Art by Dr Sweena Chaudhari Joshi

The artwork, inspired by Warli form of Indian folk art, depicts Dr Divya Tej Sowpati’s research interests at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.

Our genomes, in the form of DNA or RNA, contain information to make proteins in our cells. But our genomes differ, so do our proteins and consequently, us as individuals too.

The rays emanating from the centre of this artwork represent our genomes. The white dots depict nucleotide bases whereas the yellow bars depict microsatellites – nucleotide repeats found in our genomes. The halos around nucleotides symbolize the possible modifications on genomes that also impact their expression. It attempts to show how changes in genomes lead to differences among all life forms, humans included. But despite these, we are all connected with each other, as told by the tales of our genomes through the biotechnological, electronic and informatic tools available to us. The traditional circle of individuals holding hands with the sun in the centre celebrates this oneness among the diversity of life.