Science City, Kolkata organised a Popular Science Lecture titled “From Virus discovery to Vaccine – a story from ICMR-National Institute of Virology” The lecture was delivered by Dr. Priya Abraham, Director, ICMR-National institute of Virology

Today, a Popular Science Lecture titled “From Virus discovery to Vaccine – a story from ICMR-National Institute of Virology” was delivered by Prof. (Dr.) Priya Abraham, Director, ICMR-National Institute of Virology at Science City, Kolkata. During her lecture, Dr. Abraham highlighted the pivotal role ICMR-National Institute of Virology had played in India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. She emphasized how the scientists of the institute worked tirelessly towards taming this pandemic and how ICMR-NIV contributed on several different fronts like- Discovery of the first cases of COVID-19 in India, the Viewing of the Virus under an Electron Microscope, Providing RT-PCR test across the country, conducting numerous online training sessions for laboratories across the country, Mission Iran, repatriation of other Indians stranded overseas, growing the virus in vitro for the first time in India, making the first antibody test for the nation, the start of the journey of the vaccine, monitoring the variants of the virus and the continuing journey.

Prior to the Lecture, Shri Samarendra Kumar, Director (Hqrs.), NCSM welcomed Dr. Priya Abraham along with distinguished guests & school students present at the venue and expressed that the lecture will be beneficial for the students in understanding the nature of the virus and how vaccines are delivered to save millions of lives. He also said that “National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) has collaborated with Science Museum Group London and Wellcome trust for the development of an international travelling exhibition titled ‘Vaccines- Injecting Hope’. The exhibition will travel to five cities New Delhi, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata from November 2022 to September 2025.

A large-scale Sun-dial was inaugurated by Shri I. K. Mukherjee, former DG, NCSM in the Science Park of Science City, Kolkata. It is a horizontal sundial, with its gnomon pointing north and kept at an angle of 22.5 degrees, which is the latitude of Kolkata. The gnomon of this giant Sundial is 13 metres long. Apart from showing the local time, this Sundial will be an iconic sculpture at Science City. It beautifully connects the sun, the earth and the passage of time. The Sundial is made special by embedding the logo of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, celebrating 75 years of India’s independence.

Shri Anurag Kumar, Director, Science City said-“Science City has always been instrumental in providing a platform for interaction with Nobel Laureates, Scientists, Innovators, etc. I hope the students present here will be immensely benefitted from this lecture. This will not only enrich their knowledge base but also inspire them to think like a scientist and contribute to the development of the nation in the future.”