EASWARI ENGINEERING COLLEGE Ramapuram, Chennai – 600 089.

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

THE NEWS LETTER Vol. – 4 Issue no: 2 OCT 2015

CHIEF EDITOR members:

Dr. C. Ravichandran Dr. R. Senthamizh selvi

Mrs. V. Vanitha Mrs. AR. Anusa Dr. K. Saravanan Dr. C.S. Jone selvamalar Dr. S. Dhandayudhapani Dr. M. Kumar Dr. N.S. Karthikeyan EDITOR

Mrs. R. Anitha Devi

Prepared By:

R. Anitha Devi

Approved By:

HOD/Chemistry

CONTENTS

HOD’S MESSAGE

STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS

SCIENCE EXHIBITION

PUZZLES

ARTICLES

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MESSAGE FROM THE HOD’S DESK

Dr. C. Ravichandran Professor and Head

The department of chemistry has brought out its quarterly

news letter chemflash. Its focus is on all the recent happenings

in the field of chemistry. This news letter is sure to give a

suitable platform to all the budding engineers to widen their

perspective. I express my heartiest congratulations to all the staff

and students who were behind the success of chemflash.

I seek their continued co-operation in all the future

endeavours.

Dr. C. Ravichandran

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STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS

100% RESULT:

Mrs. V. Vanitha has achieved 100% result in the subject

Engineering Chemistry –I I for the academic year

2015-2016.

FUNDED PROJECT:

Our department has received funded project for about

Rs.23.78lakhs from DST under the principal

investigator of Dr. N.S. Karthikeyan.

PAPER PUBLICATION:

Mrs. R. Anitha Devi has published a research paper

entitled “Oxidation of 3-Carboxy-3-

hydroxypentanedioic acid by N-Chlorosuccinimide in

alkaline medium- Kinetics & Mechanism” in

International journal of Chem Tech, Research.

2015,Vol.08, No. 05, Pg. No. 175-182.

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Our department has organized Science Exhibition for XI and XII standard School

students. Students from 41 Schools and first year B.E/B.Tech Students from our College has

been participated in the Science Exhibition. The Chief Guest for the inaugural function of the

Science Exhibition was Mrs. S. Amudhalakshmi, Principal, Chettinad Vidhyashram, R.A.

Puram, Chennai.

Principal, Dr. K. S. Srinivasan has given the presidential address. Guest of Honour for

Science Exhibition was T.S. Sridhar, IAS., (Retd). and he has given Special Address to the

School Students.

Dr. C. Ravichandran, Deputy Director and Head of the Chemistry Department, welcomed

the gathering and delivered the overview of the Science Exhibition. Chief Guest

Mrs. S. Amudhalakshmi has delivered the inaugural address and graced the occasion.

Totally there were 2 sessions consisting of One Innovative Scientific talk by

Mrs. A. Visalakshi, Assistant Director, Forensic Sciences Department, Mylapore. She spoke

about the role of various departments in detecting the crime. In Second session, students

from 41 Schools and first year students from our College displayed their projects for

competition, and Judges from other colleges evaluated the projects displayed by school students

and I year B.E/B.Tech Students separately.

Science

exhibition

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In the Evening Session, Chief Guest Mrs. Sita UmaMageshwaran, Principal, The

PSBB Millennium School, Gerugambakkam, Porur. has motivated the young students,

distributed the prizes, namely I Prize – Rs. 10000 cash award to S.R.M. Nightingale Mat. Hr. Sec

School, West Mambalam, II Prize – Rs. 7500 cash award to Government Girls Higher Secondary

School, Ashok Nagar and III Prize - 5000 cash award to G.K.Shetty Hindu Vidyalaya Matric

Higher Secondary School Adambakkam and gave the valedictory address.

PUZZLES

Which three of the four pieces below can be fitted together to form a perfect square?

Answer: Pg. No. 8

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ARTICLES

GENE EDITING COULD MAKE PIG-TO-HUMAN ORGAN

TRANSPLANTS FEASIBLE Transplanting pig organs into humans, believe it or not, is one of the more promising options to

address the dearth of organs available for those who need them. Pigs and humans share a number

of physiological and anatomical similarities, but pigs also carry harmful viruses in their genome

making pig-to-human transplants dangerous. Now, researchers say, they can simply remove the

viruses native to pig cells, reviving the idea of xenotransplantation — using animal organs in

humans.

The Genetic Red Pen

Harvard University’s George Church is a pioneer of the new CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing

technique, which harnesses an ancient defense deployed by bacteria to destroy the DNA of viral

invaders. CRISPR works like a molecular scissors, and researchers can use this technique to

excise unwanted parts of the genome with unprecedented precision and efficiency.

Church was one of the first scientists to demonstrate that CRISPR could splice DNA into human

cells, and his latest study, published in the journal Science, is another powerful demonstration of

the gene-editing tool’s potential.

Church and his team used CRISPR to simultaneously cut all 62 copies of porcine endogenous

retroviruses (PERVs) that reside in multiple locations of the pig genome. PERVs can cause

diseases when introduced to humans via an organ transplant, which is why whole pig organs

cannot be used for medical procedures. Doctors do, however, already use heart valves stripped of

all pig cells as replacements in their human patients.

Promising Results

Despite cutting pig DNA in 62 different places — the largest number of gene edits achieved at

one time using CRISPR — the alterations didn’t appear to unexpectedly jumble other parts of the

pig genome. Church’s team also tested their engineered pig cells on human kidney cells in the

confines of a petri dish, and the engineered pig cells showed a 1,000-fold reduction in their

ability to pass on PERVs to human cells.

Pig embryos with inactive PERV sequences, potentially paving the way for virus-free cloned

pigs. However, it hasn’t yet been demonstrated if virus-free pig organs would be safe in humans.

G. JEEVITHA

I IT A

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THE BRAIN ON LITHIUM

The lithium atom has three protons and three electrons.

Lithium is a special metal in many ways. It's light and soft — so soft that it can be cut with a

kitchen knife and so low in density that it floats on water. It's also solid at a wide range of

temperatures, with one of the lowest melting points of all metals and a high boiling point.

Like its fellow alkali metal, sodium, lithium reacts with water in showy form. The combo of Li

and H2O forms lithium hydroxide and hydrogen, which typically bursts into red flame.

Lithium makes up a mere 0.0007 percent of the Earth's crust, according to the Jefferson Lab, and

it's only found locked up in minerals and salts. Those salts have the power to change the brain:

lithium salts were the first drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat mania

and depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Lithium-ion batteries are the key to lightweight, rechargeable power for laptops, phones

and other digital devices. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Argentina and Chile

increased their lithium production 15 percent each in 2014 alone to meet the growing

demand. Worldwide, production jumped 6 percent that year.

Naturally occurring lithium in drinking water correlates with lower levels of

suicide, according to a 2009 study that highlights lithium's role in the brain. But

psychiatrists are careful about prescribing lithium in high doses, particularly because it

can pass through the placenta and have unknown effects on the developing fetus.

The researchers focused on a phenomenon common in the early days of the universe, when space

was humming with energetic photons (light particles). Against these "hot" conditions,

elementary particles, the building blocks of atoms, were born. The question could be answered

with probes such as NASA's PIXIE mission, which aims to map the energy spectrum of the

cosmic microwave background of the universe, which is the heat left over from the Big Bang,

with unprecedented precision.

S.MADHUMITA

I EEE A

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THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS – 2015

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 was awarded jointly to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and

Aziz Sancar "for mechanistic studies of DNA repair".

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 was awarded jointly to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B.

McDonald "for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass"

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 was awarded with one half jointly to William

C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against

infections caused by roundworm parasites and the other half to Youyou Tufor her discoveries

concerning a novel therapy against Malaria.

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2015 is awarded to the Belarusian author Svetlana

Alexievich "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time".

The Nobel Peace Prize 2015 was awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its

decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the

Jasmine Revolution of 2011.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2015 was

awarded toAngus Deaton "for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare".Mrs.

R. ANITHA DEVI, A.P(Sr. Gr.)

Dept. of Chemistry

Answer for puzzle

Ans: C B D.

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