Name: Santanu Bhattacharya

My Area of Interest: Chemogenomics, Gene transfection, molecular level manipulation of genes, and Medicinal Chemistry

My Favourite Quote: “Chance favours prepared mind”

I am a: Professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India.

Short Profile:

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
We would like to develop novel biomimetic tools for gene manipulation at the molecular level. This will allow evolution of new gene derived products.
Our research also attempts to understand secondary structure specific gene targeting. This may lead to development of new class of inhibitors of enzymes (topoisomerase or telomerase) that are involved in DNA metabolism.
We would like to precisely understand gene delivery mechanisms. This will lead to the effective design of gene therapeutics.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
Systems Biology, Synthetic and Chemical Biology are most important disciplines that will catalyze many changes the way drug design is done today.
I am studying the genomic responses to designed chemical compounds and libraries. The goal is to identify novel drugs, drug like molecules and drug targets embracing possible early phase drug discoveries ranging from target identification, compound molecular design and chemical synthesis to biological testing and profiling.
A second area of interest focuses on the identification of appropriate molecular leads for efficient and targeted gene delivery and manipulation.

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
My research envisages development of novel biomimetic tools for gene delivery and gene manipulation at the molecular level.
This will allow evolution of new gene derived products, which could be used for improved expression of specific genes and for mapping gene-protein contacts.
Our research attempts to understand secondary structure specific gene targeting. This may lead to development of new class of inhibitors of enzymes that are involved in DNA metabolism.
We are also interested to exploit such chemistry for the elucidation of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP).

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
The major impact of genomics on drug development so far has been directed toward the identification and validation of biological targets. While much of the present day research on targets is based primarily on comparisons of the biology of health and disease, soon it will become critical to integrate the activity of chemical compounds with the body and this will spur precise molecular design of personalized drugs and active principles.
Precise understanding of gene delivery mechanisms will lead to clinical realization of gene therapy