Page 462 - AWSAR 2.0

438 || AWSAR Awarded Popular Science Stories - 2019
Prioritizing Between Eating Nutrient-Restricted Food versus Less Food: Does It Matter? Yes, It Does!
Ms. Krittika Sudhakar*
Email: krittikacbe@gmail.com
The average expected life of an individual at birth is around 72 years (WHO, 2016), with this trend being reported on a global population, the debates on the feasibility of increasing lifespan (most importantly health span) of the older population have been tested with upcoming researches on geriatric care and gerontology. It has indeed been shown that the older population can live a longer life with various modifications and adaptations in their diet intake (such as Diet Restriction, DR) and lifestyle. However, the beauty of DR studies lies in the essence of significantly delaying the inevitable process of ageing rather than perturbing it.
The research of nutritional geometry studies on a large scale is done on model organisms, including yeast, fruit flies and
rodents such as mice, with intent to achieve maximum translatability to humans. Intake of a nutrient-restricted diet can positively influence metabolism, lifespan, body weight and overall health. Hence, we aim to study the role of restricting protein source (dry yeast) in the diet of fruit flies using Drosophila melanogaster as the model organism. This will enable us to understand the level of restricted proteins required to develop normally and carry out more efficient physiological and metabolic processes compared with regular (but probably excess) protein intake. The writer is an INSPIRE-JRF, carrying out her fundamental research focused on how Protein Restriction (PR henceforth) can influence various traits in D. melanogaster, under the guidance of Dr Pankaj Yadav in Fly Lab instituted in SASTRA
* Ms. Krittika Sudhakar, PhD Scholar from Sastra Deemed to be University, Tamil Nadu, is pursuing her research on “Long Term Protein Restriction on the Physiology of Drosophila melanogaster”. Her popular science story entitled “Prioritizing between Eating Nutrient Restricted Food Versus less Food: Does it Matter? Yes, it Does!” has been selected for AWSAR Award.