Research Projects

Plastic pollution became a main challenge for human beings as demonstrated by the increasing dispersion of plastic waste into the environment. Microplastics (MPs) are the small fragments of the plastics between 1 µm and 5 mm of size. Nowadays microplastics (MPs) have gained attention due to their prevalence and abundance in our everyday live. MPs have been detected in household items such as sugar, salt, honey, seafood, tap water, water bottles and food items wrapped in plastic. Once ingested, these tiny particles can travel to internal organ such as the kidney, liver, digestive system, reproductive system, and nervous system and cause adverse effects on the cellular level. Living organisms are now constantly exposed to microplastic, and besides their huge toxic potential, they can also act as carriers of various hazardous elements. Kidney is the most vulnerable organ as it filters toxic materials from the body. Inspite of toxic impact of MPs, studies on the effects of MPs on kidney are less elucidated. Therefore, the present study has been planned to investigate the molecular mechanisms of micro plastic induced renal toxicity by using genetically tractable model organisms Drosophila melanogaster. This study is also planned to identify therapeutic molecules to mitigate the toxic effects of microplastic induced renal toxicity.