Research

We primarily use the tools of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and computer science to understand various life processes. The following cloud plot visualizes the key research topics and themes explored by our research group.

Our work can be divided into two different categories.

Physical Bioinformatic Modelling of protein synthesis

Gene expression is a process that converts the genetic information encoded in a gene to a functional gene product. In most cases, this functional gene product is a protein molecule. Transcription is the first step of the gene expression in which genetic information encoded in a DNA segment is copied into RNA molecules. Then, in the second step, proteins are synthesised by selecting amino acid subunits in a sequence determined by the sequence of nucleotides in messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule. Understanding the regulation of gene expression is important because it explains the sophisticated mechanisms nature has designed for a cell to survive and perform its biological function.

Ribosome profiles provided single codon resolution of protein synthesis which helped to understand various kinetic properties of this process. In our lab, we study the regulation of gene expression at the translational level by combining the theoretical and computational models of protein synthesis with the information extracted from ribosome profiling and other high throughput sequencing data. 

role of energy expenditure in life processes

Equilibrium is death, and non-equilibrium is life. Non-equilibrium systems consume energy expenditure that keeps them away from equilibrium. It is this energy expenditure in biological processes that makes us alive by allowing us to perform specific biological functions with an efficiency that is not possible to achieve at equilibrium. Kinetic proofreading is a very famous example in this context that uses energy expenditure to ensure the accurate replication of genetic material in a cell. One of the main focuses of our lab is towards understanding the benefits of the role of energy expenditure in various cellular processes.