TNQ Distinguished Lectures

In this episode of TNQ Distinguished Lectures, Professor Bonnie Bassler, a molecular biologist and Wolf Prize and Canada Gairdner Award Laureate, talks about her work in quorum sensing – a process of cell-to-cell communication in bacteria. We learn about how she was part of the revolutionary discovery of quorum sensing that challenged the 500 year-old dogma that bacteria are simple, solitary creatures, and how her work can potentially lead to new treatments for bacterial infections and novel ways to control harmful bacteria.   Joining her in conversation is Ramaseshan Ramachandran, well-known science journalist and former science correspondent for The Hindu newspaper and Frontline Magazine.   To know more about Bonnie Bassler and her work, visit https://www.tnqdistinguishedlectures.org/about-speaker/bonnie-bassler.php    To know more about TNQ and the Distinguished Lectures series, visit https://www.tnqdistinguishedlectures.org   TNQ Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation set up in India to support basic research in mathematics and the life sciences. The Foundation also supports the arts and animal welfare.   The Foundation's main outreach programme is the annual series of lectures in life sciences and mathematics, called the TNQ Distinguished Lectures in Life Sciences and TNQ Distinguished Lectures in Mathematics', respectively. It also manages the TNQ Inspiring Science Awards for the life sciences and TNQ Numbers & Shapes for mathematics.   https://tnq.foundation CREDITS Host: Dr Ramaseshan Ramachandran Guest: Professor Bonnie Bassler Produced and Created for TNQ   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar  Director & Video Editor: Jishnu Guha  Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Asst. Sound Recordist & Sound Editor: Nihar Temkar Production Coordinator: Natasha Vakil

  In this episode of TNQ Distinguished Lectures, Yakov Eliashberg, a recipient of the Heinz Hopf Prize as well as the Wolf Prize in Mathematics, discusses his journey into geometry and maths, starting from his early success in Olympiads and the Soviet educational system. He reflects on his immigration to the U.S. and his pioneering work in symplectic geometry - a field with roots in Hamiltonian mechanics. He explores symplectic geometry's unique balance of rigidity and flexibility while delving into symplectic field theory and its links to quantum field theory, along with potential applications in physics.   Joining him in conversation is Ramaseshan Ramachandran, well-known science journalist and former science correspondent for The Hindu newspaper and Frontline Magazine.   To know more about Yakov Eliashberg and his work, visit https://www.tnqdistinguishedlectures.org/about-speaker.html   To know more about TNQ and the Distinguished Lectures series, visit https://www.tnq.co.in/   CREDITS Host: Dr Ramaseshan Ramachandran Guest: Yakov Eliashberg Produced and Created for TNQ   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Meghna Gulati Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Lakshman Parsuram    

In this episode of TNQ Distinguished Lectures, Dr John Jumper, a recipient of the Breakthrough Prize, talks about his work on AlphaFold, the AI tool which predicts the three-dimensional structure of proteins. As the project lead, Dr Jumper discusses the intricacies and difficulties in predicting accurate protein structures and how biology as a science is perfectly suited to using the tools of AI to find solutions to such complex questions, which usually take years, in a couple of minutes. Dr. Jumper also breaks down the difference between machine learning and deep learning and how these powerful tools of AI will change the future of science and discovery.    Joining him in conversation is Ramaseshan Ramachandran, well-known science journalist and former science correspondent for The Hindu newspaper and Frontline Magazine.   To know more about Dr John Jumper and his work, visit https://www.tnq.co.in/johnjumper/   To know more about TNQ and the Distinguished Lectures series, visit https://www.tnq.co.in/   CREDITS Host: Dr Ramaseshan Ramachandran Guest: Dr John Jumper Produced and Created for TNQ   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Sean D’mello, Ruchi Sawardekar Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni    

In this episode of TNQ Distinguished Lectures, Professor David Julius, a physiologist and Nobel Prize laureate, talks about his work on molecular mechanisms for pain sensation and heat including the characterization of the TRP-V1 and TRP-M8 receptors that detect capsaicin, menthol, and temperature. We get to know why birds don’t respond to capsaicin, thresholds for TRP receptors and whether they're affected by regional or racial differences, and his seminal contribution of the neural and molecular basis for the sense of temperature and pain.    Joining him in conversation is Ramaseshan Ramachandran, well-known science journalist and former science correspondent for The Hindu newspaper and Frontline Magazine.   To know more about Dr David Julius and his work, visit https://www.tnq.co.in/davidjulius/   To know more about TNQ and the Distinguished Lectures series, visit https://www.tnq.co.in/   CREDITS Host: Dr Ramaseshan Ramachandran Guest: Professor David Julius Produced and Created for TNQ   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Sean D’mello, Ruchi Sawardekar Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni