IGEM IISER Thiruvananthapuram

IGEM IISER Thiruvananthapuram Official page of iGEM 2023 team from IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

26/10/2025

“feels like yesterday
- 26/10/2024”

Up next we have THE TEAM LEAD - SUSHAL (And no, you’re not allowed to call him anything else. Obviously. Duh.) If PETal ...
23/05/2025

Up next we have THE TEAM LEAD - SUSHAL (And no, you’re not allowed to call him anything else. Obviously. Duh.) If PETal could ask for a better team lead, the answer would still be no one. Because no one could have done it like him. He’s the kind of guy who grabs the whole hand when you offer just a finger. “Milking” isn’t just a skill; it’s a lifestyle. With his head-scratching moments of genius, he'd mastermind 100 possibilities but a million different analyses and still pull off the most neat, brilliant plan.. and actually execute it (with HIS team ofc). Sushal left no department untouched. Whether it was logistics, finances, or human practices (his favourite child), he was everywhere. Determined to get work done from anyone, through sweet-talking or eye-popping stares, he could turn chaos into progress in a matter of minutes. You’d always find him in the iGEM room, shouting with a finger out during meetings, then instantly collapsing in front of the fan basically after sh****ng his pants. Inside, he’s the strict team lead (the kind you need), sure, he made a few people cry, ahem ahem, but step out, he’s a softie dad (the kind you want), of course, with a processing time of 2-3 business days to say sorry. But man, was he committed. We watched a 19-year-old transform into a stressed 40-year-old over one iGEM season. Mac in hand, sprinting across BSB like he had five deadlines due yesterday. That’s dedication.

Our walking, talking Wikipedia - especially when it came to ecology, organic chemistry, mythology, or folklore. If you were ever stuck somewhere, chances are he was there with a story and a solution. Also, multilingual and the most hardcore Kannadiga you’ll ever meet. Bro loves travelling, and if Becherovka's involved, he’ll never let you forget it. RIP to the poor French chechi who sat next to him on that flight. Let’s not forget the Gowda fam, the real MVPs. We’ve basically been adopted, and yes, we now know the family tree up to three generations. The Mysore trip and that wedding? 10/10 would attend again.

Meet our co-lead, plasmid mommy, and unofficial morale officer – Eeshani, aka the 'Mother of Plasmids' herself.From spon...
22/05/2025

Meet our co-lead, plasmid mommy, and unofficial morale officer – Eeshani, aka the 'Mother of Plasmids' herself.

From spontaneously hopping on a train to Kochi for a package (yes, really) to single-handedly fixing the parts page after a royal mess, she truly embodied the “ek baar jo maine commitment kardi…” energy like no one else.

She redefined dedication – balancing lab work, HTML, safety forms, midsems, and team chaos with unwavering calm. While the rest of us were partying, she was out there rating museums and hunting for desserts.

Known for asking 100 (often hilariously ridiculous) questions, she somehow always had the answers when it mattered most. Her optimism kept us going, her eye for detail saved us more times than we can count, and her sleep schedule? A proud casualty of iGEM.

Not the most street smart, maybe, but her academic and team smarts more than made up for it. She handled the co-lead role with strength, reason, and a whole lot of patience (even during sibling-style arguments with the lead).

Eeshani, you were the calm in our chaos, the force behind our plasmids, and the reason a few people didn’t get kicked out. You can’t help but love her – and we absolutely do.

Caption credits: iGEM'24
Design credits: Shreya, Angel, Sushal

Paarth lives by “do what excites”, and sings as if the mic’s off with his high pitched tone. Surprisingly he carries a B...
21/05/2025

Paarth lives by “do what excites”, and sings as if the mic’s off with his high pitched tone. Surprisingly he carries a British accent. 1/8th Brit, or so he claims. Accidentally took a wrong turn on the way to becoming an Instagram influencer and ended up as a biology major at IISER TVM.
He as a sponsorship head, wore many hats and somehow pulled them all off. From pipetting in the lab to pitching to sponsors, he never once complained and always got the job done. You could count on him for anything, anytime. You hang out with him, you’ll probably lose your savings. But you’ll definitely gain the best memories.
He gave his all to the results page, we all saw his struggle though, pushed through the AIIM presentation quite very well (the pressure on him was real). His home turned into our mini Rosny-sous-Bois during AIIM, giving the whole team a budget Bangalore trip to remember.
Every time things went south in the lab, you’d hear a calm “we’re in this together,” and somehow, that was enough to keep us going. While he'd always say "dibs not" for bringing ice, he’d still end up doing it. Turned his confident bluffing into a legit team skill which helped us a lot.
He will think 1000 times before making any claims again on 'equal' distribution of money raised being the best sponsorship head. Also, if he hasn’t already told you, he has worked with Dr. Dipshikha Chakravortty at IISc Bangalore.
Unfiltered and unpredictable, he is a full-blown diva with a high-pitched “Hii..” and it is this chaotic energy that keeps us all alive.
From random reel audios he got us all addicted to, to being the team yapper who brought in the money, Paarth did it all.

If you ever found our team in the middle of a crisis, emotional meltdown, or general chaos, there’s a good chance Kalyan...
20/05/2025

If you ever found our team in the middle of a crisis, emotional meltdown, or general chaos, there’s a good chance Kalyani Kore was already there, sitting cross-legged, calmly sorting it all out with the energy of a tired mom and a surprisingly patient diplomat. The chillest hothead. The most annoyingly lovable human you’ll ever meet.
There was this one time, UNFORGETTABLE- when she told us she might be having a heart attack. Instant panic. Alarms. We genuinely thought we were losing her. Fast forward a few hours, and she was spotted vibing in Rohini. Same evening. Smiling. Zero guilt. Full chaos. This was also not a one-time thing, post-gastric scare? Same Rohini. Same vibe. At this point, it’s basically her coping mechanism.
Kalyani was also the reason our homepage existed. She casually convinced her boyfriend to make it. No force, no drama. Just the usual Kal magic.
She was one of the last ones to give up on the frog idea. Supported it like her life depended on it. Also, an OG member of the Gowda cult would probably start a revolution if someone disrespected that clan.
Now, try calling her in an emergency. She won’t pick up. She’ll definitely text back with a “ssup?”, just… minutes later.
Her laptop is practically held together by willpower and a “do not touch, fragile” sticky note and still, she’s always producing some of the best-written content this team has ever seen. 
Paris brought out a whole new Kalyani. Serving outfits like a fashion blogger, casually walking barefoot through the city (because heels can only go so far), and a bro managed to make a Turkish guy fall for her within five seconds. We’re not exaggerating. He literally turned around and came back to get her digits.
This girl will sleep like a dead log on the world’s worst train seats, but somehow still look tired EOD. 
When the team finally won “Best Promo Video,” Kalyani  who put her heart into winning it, she was in the restroom. Nearly missed her moment on stage. She ran, confused, half-blind, still looked stunning, and somehow pulled it off. A very Kalyani moment.

An anxious yet creative individual who operated best under pressure, panic mode seemed to be the reason for her innovati...
14/05/2025

An anxious yet creative individual who operated best under pressure, panic mode seemed to be the reason for her innovative problem-solving abilities. This, perhaps, was the only reason why we were able to pull out one of the best education iGEM IISER TVM has ever had. Our ultimate Paris navigator, she was alert two stops before the actual one and made sure we were never late or missed a connecting metro. Thanks to her 1 GB data, using which she (all of us) survived the entire Paris trip.

A constant source of support and someone you could always rely on, amazingly organised, but still constantly second-guessed and worried if things might go wrong. She owned the majority of the iGEM white board with the best education chart, showcasing her diligence and commitment to the team’s success with a capital “D”. Remarkably, she was the head of the only department where things went somewhat according to plan, demonstrating her strong organizational and leadership skills. Huge shoutout to her and Sushal for making Rhetor x iGEM collab exceptional by getting the best speaker, hail hepatopotato !!
Minnu had a great sense of humor and would roast anyone with her clever new names, and lifting the mood during stressful moments. During the wiki freeze, she never let anyone touch her education page, fiercely guarding her work and before the wiki freeze, she activated “nagavalli mode,” and we all got our stuff together (mostly out of fear, but hey, it worked).

She was the team lead’s undisputed favorite daughter and lovingly earned the title of “mom of the group,” keeping us on track and semi-sane.Thanks to her for being such a wonderful cook in Paris. Still can’t forget our iconic Frankie and lemon rice, which she made along with Sushal.
From keeping us sane to looking after us like a desi mom abroad, Minnu did it all.

Caption credits: Team iGEM'24
Design credits: Shreya, Angel, Sushal

Lowkey chaotic, highkey adorable and a real team player with an undoubted hustle - Angel is that girl who’s the quiet st...
16/04/2025

Lowkey chaotic, highkey adorable and a real team player with an undoubted hustle - Angel is that girl who’s the quiet strength behind many of our smooth operations. Our social media whisperer (who requires at least five lagging reminders to post), she has a sixth sense for free snacks - follow her and you’ll never miss a samosa again. A skilled tab-switcher and full-time procrastinator, she survived weekend meetings by snoozing through most of them.
As our unofficial “Milli-Q girl,” she handled all the little (but important!) tasks that kept our project moving forward, never looking for credit. She was an incredible asset to our education team - so much so that she had kids singing by the end of our very first school outreach session.
Though her travel card may have mysteriously vanished mere hours after purchase (RIP 30 euros), her enthusiasm for the project never did. Her suitcase may have been bursting with iGEM goodies by Day 3, but so was her heart - open to meeting new people, socializing with other teams, and soaking in every bit of the experience.
A true listener and an even better friend, she held space for our rants, our panic, and our laughs (until she’s sleep-deprived or hungry… then you might want to tread carefully). iGEM may be over, but her stories from it will definitely stick around a little longer.
Thank you angel for filling out all the small gaps we had and for making sure that these little details are left unattended.

Caption credits: iGEM’24
Post Credits: Sushal and Shreya

Introducing the main character of Team PETal: Ilaksha.The brain behind the name and half the team’s discipline. You’ll k...
14/04/2025

Introducing the main character of Team PETal: Ilaksha.
The brain behind the name and half the team’s discipline. You’ll know she’s entered the room when the fan mysteriously changes direction and if she’s not hogging airflow, she’s hogging attention with her iconic, earthquake-level sneeze. (Don’t worry though, her laugh is just as powerful and way more contagious.)
She’s the lone warrior who picked up the Entrepreneurship and PI track and carried it like a champ, through pitch decks, rewrites, after narrowing herself down from almost every department under the sun. Every meeting, you can bet she had an opinion ranging from 10/10 relevance to “what even was that.” And yes, she absolutely will ask for a veg version of shawarma, just like she once wanted a veg pepperoni pizza. Classic Ilaksha.
You might think she's all brains and plans, but trust us - her giant jewellery box, fashion critiques, and 100 lip glosses were the true reason we slayed Paris. That and the way she’d wake the entire room at 6 am for the AIIM day, after staying up all night herself. “Straight back, MacBook in front, aggressively typing” pfft, that’s the visual guys. But the inner monologue? “Paarth, paisa kab aayega? I wanna buy skincare.”
From passionately lifting weights at 6 pm (okay fine, former gym rat but only the bottle remains now RIP) to lifting everyone’s morale, cooking survival food for her 4 vegetarian “kids,” and being the ultimate travel mom even extending her kindness to the poor wiki volunteers she mothered too, Ilaksha you’re simply irreplaceable.
And if you ever got a reply past midnight from the PETal group, it was probably her.
Thank you, Ilaksha, for being the team’s force, food, and fashion all in one.

Starting with Jaz, aka Jagruti, obviously because it’s only fair, considering she claimed the top spot long ago. Stridin...
11/04/2025

Starting with Jaz, aka Jagruti, obviously because it’s only fair, considering she claimed the top spot long ago. Striding into the room with a signature smirk and iconic half-bun, she’d plop onto her half-designated bench (cross-legged, of course)
Jaz showed up on time to almost every sponsorship meeting—except for the ones she skipped in the name of true love: Chemistry (priorities, people). But we'd often find her near D Block later.
In the education team, Jaz made her mark—and let it be known that if she’d taken the wheel completely, we’d be looking at an entirely new outreach department by now.
As our collaboration co-pilot, she helped bridge connections with teams like REC Chennai. And when it came to F(Tr)ashion?Jaz didn’t just organise the event—she was the event, stealing the spotlight with her hardwork and dedication stitched through a summer of chaotic couture. And her elaborate DNA model was a saviour during our outreach until it broke apart on the bus. She balled her way through iGEM, giving us her all (and occasionally giving yeast experiments a shot, too). As a true social media member, she'll make you take 100 photos from the same angle until every inch of outfit gets the justice it deserves.
Her attribution form seemed to magically shrink overnight (to this day, we’re still not sure how)
Jagruti gave her all to iGEM, be it designing, organising, or even stepping into the wet lab experiments now and then. Whether it was behind the scenes, on stage, or in the lab, she made her presence count.

Caption credits : iGEM'24
Design credits : Shreya, Angel, Sushal

One of the best human practice advisors we could’ve asked for, from leading teams last year to always being there for us...
02/04/2025

One of the best human practice advisors we could’ve asked for, from leading teams last year to always being there for us, even from home. Whether it was adding that perfect pinch of masala in outreach activities or giving that extra heart-punch in iHP, Aabha Shams had her opinions on everything, making sure we always had her support. Grateful for all the wisdom and care she brought to the table.
Rohit, we cannot thank you enough for your unwavering support and mentorship. From teaching us the basics of microbiology to patiently guiding us through Western blots, your knowledge and assistance throughout the project have been invaluable. When we faced setbacks, you ensured we could continue whether by troubleshooting experiments or providing the antibodies that kept our work from coming to a halt. From the very beginning, you’ve been there, making the learning process smoother and more manageable.
A heartfelt thank you to Ashwathy for being the quiet force behind our wetlab’s smooth functioning. From patiently sharing comp cells and Gibson mix to staying late for electroporations, you were always there to save the day. Your calm presence and willingness to help whether with electro cuvettes or our many last-minute needs meant the world to us. Above all, thank you for not judging us despite all the chaos and questionable decisions we made in the lab. We’re truly grateful for your support, encouragement throughout!

Our iGEM experience wouldn’t have been the same without your help. Your support has made all the difference, and we are truly grateful. Thank you for everything!

The success of our iGEM journey was driven by a team of dedicated P*s who went above and beyond. For us, that guiding fo...
30/03/2025

The success of our iGEM journey was driven by a team of dedicated P*s who went above and beyond. For us, that guiding force was Dr. Vijay and Dr. Ravi, whose unwavering support shaped our project.
Dr. Vijay’s mentorship was invaluable as he helped us navigate early challenges, mediated administrative processes, and was deeply involved in every aspect of our work. The dry lab team relied on him at every step, and his commitment to guiding us made all the difference. His expertise wasn’t just an advantage but the backbone of our progress.
Despite his responsibilities as HOD, Dr. Ravi remained a steadfast pillar of support. He ensured we had the necessary permissions without delay, always granting them with his highly curated signature. His expertise in biochemistry and past iGEM experience were instrumental in refining our approach. No matter the hour, whether it was a last-minute document or a crucial reminder about the wiki deadline, he was always there, ensuring nothing slipped through the cracks. He also made sure our iGEM room had a fan, both metaphorically as a constant source of encouragement and quite literally by arranging for one when we needed it.
Together, they never let our achievements go unnoticed, proudly sharing them even with the Director. They provided the perfect balance of guidance and patience, never once turning us away despite our endless interruptions. Their dedication and belief in us made this journey truly special. We are incredibly grateful to both for making our iGEM experience unforgettable.

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Vithura
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