In order to find a potential cure or vaccine for COVID-19, it is necessary to grow the novel coronavirus in large quantities in safe and contained laboratory settings. In the last few months, institutes around the country, including CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, and National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, have joined the effort to grow the virus. Somdatta Karak from CCMB provides us with a first-hand peek inside one such laboratory.

Chaitanya Athale, Associate Professor at IISER Pune, shares his experience as a mentor to a team that participated in iGEM 2015, an international competition for students interested in the field of synthetic biology.