Joydeep Paul, Author at Adamas University

When Biotechnology adopts Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Biotechnology adding great values as it explores more applications, broadening its field in a more transformative way. Famous stories regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence goes like this that after the creation of one of the first autonomous robots it was asked a question “Do you know God” and it promptly replied “I am God” and this goes on to show the world how powerful and revolutionary it’s role will be in reshaping the upcoming future of this entire planet.

Introduction of AI and Machine Learning – these two rather synonymous technologies have could change our view towards the use of modern technologies. Even the greatest minds, like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, used to acknowledge its unlimited power beyond anyone’s imagination and feared that it could have proven dangerous if misused. There is a possibility that it may come into the picture in the upcoming decades, but today we are not anywhere close to that yet. The AI which is making headlines these days is a “Narrow Artificial Intelligence”, a rather limited functioning machine “intelligence” which can solve only a few specific assignments or a group of tasks. Already AI showed its efficiency in providing meaningful real-world solutions on those narrow tasks, like language processing, image recognition of various images, developing self-driving cars, and in drug developments more specifically in the field of biotechnology.

The usefulness of AI and machine learning proved its ability to find and analyses hidden and unintuitive patterns from big data sets in quick time, which proves impossible in ways that human achieve. AI represents a significant potential to have a transformative impact on many industries, especially the pharma and biotech companies.

AI’s adoption of machine learning (ML) helps it to solve complex problems through its systematic testing. Instead of coding what it needs to know, developers create AI to use the ability to learn and analyze data – resulting in innovative solutions that are virtually impossible to reach through human ability alone.

With the amount of data available to the biotechnology scientists worldwide, we may still find ourselves while asking the big questions, but AI programs are finding the solutions already. Nowadays most of the biotechnology companies are comprehending the value that AI can bring to their entire field in the form of – · Expanding accessibility · Crucial predictions · Effective & efficient decision-making · Cost-effectiveness Biotechnology can be categorized into a few types like · Medical biotechnology, · Agricultural biotechnology · Animal biotechnology, · Industrial biotechnology · Bioinformatics.

Now we see the functions of AI in different domains of Biotechnology: Medical biotechnology Medical biotechnology uses living cells for the improvement of human health by producing various drugs and antibiotics. It also engages in the study of DNA and genetical manipulation of the cells to increase the production of desirable characteristics.

AI & Machine Learning are extensively applied in drug discovery. Machine Learning is widely used in diagnosing diseases because it uses the actual results to improve the diagnostic tests, that is to say, the more diagnostic test runs, the more accurate results can be obtained. Apart from the above-mentioned applications, these technologies are widely used in radiology gene editing, etc.

Machine learning and AI are significantly used in the diagnosis of cancer. With powerful companies like Quest Diagnostics, machine learning makes the identification of cancer more accurate. Agricultural biotechnology It helps to develop genetically modified plants to increase crop yields or introduce new characteristics to the existing plants.

It involves conventional plant breeding, molecular breeding, genetic engineering of plants, micro-propagation, and tissue culture, which forces the biotechnology companies to accept AI & Machine Learning methods to develop autonomous robots that can improve agricultural tasks like crops harvesting at a much faster rate.

Machine Learning algorithms help in tracking and predicting various environmental changes like the weather changes that impact the crop yield. Animal biotechnology applies various techniques of molecular biology to produce genetically modified animal species with improved sustainability for the sake of pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial use. Artificial Breeding of animals is another domain where AI models offer valuable insights. Artificial breeding of animals gives the advantage of inserting the selective genes in them, which provides the leverage of developing animals with the most desirable characteristics and becomes a very prevalent practice in food biotech industries such as milk industries, meat industries, etc. This practice is applied to the molecular level where desired genetic characteristics of the animals were selected & inserted in breeding such animals by using AI.

Machine Learning and AI aids in understanding the genomics and helps the experts in predicting the genetic expression. Industrial biotechnology hovers around making biopolymer substitutes, inventions in areas like vehicle accessories, fibers, fuels, chemicals, and their production process.

Machine Learning and AI analyzes the machines, enhance the efficiency of equipment, etc. to improve production and produce a better quality product. Bioinformatics helps the acquisition, storage, processing, distribution, analysis, and interpretation of and biological and biochemical information with the help of mathematical, computer science tools to understand the biological significance of a variety of data.

Artificial Intelligence and Biotechnology are by themselves two of the most promising and profitable fields in the future economy. This makes financial analysts believe that the economic impact will increase exponentially if these two sectors are combined. Artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology have the potential to improve and extend our lifestyles and life expectancy in a cost-effectiveness way.

Biotechnology has improved 10 times more every year in terms of cost-benefit. And one cannot deny the efficient involvement of AI in this. The cost of decoding the human genome has reduced from $3 billion in 2002 to around $1,000 recently; a painstaking process that took more than a month, little more than a decade ago and now it can be finished in less than sixty minutes.

Based on current developments, it is estimated that the contribution of Artificial Intelligence globally will reach $15.8 trillion by 2030 – more than the shared yield of China and India in today’s world. So, it is the absolute need to this time that more and more importance is given to this domain where the culmination of AI & Biotechnology is given utmost priority.

In Adamas University, students of BSc and B.Tech Biotech courses at the school of Life Science and Biotechnology, get to know both the subjects: Artificial Intelligence and modern technological developments in the field of Biology in a perfect ratio, which further broadens their knowledge base and increase their chances of getting jobs in various biotech industries. With a huge panel of experts both from Engineering fraternity and Biotechnology, Microbiology and Biochemistry fields, and modern and sophisticated Engineering and Biology laboratories, students from this course will surely start a leap ahead in their future career opportunities. Several professional clubs like Adamas Robotics club, Adamas Biotechnology club provide them to test their theoretical knowledge on hand and also to showcase their talents at the global stages through various competitions under the banner of Adamas University. Biotechnology courses at the school of Life Science and Biotechnology at Adamas University help the young and inquisitive minds from all around the world to groom, induce job-preparedness, and motivates them to become leaders for the Biotech industries in the future post-COVID era.

Importance and Applications of Ecological Principles and Evolutionary Genetics in designing vaccines and immunostimulatory drugs against viral Infections

In modern civilization, biotechnology is present in everybody’s life even before we’re born, from fertility assistance to prenatal selection to the home-based pregnancy kits. And with the application of immunizations and antibiotics, which helps to drastically improve the life expectancy through childhood. The food we eat today originates from modified genetically engineered plants – either via new age biotechnology or by using traditional artificial selection without pesticides.

Biotechnology is a technology associated with biology-related to cellular and biomolecular procedures to support various technologies and new products that help us to improve our health and lives. This branch of science has multiple divisions each of which particularly counts for the development in their fields. For example, bio Informatics makes the rapid arrangement & study of genetic data through interdisciplinary areas which refer to solving problems related to biology by using computational techniques.

Applications in the field of marine and aquatic Biotechnology helps to increase cleaning of toxic leaks, increase the production of fisheries, known as Blue Biotechnology. Biotechnology used in agriculture, heading towards the yielding of crops is not only good quantity but also with better quality, act as Green Biotechnology. Red Biotechnology is the use of Biotechnology in medicine, producing antibiotics, and using genetic engineering to achieve genetic cures by manipulating genomes.

Exemplified by the use of organisms to yield valuable chemicals, enzymes for industrial use are known as White Biotechnology and Bio Economics which deals with the applied aspect of biotechnology to increase productivity. We live in an exciting time for biology. Ecological science and evolutionary biology creating a neo-biological civilization supported by science and technology. This along with the concept of genetics could lead to a new level of evolution, leaping forward towards purposive biological evolution.

Biotechnology is increasingly infusing itself not only into all parts of human life but also in other branches of biology. The collection of data is now become easier and inexpensive than the last decade, with all the technological advances. Today big data sets comprising genomes, transcriptosomes, proteomes, and multivariate phenotypes can be synthesized and analyzed easily.

As all of us know that COVID-19 is now a severe ongoing pandemic disease that is spreading rapidly across the world. But to know about how the virus is spreading exponentially in different countries with different population density, we should have an in-depth knowledge of population ecological principles, by which we can easily predict the spreading rate and pattern of the virus in the future.

From various sources, it is already known that coronaviruses are spreading from the bat. But how can we be so sure about this? Here evolutionary genetics study along with technological support helps biologists to conclude that. From the studies, we can know that Coronaviruses have a big genome ranging in length from 26 to 32 kilobases.

They have been known to cause respiratory problems including both upper and lower respiratory tract and infections in CNS in several avian and mammalian hosts, which includes humans. Evolutionary studies refer that coronaviruses are put down within the family Coronaviridae, under the order Nidovirales, and are classified into three groups based on antigenic and genetic relationships.

Evolutionary studies have been clearly shown by comparing genomes of various coronavirus strains that SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the same group (group 2) with the other two coronavirus strains, which causes pandemic in recent past, i.e. SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV and diverge early in its evolutionary progression from other established group 2 viruses. Therefore, according to the current International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses classification system, it was suggested that SARS-CoV-2 is classified as a group 2 coronavirus.

However, phylogenetic and pairwise comparisons of SARS-CoV-2 with other mammalian coronaviruses, which takes into account bat coronaviruses, showed that they share little homology to both group 2 and group 3 coronaviruses and therefore may be considered as a new group. This finding also enlightens the fact that as SARS-CoV-2 and other human coronaviruses share homology with bat coronaviruses, it might be possible that the bats are most likely natural reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2.

Studies on coronaviruses isolated from bats in China also suggested that the bats carry a highly diverse group of coronaviruses, which includes a novel lineage (putative group 5) that is exclusive to bats. These reports suggest that our knowledge of the diversity of coronaviruses are much lesser than the actual scenario and the role of evolutionary genetics study is very much necessary to find the diversity among these coronavirus strains and also to explore the role of bats in the ecosystem of coronaviruses, which will further help the researchers to find probable cures against these viral infections.

Population dynamics analysis showed that coronavirus populations in bats and all other hosts show epidemic-like increases in population. These results indicate that diverse coronaviruses are endemic in different bat species, with repeated introductions to other animals and occasional establishment in other species. This information establishes the fact that bats are the natural hosts for all coronavirus lineages and evolution helps these coronaviruses to diversify their choice of hosts. The taxonomic group where it belongs and how this virus is evolved and mutated which immensely helps the modern biotechnologists to find the cure and developing vaccine more easily against COVID-19 infection.

The COVID-19 pandemic offers several unique job and research related openings to all the biotechnologists worldwide to flex their muscles and to find solutions towards humanity. This will also help to increase our knowledge to find solutions against probable viral pandemics in the near future. Biotechnologists around the world have been aggressively working towards finding solutions that will help to mitigate the threat of COVID-19, whether it is by developing rapid diagnostic tests or developing vaccines that will help us to fight against COVD-19.

Collaborating with biotechnology is now the solution to several problems of the world like problems regarding global population feeding, finding a cure for various hereditary and infectious diseases by using genetic manipulation, preserving ecosystems, solving problems regarding climate change and biodiversity, and beyond these. This provides huge career opportunities in biotechnology and related fields in the upcoming years.

There are several jobs one can get as microbiologists, biochemists, biophysicists, etc. other than being biotechnologists, after getting into this branch of biological science. So we welcome young minds like you at our university to pursue promising subjects like biotechnology which is offered by School of life science and biotechnology of Adamas University that is supported by experienced professors, well-equipped laboratories, on hands practical courses and field excursions along with summer internships in different industries and national laboratories.

Along with that, in our school, we will groom you to become a skilled professional which will further ensure your career in research and also in different industries like chemical industries, agriculture-related industries, food industries, pharma companies, and bioprocessing companies. So welcome to our university.

Spotlight section on Biotechnology: Prospects and applications of Nanobiotechnology

Student Contributor: Animikha Ghosh (BTech Biotech, Semester IV)

Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), researchers and medical professionals worldwide are trying their best to combat this pandemic. This strain of virus shares 96% homology with bat betacoronaviruses and 95% similar genome with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that causes another pandemic in 2002. The natural host for the virus is a bat and started in china. A recent study in 2019, warned that bats could cause the next coronavirus epidemic in China, due to their geographic proximity to the places having high population density.

There’s no particular medicine or vaccine known or discovered to date. Although some known broad-spectrum Antiviral drugs are used to treat COVID 19 now. In this crisis, Nanotechnology could give us some advantage in combating this pandemic. Nanoparticles have previously been used to treat influenza and tuberculosis. The basic idea of using nanoparticles in treating viruses is that the size of SARS-CoV-2 is structurally of similar scales of nanoparticles. Then, it could be possible to treat these nanoparticle bound viruses with exposure under an infrared light source for probable neutralization of these viruses inside the host body. The advantages of nanoparticles over drugs that it will not disrupt any other function such as the function of the immune system. The disadvantage of nanoparticles that they are pervasive. So to use them we need particles that are in good terms with body ecosystem and diet.

Iron-based Nanoparticles are used along with a combination of magnetic field exposure that could target specific organs such as lungs which is the most susceptible organ of viral infection. SARS-CoV-2 spreads mostly as small droplets of viral particles from breathing, talking, sneezing, coughing, that enters host cells through the routes of eyes, mouth, or nose and survive inside our body by attaching themselves to the flat surface at the kitchen, walls, posts, and other solid surfaces.

Pathogens can be made disabled by targeting them with nanoparticles before they can break into the host cells. So, that they cannot hold on to membranes and surfaces on the host cells. Researchers have shown various use of nanotechnology-enabled antimicrobial and antiviral strategies such as nanofiber-based facial respirators/masks, nano-based antimicrobial, and antiviral disinfectants, medical Cream and wound Dressing, detection kit, vaccine, etc, which already proven highly effective.

Recently masks and respirators are of high demand in the health care sector, especially nanofiber-based multi-layered facial respiratory masks. Nano-aerosols (colloid of fine solid particles or liquid droplets of sub-micron to nano-sizes), such as viral aerosols, could be lethal as they can go effectively through our lungs and work their way into our respiratory structures, doing the most noticeably terrible sort of harm.

25% of 0.3 micron sized viral-aerosols can be blocked using a conventional face mask, whereas a multi-layer nanofibre mask protects against suspended viral particles by blocking 80% of them and also blocks the viral-aerosols having a size less than 0.3 microns. These masks exhibit higher efficiency in improving the performances of various parameters like breathing proficiency, air filtration, porousness, antimicrobial properties and also prove comfortable and economically cheaper.

Now the key question is how effective are these nanotechnology-enabled facial masks to protect ourselves?

National Institute of Occupational safety and health (NIOSH) evaluated, tested, and approved that nanotechnology-enabled N95 is the most effective mask to avoid any form of transmission. It can capture tiny viral particles of very small size as 0.3 microns(a typical hair is 70 to 100 microns).

The difference between a technology-enabled N95, N99, and N100 lies in their ability to filtrate different sizes of particles. It also resists small particle aerosols, large droplets (only non-oil aerosols). Nanofibers are the best possible material available to make N95 masks, which not only increases the breathing surface area but also proves clinically fit to capture several naturally occurring nanoparticles (e.g., viruses), micron-sized particles (e.g., bacteria), and man-made particles (e.g., soot from diesel exhaust). This pandemic claim lives worldwide and production and supply of masks are the priority. In this aspect, many start-ups and companies with their R&Ds are coming to help medical professionals.

Attempts are made to decontaminated disposable N95 masks by using UV rays, vaporized hydrogen peroxide, and dry heat. Ethyl alcohol is not recommended as it degrades the materials. But one-time use of both N95 and other surgical masks hurts the atmosphere. So, it is essential to create reusable masks.

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed washable and reusable Nanofilters for face masks. The filter inside can be replaced and the mask is reusable after ethanol wash. These masks are based on Insulated Block Electrospinning (IBE) technology, in which nanofibers are intersected or aligned at 90 degrees to each other in a cross-shaped pattern.

Although the World health organization does not recommend wearing a face mask for the general public as there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that wearing a medical mask could protect healthy individuals from coronavirus infection and rather promotes social distancing. But it can surely be said that the nanobiotechnology-based antimicrobial technologies are of high potential and still a huge scope of research and job opportunities are available in this field.

In our department of biotechnology, in the School of life science & Biotechnology at Adamas University, we offer nanobiotechnology as a part of the BSc, BTech, and MSc biotechnology course curriculum. The nanobiotechnology syllabus is well supported with both theory and practical based courses, along with internship programs at various research laboratories and industries all around the country, which gives you in-depth knowledge in this subject and an understanding of how to use this technology to make new scientific innovations.

So, welcome to the Department of Biotechnology, to pursue your carrier in a promising subject like Nanobiotechnology, offered by the School of Life Science and Biotechnology at Adamas University.

Transferring education from regular classroom to the online platform: Impact of coronavirus on education system

Students and educators all around the world are feeling the extraordinary ripple effect of the coronavirus as schools, colleges and universities shut down amid the public health emergency. Though the world has dealt with other pandemics in the past, COVID-19 has been spreading more rapidly. The virus is quite contagious and can pass between people before any symptoms appear. As part of the efforts made by the government to control the spread of the coronavirus, public places like schools, universities, and offices are closing down so that people can stay at home and prevent further spread of the virus. Closing schools and offices ensure that people can limit their interactions with each other and slow down the spread of the virus while the health care system copes with the pandemic. But this pandemic also opens a new gateway for the students to gain education as it completely reshapes the education system.

Online learning – Many schools and universities are opting to continue their normal classes on online platforms. Adamas University is one the first of the educational institution in India, introducing online platforms to take regular classes for the students. Now many Government educational institutions have also started using this online system. This includes the use of online tools such as emails, WhatsApp, group video lectures, which allowed the teachers and students to meet and conduct classes over the internet and also online sever systems to upload the study materials, which can be shared by both students and teachers.

Online programs – In the middle of the pandemic, to avoid the interruption of normal education various online educational platforms have been advertising-free educational tools for the students who are stuck at home around the world.

Parental care – With young children at home, parents are needed to make a schedule for them. Even online they need to help the children to navigate school on the computer as they are not able to work unless arrangements are made for them.

At this point, we don’t know the extent to which COVID-19 will continue but our future is not entirely bleak. A wider role for online learning will open. As the emphasis is being put on online education more opportunities are arising and becoming available to students. This switch from traditional learning to online learning is making it more likely that they will engage with online classes in the future. Students may opt for taking a future degree online due to the benefits and affordable options available. Many online universities are making it possible for students to earn a degree from anywhere in the world and with varying schedules due to work or family obligations, no matter their economic status. COVID-19 has become a catalyst for educational institutions worldwide to search for innovative solutions in a relatively short period.

Schools will face difficulty if they don’t teach remotely as all of their students are missing out on months of curriculum. But in this situation, they also need to switch and must think of a few strategies so that the financially disadvantaged students will not feel left out and will get a proper education. To increase their chances of success, schools could opt for proper mentoring to these under-served students. The schools need to find someone who has experienced the same challenges and can help students become more comfortable in this situation. Adamas University is already having a well-structured mentoring system through the professors, academic advisors, and management staff, which proved to be beneficial for the students in this testing time. Online learning might not reach everyone but it is not just a matter of lacking behind financially. If the students don’t know how to learn on their own if they don’t have the motivation or don’t know how to manage their time they won’t be able to learn in this environment.

There will be many important lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. A lesson to learn from this pandemic is to find ways to bridge the digital device which is becoming a matter of life and death.

Though it may be too early to say how students and teachers will cope with online learning the impact of coronavirus on education is an important consideration what we have to see so far is that online learning comes with many challenges, but the switch to technological platforms gives new opportunities to students and teachers to try different modes of education. We can think about the current situation as a crisis or as an opportunity to explore many more new possibilities. It is possible that once the COVID-19 pandemic settles down, we may see an increase in online learning for study aids as well as students embracing it for their higher degrees in the future.