India’s First Covalent Magnetic Tweezer at Ashoka University

Ashoka University houses the first Covalent Magnetic Tweezer (CMT) in India, developed by Dr. Shubhasis Haldar, who works in the field of Mechanical Biochemistry. With the help of Prof. Julio Fernandez, Columbia University, the CMT is devised to monitor the effect of force on protein molecules and can also be used for drug testing and drug designing. 

An exclusive feature of the CMT is the ability to add drugs during the experiment. Once the protein is chosen and its properties checked, a drug target is added. After its effects are analysed, the first drug can be washed out, and the second drug can be added and so on. By testing several drugs in a short span, the CMT has great potential in the field of drug designing.

The total cost of the CMT is less than 4 lakhs rupee, whereas a similar instrument will cost millions.