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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Brown University Engineers, Led By Indian American, Tackle Brain Injuries With Innovative Wearable Technology time, which mimics the effect of brain compression in- juries. The information is critical for understanding how it might be possible to prevent, diagnose and treat these types of compression injuries. For González-Cruz, the challenge of the issue and ultimate purpose of helping protect people against concussions is part of what draws him into the work and keeps himmotivated. Class of 2024 graduate Hana Butler Gutiérrez, who joined the Kesari lab while she was an un- dergraduate and now serves as a research associate, feels the same motivation. One of the newest members of the lab, she works on the materials side and spends her days creating and test- ing silicone lattice structures designed to absorb impact. The designs are small and flexible and made to slip into protective gear like helmets that the lab designs, but are intricate and involve a lot of trial and error, especially determining which designs will best dissipate energy. Keeping the ultimate goal top of mind helps keep her focused, she said. “The whole time you’re thinking about how you are designing these structures for a purpose,” Gutierrez said. “You’re thinking about the use that it’s going to have and how you’re spending all this time making something very precise for a very specific goal. Its validating and gives you a reason to continue — because while my work is sheerly mechanical, it has a place somewhere further in a much bigger project.” Three Questions for Haneesh Kesari Q: WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO DEDICATE YOUR CAREER TO AP- PLIED MECHANICS? A: My dad was an engineer in the irrigation depart- ment of India. I lived in small towns and villages and saw firsthand how a technological innovation, like a dam across a river, helped make peoples’ lives better — and even more importantly, give people confidence that they are much more in control of their destiny than what is traditionally believed in such villages. Q: WHAT’S ONE THING YOU HOPE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? A. I hope people understand that engineering carried out in synergy with fundamental science research greatly increases the likelihood of engineering having a true and lasting impact on humanity. Good engineering takes more time and effort than most science arenas and leads to more advances. Q: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOUR ROLE? The scientific interactions I get to have with my students, postdocs and other teammates. I believe that I am only able to meet and work with such great people because of my role here at Brown. - (These articles appeared on the Brown Universitywebsite on June 24, 2025. It has been usedwith express permission from Brown) NYU Scientists, Led By Indian American, Reveal Hidden World Of Vital Cellular Structures A team of NYU chemists and physicists are using cutting-edge tools—holographic microscopy and super-resolution imaging— to unlock how cells build and grow tiny, dynamic droplets known as biomolecular condensates. For the first time, scientists measured the protein content and growth dynamics of individual biomolecular condensates without disturbing them, gaining insights that may shape future drug development and disease modeling. Biomolecular condensates manage vital cellular functions, from regulating genes to responding to stress. Until now, studying them has involved distorting them. “It’s been the elephant in the room for scientists,” said Saumya Saurabh, assis- tant professor of chemical biology at NYU and the senior author of the new study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. “Our research provides a precise and non-invasive way to study biomolecular condensates.” “Being able to see ‘under the hood’ for the first time has revealed some big surprises about this important class of systems,” said study author David Grier, professor of physics and director of the Center for Soft Matter Research at NYU. PEERING INTO THE UNKNOWN Biomolecular condensates are micro- scopic structures that concentrate specific molecules, like proteins and nucleic acids, without being enclosed by a membrane. This process, known as phase separation, is crucial for organizing cellular biochem- istry. While the NYU study focuses on these dynamic droplets in vitro—in a con- trolled laboratory setting— the fundamental principles they uncover are directly applicable to understanding their behavior within living cells. “Often compared to oil- and-water droplets, the in- tricate reality of biomolecu- lar condensates, as revealed by our findings, goes far beyond simple liquid-liquid phase separation,” noted Saurabh. To study biomolecular condensates under the microscope, researchers have traditionally been limited to using fluo- rescent tags or two-dimensional surfaces, both of which can significantly disturb the droplets’ behavior. This is a critical chal- lenge, as these condensates are remark- ably sensitive to their environment. “I was surprised by their complex and incredibly sensitive response to differ- ent ionic species. Even a small change in ionic valency drastically altered both condensate concentration and dynamics,” said Julian von Hofe, a PhD candidate in Saurabh’s group, who is the first author on the study. To overcome these issues, the research- ers sought a way to examine condensates in real time to gather information without damaging them. Their solution: a system that slowly flows thousands of droplets through a holographic microscope. HOLOGRAPHIC PRECISION MEETS SINGLE- MOLECULE RESOLUTION Grier’s lab has pioneered the use of holographic microscopy, which uses lasers and lenses to create three-dimensional images, or holograms, of particles that are captured on video for analysis. This tech- nique allows scientists to flow particles in a solution so that they can be clearly seen and individually character- ized—without the need for fluorescent labels or attach- ment to a surface. Applying this novel, label-free method to con- densates formed by PopZ, a bacterial protein crucial for cell growth, the research- ers first aimed to precisely measure the concentration of proteins within conden- sates. Inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s eighteenth-cen- tury experiment, which used an oil slick to infer a single molecule’s length, the team measured the volume of a single protein to determine the protein concentration inside condensates. Using this idea, they found that relevant biomolecules could concentrate proteins more than ten-fold inside condensates. However, the way that the observed condensates grew was unexpected and defied classical models of growth, leading them to pursue single- molecule imaging. To unravel the complex internal archi- tecture and dynamics, the team utilized super-resolution imaging—a Nobel Prize- winning technology and a main forte for Saurabh’s research. These data revealed that condensates were not simple uniform droplets but exhibited intricate nanoscale organization, a realm 1,000 to 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. The findings were strongly supported by molecular dynamics simulations, which provided atomic-level insights into these enigmatic assemblies. “Our collaboration has introduced fast, precise, and effective methods for mea- suring the composition and dynamics of macromolecular condensates,” said Grier. From droplets to diseases and drug delivery Understanding how biomolecular condensates are organized and grow may hold clues for treating a range of illnesses, from cancer and infectious diseases to neurological disorders. “In a disease like ALS, the proteins that form plaques in disease are fluid con- densates in good health. Understanding how a spherical condensate forms into a deadly plaque is an opportunity to better understand ALS,” said Saurabh. In addition, scientists recently discov- ered that many drug molecules end up inside biomolecular condensates in the cells. This sequestering of drugs within condensates may help explain why drugs that are made to target a specific protein still cause side effects. With this new approach to analyzing condensates, scientists can now measure small differences in condensate composi- tion and architecture as new molecules partition inside them. “For example, we can now explore the chemical space of drug modifica- tions to precisely control their partition- ing, achieving the specificity needed to prevent them from entering condensates,” said Saurabh. “This opens new avenues for how we think about designing drugs and their potential side effects.” Other study authors include Jatin Aba- cousnac, Mechi Chen, Moeka Sasazawa, and Ida Javér Kristiansen of NYU, as well as SorenWestrey of Carnegie Mel- lon University. The research was sup- ported by the National Institutes of Health (1R35GM157103) and the National Sci- ence Foundation (DMR-2104837, DMR- 1420073). In addition, Grier is a founder of Spheryx, Inc., the company that manufac- tures the holographic microscope used in the study. - (This article appeared July 16, 2025, in NYU.edu. Usedwith express permission from NYU) By Rachel Harrison PHOTO:@saurabhlab.org NYU Professor Saumya Saurabh. Cover Story News India Times (July 26, 2025 - August 1, 2025) August 1, 2025 14 - Continued From Page 12