects in my bachelor's and a major project in my master's and I believe that it has
provided me with enough exposure to the research field, that I can independently do the
research. I have also done a few online courses in 'Coursera' on subjects like cancer biology
and stem cell technology.
I did one internship at PSRI Hospital in New Delhi. There I worked in a microbiology lab and
learned about different diagnostic techniques for various diseases like tuberculosis etc.
Additionally, I also learned about the different dyes used to dye the slides for observation
under the microscope and learned about how the ELISA technique is used.
I used microbiology techniques like gram staining, Acid fast staining, aseptic techniques etc.

In my second internship, I worked at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi. I

worked under a PhD student and learned how to use centrifuges and other biotechnology-
related techniques.

I did my master's project on Engineering E. coli For Recombinant Expression of a Putative

PETase. I learned about various laboratory techniques like PCR and bacterial transformation.
I performed the PETase assay at the end of my project, and it did not give results then I found
out about the weight loss method of PET degradation from the research papers which gave
me good results
For a research-based career, it is very important to be motivated about the research in a way
that if we don't get the results then it should not bother us, and we can spend a lot of time in
the laboratory. I believe that I have strong willpower and determination for science and am
willing to pay any price to be able to learn more about it. If I put my mind to something, then
I never fail to finish it. Also, I am a very passionate learner and ask many questions related to
my research. I am a very curious person and can dive into deeper concepts of science to
understand it, and I don't leave absolutely any room for doubt and try to understand
everything about my research. During my bachelor's I did a minor project on the effect of
Cadmium on the gut microbes of zebrafish. I wrote a paper on this project title, and it got
selected for publication by a journal called Sci Res Literature.
I have worked with four other students for my master's project we used to clear each other's
doubts about our research. I used my communication skills to make the project progress
smoothly and got along with them during the research, and this demonstrates my ability to
adapt and adjust to other people. I have also developed critical thinking skills because of my
engineering background and took Chemical Engineering modules at Sheffield, which
improved my overall problem-solving skills, required in higher scientific studies and jobs.

I am very much interested in this training on animal models as I am very interested to pursue
my passion on cancer research. This training will definitely equip me with the skills to pursue
my dreams. I hope that you will consider my application.