Top scientist delivers Sardar Bishan Singh Samundri lecture at GND varsity

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Amritsar, April 11

Prof (Dr) Virender S Chauhan, a top Indian scientist and Padma Shri recipient (2012) in Science and Engineering, former director International Centre for Genetic and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, delivered the Sardar Bishan Singh Samundri lecture at Guru Nanak Dev University on Monday.

He spoke on the topic ‘Achievements and Challenges in Biosciences’ with his vast experience spanning five decades of academic excellence as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford (UK), fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences and World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

Chauhan, who has an extensive and celebrated profile as a scientist, emphasised the importance of collaborative research involving chemistry, medicine, and biotechnology for human welfare.

“A researcher must come out of his/her comfort zone, exercise honesty in work and experiments to ensure that their work has the potential to actually make a difference,” he advised young researchers and scientists gathered on the occasion. He said young students may start with a small project and read good quality research in other allied areas to have a holistic approach.

“Science should be pursued with passion, which is the main driving force to excel in life,” he said.

He discussed the delivery mechanism of SARS-CoV2 (Covid-19) and the advantages of RNA vaccines. The second part of the lecture emphasised on malaria research in India. He discussed the recently approved malaria vaccine (RTS, S) for children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high P falciparum malaria transmission. In the last part of the lecture, he deliberated on targeted drug delivery in cancer patients. Dean, Academic Affairs, Prof SS Behl gave the presidential address and delighted the audience with his mystic knowledge and said it was Sri Guru Nanak Dev, who gave the universal anthem while drawing several parallels between scientific evolution and spirituality. Earlier, Prof Avinash Nagpal highlighted the philanthropist work done by Sardar Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Trust, Jalandhar, for sponsoring this lecture under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with GNDU.