Researchers from the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) in collaboration with a group from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai, have identified certain natural products that could help in treating Covid-19.
Their work has been recently published in an internationally reputed journal named ‘Molecules’ on the holy day of Ganesh Chaturthi.
The research team constituted of two Professors, Dr Himansu Sekhar Biswal from NISER and Dr Arijeet Samal from IMSc, PhD student RP Vivek-Ananth and intern Nithin Rajan from IMSc, and integrated MSc student Abhijit Rana from NISER.
The research team has developed a computer-aided drug design methodology that identifies potential drug candidates to treat Covid-19 from a phytochemical library. Traditional systems of Indian medicine including Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani have over centuries acquired invaluable knowledge on medicinal plants spanning the rich biodiversity of the subcontinent for treating various ailments, including the viral infections.
It is one of the foremost reasons that the authors decided to explore the largest resource on Indian phytochemicals called Indian Medicinal Plants, Phytochemistry and Therapeutics (IMPPAT) database in order to find appropriate drug candidates.