Stories of Science and the Scientists…

Welcome everyone, thank you for visiting! If you have a question, comment, or just want to chat about science, research or academics, I would love to hear from you!

Who is this for?

This blog is a space for anyone curious about science, expressed through a mix of articles, humor, and poetry, all inspired by actual research and lab life. The goal is to keep the science accurate, creative, and accessible to everyone without the dense jargon.

Why this Blog?

Science is in every part of our lives. It’s in the food we eat, the health choices we make, and the everyday questions we ask about the world around us.

Sharing science openly but accurately sparks curiosity, builds awareness, and strengthens public trust. It helps people make better and more confident decisions about their lives while cutting through misinformation and confusion.

A bit about Vandana

Vandana works as a protein biochemist and structural biologist, exploring the atomic architecture of proteins. She loves translating science into everyday stories through articles, poetry, humor, and photography.

Her research journey started with proteins and microscopes, but along the way, she became fascinated by science communication. The idea came from explaining her research to her parents over the years. Balancing simple analogies with scientific accuracy is always a challenge but finding that sweet spot is what she aims for with her audience.

She did her PhD at IIT Bombay working on Plasmodium (malaria parasite) proteases, followed by postdoctoral work at the NIH on DNA-repair proteases and mitochondrial fusion proteins. Now, she works as a postdoc at USUHS on viral systems, studying how viruses infect cells and how structural biology can help find ways to block them.

Vandana specializes in protein structural biology, and using advanced microscopy techniques like X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and cryo-tomography, she studies proteins and their interactions. Since proteins are made of twenty amino acids but fold into many different shapes and functions, she focuses on understanding why a protein behaves a certain way, what structures drive that behavior, and how to target those features for designing therapeutics.

She is a plant-based food enthusiast who enjoys reading and writing about alternative proteins besides being an active plant-based foodie!

She is usually up for hiking, outdoors, photography, and a cup of tea:)