Jithesh Kottur

recent examples on my X feed of how hype distorts science 1. DRT3 is the first example of selection of dNTP by a protein residue in a polymerase 2. Alphafold has solved the protein folding problem. Both statements are untrue, even though both DRT3 and AlphaFold represent important advances.

@dtnair @ScienceMagazine @IcahnMountSinai The 2005 Science paper from the Aggarwal lab described the first ever groundbreaking discovery where the polymerase active site residue (Arg) acts as a template for the DNA synthesis.

@ScienceMagazine Nice paper, but the Aneel Aggarwal lab from @IcahnMountSinai showed this for the first time in 2005 in the case of Rev1 science.org/doi/full/10.11…

For decades, biology textbooks have enshrined a simple rule: DNA is made by copying a template. After one enzyme unzips a DNA double helix into separate strands, another called a polymerase builds a complementary sequence, base by base, for each strand. Presto: two copies of the original DNA. But new research into how bacteria defend themselves from viruses now shows this synthesis rule isn’t absolute. Now, a team describes a bacterial enzyme that synthesizes DNA without a nucleic acid template, using its own structure as a guide. Learn more: scim.ag/4tTc5IA @NewsfromScience

@ScienceMagazine @IcahnMountSinai Rev1 moves the template strand out of the active site and uses a protein residue to select and add dCTP to the primer strand.

@ScienceMagazine @IcahnMountSinai Also follow up papers to the initial 2005 paper- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC27… & pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC31… & sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Privileged to receive the Haryana Vigyan Ratna award on Science Day from the Honorable Governor, Prof. Ashim Kumar Ghosh, and the State Education Minister, Shri Mahipal Dhanda, and deeply grateful to the Directorate of Science & Technology, Government of Haryana, for this honour

@SamMathew_RCB @unescorcb @Jaydeep_Sharma_ Congratulations

Excited and thrilled that Jaydeep Sharma from our lab @unescorcb has been awarded a Sun Pharma Science Scholar Fellowship in Pharmaceutical Sciences for 2025. Congratulations Jaydeep for this wonderful achievement. sunpharmasciencefoundation.net//latest_winner… @Jaydeep_Sharma_

Absolutely delighted that our ‘Cool Roof’ initiative has been featured in UNEP’s latest report. As part of the Urban Heat Mitigation Project, the Environment and Climate Change Department, GOTN in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme, implemented a cool roof technology demonstration in Chennai. The Lighthouse Project site in Perambakkam was chosen as the pilot location. Silka cool roof paint, with a high Solar Reflective Index (SRI) of 102, was applied to two residential blocks comprising 200 houses. This passive cooling intervention led to a temperature reduction of 5 to 8°C inside the buildings during peak summer months. We are now scaling up the initiative. Amid scorching temperatures, India turns to ideas both old and new to beat the heat unep.org/news-and-stori…

@dtnair @IcahnMountSinai Thank you and congratulations to all the authors.

Fantastic new paper from the Aneel K Aggarwal lab @IcahnMountSinai on how the CBASS effector Cap5 endonuclease, is activated by cyclic nucleotides to bring about cell suicide in bacteria for limiting the spread of viral infections. Congratulations to all the contributing authors @jitheshkottur nature.com/articles/s4146…

Amazing work by Dr. Rechkoblit et al. from the Aggarwal and @gangfang_1 Labs on CBASS Cap5 endonuclease showing bacterial self-destruction by digesting its own DNA! Congratulations! 👏 Happy to be part of this study. urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https…

Amazing work by Dr. Rechkoblit et al. from the Aggarwal and @gangfang_1 Labs on CBASS Cap5 endonuclease showing bacterial self-destruction by digesting its own DNA! Congratulations! 👏 #bacteria #cbass #cap5 #proteinstructure #immunology #virology nature.com/articles/s4146…

@Jogender_Singh7 Congrats Jogi😍

Happy to share that I've been selected for the Haryana Yuva Vigyan Ratna Award. I also share a heartfelt note. tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/s…

Mr Trump’s post is disappointing for India in four important ways: First, it implies a false equivalence between the victim and the perpetrator, and seemingly overlooks the US’ own past unwavering stance against Pakistan’s well-documented links to cross-border terrorism. Second, it offers Pakistan a negotiating framework which it certainly has not earned. India will never negotiate with a terrorist gun pointed at its head. Third, it “internationalises” the Kashmir dispute, an obvious objective of the terrorists. India rejects the idea of a dispute and sees the problem as an internal affair of India’s. India has never requested, not is likely to seek, any foreign country’s mediation over its problems with Pakistan. And fourth, it “re-hyphenates” India and Pakistan in the global imagination. For decades now, world leaders had been encouraged not to club their visits to India with visits to Pakistan, and starting with President Clinton in 2000, no US President had done so. This is a major backward step.

@GuptaYogeshTX @dtnair @Structure_CP @NIH @WelchFoundation Congratulations!

Our study, published in @Structure_CP, reveals how nsp16 and nsp10 assemble on SARS-CoV-2 mRNA to regulate 2'-O-methylation, a mark that evades immune restriction. Thanks to @NIH and @WelchFoundation for supporting our research on RNA modifications. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Very happy to share that our work on Mismatch Repair Pathway is published in @NAR_Open! Many thanks @dtnair @unescorcb, Prof. D. N. Rao @iiscbangalore @DBTIndia @esrfsynchrotron and the entire team. doi.org/10.1093/nar/gk…

Data used in the paper was collected at @esrfsynchrotron and the facilities at the @DBTIndia funded advanced technology platform centre (ATPC) in @unescorcb

@dtnair @ShivleeNirwal @minakshiaashi @dal_chand_ @naveens87 @iiscbangalore Congratulations!🎉

Kudos to @ShivleeNirwal, ritika, @minakshiaashi @dal_chand_, @naveens87, dhananjaya, dhiraj, amith. This work was done in collaboration with Prof DN Rao from @iiscbangalore

New paper from the lab in @NAR_Open in which the structure of MutL-CTD- processivity complex provides insight regarding strand discrimination in methyl-independent mismatch repair academic.oup.com/nar/article/53…

Thank you so much @dtnair for giving me the opportunity to be part of this novel work and congratulations to the entire team @ShivleeNirwal @naveens87 @minakshiaashi, Ritika, Dhiraj Suthur and Amith Babu. Thank you @unescorcb for providing me the platform. academic.oup.com/nar/article/53…