BRaIN (Biological Research and Innovation Network) is a group for students from all traits who use knowledge of varied fields to understand and appreciate life sciences. They do things ranging from collecting bugs to mapping brain waves, from tagging trees to creating bizarre mutant flies. A glimpse of the projects done this summers:
Memory Mapper: With the aim of making a software that would display how much memory and concentration a person is using for a specific task. The emotive™ EEG Headset that is able to output brain’s electrical activity was used. Statistical analysis softwares were used to decipher the data of memory usage from volunteers.
Mutant Fly: In this edition of mutant fly the aim was to create fruit flies that had an unusual property to fluoresce green in color. A cross that expressed the Green Fluorescent Protein(GFP) specifically in the eye and on the abdomen of flies was designed. Apart from this it gave a firsthand experience on fly rearing!
Alcohol Biosensor: Here the aim was to make a portable alcohol sensor that shows alcohol content in beverages and solutions. The enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase from a Baker’s Yeast was extracted. This enzyme has the ability to sense ethanol specifically. It was then coupled this enzymatic reaction with a color generating reaction to detect the presence of alcohol.
Fly Tracker: A real-time fly tracking system was made. Image processing software OpenCV and programming skills were used to track the motion of the fly and get its trajectory. This system will aid in the study of sleep-wake cycles and the effect of alcohol consumption on flies.
Glucometer: A device that can sense the glucose levels in blood and any solution was made. This is aimed at diabetic patients whose blood glucose levels are abnormally high. The enzyme glucose oxidase that reacts specifically with glucose from a species of fungus by the name Aspergilusniger was extracted. A reaction that gives colored product with the product of this enzymatic reaction was used to display the concentration.
