In its continuing endeavour to promote science and knowledge sharing, Science India Forum Qatar (SIF-Q) recently conducted its 10th webinar. The topic was ‘Microbiome and Nutrition’ for school teachers.
Dr Arvind Ranade, scientist with Vigyan Prasar – Department of Science & Technology – Government of India, graced the occasion as the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ranade highlighted the importance of nutrition and its relevance in present times. He also lauded the efforts of SIF-Q in conducting a series of webinars to promote the exchange of scientific knowledge for capacity building among the teaching faculty.
The guest speaker was Dr Rashmi Kulkarni, who holds a doctorate in molecular genetics from the Ohio State University and specialises in developmental genetics. 
With her research experience as a molecular biologist and evolutionary genetics expert in unravelling functions of non-coding RNAs on metastatic vs non-metastatic breast cancer at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, she kept the audience engrossed with an in-depth talk on the topic of ‘How human are we? Our microbiome and nutrition’.
Dr Rashmi explained the concept of microbiomes in the human body and how it is uniquely defined for each individual depending on various factors such as genetics, environment and nutrition. 
She elucidated the relation between certain gut microbiota and the various diseases arising out of it, due to the lack of those microbiomes. She expounded the theory of how a good diet could help balance the diversity of gut microbiome to give a healthier life. She encouraged healthy eating by emphasising the concept of ‘eat a rainbow’.
The highly informative presentation ended with a question-and-answer session and was followed with closing remarks by Dr Ranade. The webinar was well attended with over 100 teachers from Qatar. Parents and students also joined the session through live streaming on the YouTube channel of SIF-Q.