Biblio-talk: Actually, Colors Speak
Book by Dr. Minhaj Sirajuddin and Ipsa Jain
‘Actually Colors Speak’ is a graphically-illustrated popular science book which explores the world of colors in nature, authored by Dr. Minhaj Sirajuddin of DBT-inStem and Ipsa Jain. Edited by Somadutta Karak and published by Notion Press, this book is a sneak-peek into cellular and molecular aspects of color change in animals – fully illustrated and explained through engaging conversations between a camera, a binocular, and a microscope that try to understand the wonderful world of colors in animals. This book is indeed a colorful science tale ideal for all ages.
Dr. Minhaj Sirajuddin is a faculty at the Cardiovascular Biology and Disease theme (CBDT), DBT-inStem where he has established a research program to study cytoskeleton and contractile systems at various organization scales using cryoEM, biochemistry, cell biology and microscopy, thereby bridging the knowledge gap between clinical findings and molecular mechanism. He has also worked in a documentary film about forgotten Indian Scientists recently. Not the least, Minhaj is a DBT-WA India Alliance Intermediate Fellow and a member of EMBO-Young Investigator Program (EMBO-YIP).
Ipsa is a scientist turned illustrator. She pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at inStem with Dr. Minhaj Sirajjudin. Precisely, here’s where the duo came up with the concept of this interesting vibrant book. Further, Ipsa is interested in telling stories of science using visual media. She uses images, zines, and books as her medium. She is currently a visual communication faculty at Srishti Manipal Institute. For more about her work check out her website – Ipsawonders.com.
This recently launched popular science book was also featured recently on Mint Lounge, dated Jan 26, 2022. Explore and dive into the world of why animals change colors in an interactive conversation format between the binocular, camera & microscope as we speak to the authors in this interview.
To own a copy of this book, click here or here.
Credits
Guest: Actually, Colors Speak book authors Dr. Minhaj Sirajuddin and Dr. Ipsa Jain
Host: Ayantika Sen and Charu Gupta
Video recording: Vikramsingh Gujar
Video editing: Virender Singh
Music: Aditya Sutar
Special thanks to Amrita Tripathy and Dr. Tina Mukherjee from DBT-inStem, Bangalore, India
Biopatrika and SciKonnect Team
Meet the Hosts
Charu Gupta
Expert in hematological diseases and malignancies, Dr. Charu Gupta is dedicated to improving the quality of patient life. This multi-talented cancer researcher enjoys creating content for her food blog “The Indian Food Explorer”, travel, horse riding and swimming.
Vikramsingh Gujar
An experienced Biomedical scientist with focus on inflammation research, Dr. Vikram Gujar is working as a postdoc at Northwestern University, Chicago. Besides science, he enjoys hiking, cooking and playing Bansuri.