When Purpose is large and Cause is Big, Then People will join you

Summary of Prof. Samir k Brahmachari's Speeches
(Director General, CSIR and Chief Mentor-OSDD)
 

 

WHAT IS OSDD?

• OSDD is a movement, not a only research project, done with passion and full of love.
• An inclusive innovation model
• It Works with students hungry to learn.
• OSDD aims to collaborate with people of the world to make affordable healthcare.

OBJECTIVES OF OSDD:

• To change the entire education system by transforming the education through web by new way of thinking, collective learning and problem solving.
• To not only deliver the drug but to change the attitude of people.
• To make an ideal drug – a drug which cures just after intake.

MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS AS FIRST TARGET:

• India is the biggest affected country of Tuberculosis in the world. So has obligation to discover drug for this disease.

CHALLENGES:

• How the chemical molecule (drug) works?

(Drug is a small molecule which inhibits the function of an unwanted biological function without affecting other biological functions)

Chemistry is nothing but interaction of molecules with complementary charge and shape leading to sometimes a new product. When new product is expressed, we say a chemical reaction has occurred. But when no new product is formed we call it, chemical binding has happened.

The dream drug molecule is the one which exactly go and fit and will leave rest which are not there.

 

• We have to understand the biological system to discover the chemistry of life and make discovery.
  

• How to make new drugs cheaper using new mechanisms and IPR free? (Moral of OSDD)

HISTORY OF CHEMICAL LABORATORY ESTABLISHMENT IN INDIA:

• In 1950’s Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru realized to make chemical laboratory in India, which will actually make public funded drug discovery.
• No one in the world did it before.
• Till 1970 Indian’s were paying more for drug than any other country.
• Mrs Indira Gandhi brought in 1970’s legislation the patent law, which allowed the scenario change, which led to process patent, product patent and new chemistry.

QUESTIONS:

Question 1 –Why, what and how open source drug discovery? 

• In a single room people from different background won’t agree on the same topic as they have different views, so have a cyber space.
• Scientists and researchers need to show different sides of their face to people from different background to make them understand what OSDD is and how they can contribute to it.

Question 2- What is Cheminformatics?

• Cheminformatics is nothing but designing a structure, charge and shape in such a way that increases the specificity and selectivity of its targets, once target is decided.

Question 3– Can we connect our brain and computers to solve the problems in cheminformatics? (Although computers are slower than brain)

• Instead of screening the toxicity of drug (previously), why not to search new non-toxic targets. So we will have new targets, new molecules (drugs) and known molecules for the new targets.

Question 4 – Can we find all the proteins which are unstructured?

Question 5– Why a drug should show 100% inhibition? Why not 90% or less?

Question 6- Can we build function of kidney in computers?

Question 7- Can we build process of absorption in the blood stream in computers?

KEEP IT SIMPLE:

• Life is nothing but chemistry of few elements.
• Nature is the cleverest scientist, with millions of years of experience of evolution, it has evolved perfect machines.
• We try to fool these machines in one way, we are fighting with these machines (Example - Mycobacterium Tuberculosis), but these microbes have perfected them to live in our body.
• Therefore we need thousands of young minds to look at this problem without any bias and solve it from the root.
• Most of the biological molecules are so diverse, that we can’t figure it out. So what we perceive goes in different direction.
• Try to perceive things in your own way. Everyone has got their different perception to a particular subject.
• Learning and doing things in different ways we learn it faster and better.
• Students should think out of canonical and conventional teaching.

NEW HYPOTHESIS:
 

• To target a non-active site, when a drug binds with a non-active site it halt the process at active site.
• To make sure that protein being targeted should be absent in gut flora, mouth flora and absent everywhere.

CROWDSOURCING APPROACH:

• Open science is looking for not only a single noble laureate but a group of noble laureates.
• When purpose is large and cause is big, then people will join you.

EXPECTATIONS FROM OSDD COMMUNITY:

• To make people realize importance of love, sharing, caring and education.
• We need contributors to discover new lead by new way of thinking, learning.
• One day OSDD will make difference in availing drugs at affordable rates.
• If we can make a difference, India will be a different country.

 

DIFFERENT MEANINGS OF OSDD:

• Open source drug discovery
• Open source drug development
• Open source drug delivery
• Open source disease diagnostic

Contributors should concentrate on first definition i.e. – open source drug discovery.