Emeritus Scientist,Prof. Deshpande Delivered talk at SMVDU

Katra, Apr 27: The Department of Biotechnology, SMVDU has organized weekly seminar schedule wherein Emeritus Scientist and Professor from National Chemical Laboratory Pune, Prof. Mukund V. Deshpande, delivered talk on “Recent Trends in Microbiology” on 26th April. The seminar was attended by the faculty, research scholars and students of the Department as well as the University. Microbiology as a science of studying living micro-organisms has vastly contributed in the development of different microbe-based sustainable applications related to health, agriculture, bioremediation and bio-processing based products of everyday use, said Prof. Deshpande during the talk and further enlightened the audience about the emerging trends and advancements in the field of Microbiology in which Prof.Deshpande emphasized on the relative merits of different life forms, and generated curiosity among students and faculty regarding different microbial life forms and various utilities of several microbial products in mitigation of common problems of our everyday life.
Prof. Deshpande’s talk was mainly focussed on the different aspects of need-based, horizontal and vertical developmental approaches for utilization of a broad-spectrum of different microbial products. It was quite fascinating to know how different microbes have been used as bio-control agents and in generation of electricity (E. coli, P. vulgaris, T. ferroxidans) and development of different kinds of biosensors (T. beginae, Trichoderma, S. cerevisae, etc.). Prof. Deshpande also emphasized on utility of whole microbial cultures of several microbes like yeast and single cells of living models for understanding the molecular basis of the metabolic functions of various human genes in understanding the pathogenesis of several deadly diseases like cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, gut infection, malaria, and others. At the end, coordinator of the seminar, Dr. Narendra K Bairwa Assistant Professor thanked Prof. Deshpande and audience for their participation.