The team of IIT Madras researchers made use of computational tools, the team studied its two close variants – SARS-CoV and NL63.

The team of IIT Madras researchers were led by Professor M. Michael Gromiha, Department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, IIT Madras, Dr. Puneet Rawat and Dr. Sherlyn Jemimah, Research Scholars from IIT Madras.

IIT Madras researchers study great transmission potential

IIT Madras researchers set out to understand how the spike proteins (which enables the coronavirus to penetrate human cells and cause COVID-19) of these different virus strains are interacting with the ACE2 receptors of human cells and how this interaction is affecting their transmission potential and severity of the disease.

‘SARS-CoV’ can be considered a ‘sibling’ of the subfamily beta coronavirus ‘SARS-CoV-2.’

The ‘NL63’ belongs to sub-family alpha coronavirus can be considered as a ‘cousin’ of SARS-CoV-2, say IIT Madras researchers.

SARS-CoV is more severe than SARS-CoV-2 whereas NL63 shows milder symptoms than SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.

The IIT Madras researchers set out to find the reason behind the mildness and severity of disease caused by these viruses.

From the previous studies, it was realized that all three viruses gain entry to the human cell via ACE2 receptors which are present on human cells.

The finds of the study by IIT Madras researchers is published in the well-known international journal ‘Proteins: Structure, Function, Bioinformatics.’

The Research Paper can be downloaded from the following link – ‘https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/prot.26024’

Speaking on the work done by IIT Madras researchers Professor M. Michael Gromiha said Coronaviruses are not new to humans. Coronavirus such as NL63 causes only mild symptoms, he said.

There exist some common functional aspects among NL63 and viruses such as SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, both of which are relatively severe.

Our effort is to find answers to these questions to an extent possible by studying the interaction mechanism of these viruses with the organs of human body, he said.

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Using various computational tools, the team of IIT Madras researchers found that the interaction area between spike protein and ACE2, surrounding hydrophobicity and interaction energy play a key role in deciding the severity and transmission potential of coronaviruses.

IIT Madras researchers also found that the distant cousin NL63 has unique ACE2 binding sites compared to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.

However, some of the binding site regions are conserved and any change in these regions is evolutionarily prohibited.

Further, IIT Madras researchers found that less interaction area, surrounding hydrophobicity and interaction energy for the interface residues are the main reasons for the mild severity of NL63 coronavirus.

There had been previous outbreaks as well. In 2002, one of its members SARS-CoV played havoc and in the year 2012, MERS-another member of the same family also spread widely.

Now, SARS-CoV-2 has spread around the world causing COVID-19 and, like SARS-CoV and MERS, the SARS-CoV-2 also spreads through sneezing, coughing and via respiratory droplets but its transmission potential turned out to be high, say IIT Madras researchers.

Such a study, IIT Madras researchers said, will help find ways to reduce the gravity of the severe disease-causing coronaviruses and develop effective therapeutic interventions, which can be used across ACE2 binding corona-virus strains and potentially other viruses that may target ACE2 for infection.

The team is also working on repurposing the known drugs, which target the identified conserved regions on the viral S-protein and can help in treating coronavirus infections.

The schedule to submit applications for JEE Advanced 2025 has been announced along with that of AAT 2025 registration,

Application process for AAT starts after result declaration of JEE Advanced. This year too, the trend is no different.

Who will conduct AAT 2025?

AAT 2025 will be conducted by IIT Kanpur and is expected to see a participation in impressive numbers. The same institution is conducting JEE Advanced 2025.

Details about the exam are available on the official website mentioned above. Students who pass AAT 2025 will be able to study BArch in IIT Roorkee, IIT Kharagpur and IIT (BHU) Varnasi.

Who can take up AAT 2025 registration?

Students who have passed JEE Advanced 2025 with required qualifying marks can take up AAT 2025 registration. Applying for JEE Advanced requires a pass in JEE Mains.

Candidates who have passed plus two with maths, physics and chemistry as subjects will be able to take up JEE Mains registration. The process to take up JEE Advanced AAT 2025 registration is online.

1. The URL has to be typed into the browser and the webpage has to be allowed to download.

2. Once the website is available, students should click the link for JEE Advanced AAT 2025 registration and enter JEE Advanced 2025 registration number, their date of birth, mobile number and email address.

3. Post providing the above details, applicants will be asked if they are interested in AAT. Students have to answer ‘Yes’ to take up JEE Advanced AAT 2025 registration.

4. Candidates have to provide the required information and choose the centers where they wish to write the exam and submit the form.

5. They will receive message indicating successful completion of JEE Advanced AAT 2025 registration.

The message has to be downloaded and a printout of it has to be taken and preserved for use in future. This could be of use during the admission process.

Website for JEE Advanced 2025/AAT 2025 Registration is Here

Exam pattern

Candidates who have completed JEE Advanced AAT 2025 registration must also know the exam pattern if they are to score good marks.

Those who have taken up AAT 2025 registration can take up the exam which will be held in offline mode, as a pen and paper mode test.

Candidates will have three hours time to answer all the questions. The medium of the test is English.

The sections in the question paper are – Imagination and aesthetic sensitivity, three dimensional perception, Geometrical drawing, Freehand drawing and Architectural Awareness.

Syllabus for AAT 2025

The next thing to do after completing AAT 2025 registration is focus on preparing for the test.

The subjects to be studied while preparing for AAT 2025 are mentioned below. Candidates can also refer the official website for more information on syllabus when the registration for the exam begins:

Geometrical Drawing

Exercises in geometrical drawing containing lines, angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, circles, etc. Study of plan (top view), elevation (front or side views) of simple solid objects like prisms, cones, cylinders, cubes, splayed surface holders, etc.

Freehand Drawing

This would comprise of simple drawing depicting the total object in its right form and proportion, surface texture, relative location and details of its component parts in appropriate scale.

Common domestic or day-to-day life usable objects like furniture, equipment, etc., from memory.

Three dimension perception

Understanding and appreciation of three-dimensional forms with building elements, colour, volume and orientation. Visualization through structuring objects in memory.

Architectural Awareness

General interest and awareness of famous architectural creations – both national and international, places and personalities (architects, designers, etc.) in the related domain.

Imagination and Aesthetic Sensitivity

Composition exercise with given elements. Context mapping.

Creativity check through innovative uncommon test with familiar objects. Sense of colour grouping or application.

The medium of the test is English. The sections in the question paper are – Imagination and aesthetic sensitivity, three dimensional perception, Geometrical drawing, Freehand drawing and Architectural Awareness.

The admit cards obtained for JEE Advanced 2025 can also be used to gain entry into the test centers for AAT 2024.

Point to remember

Candidates can visit the official website of JEE Advanced exam for more information on JEE Advanced AAT 2025 registration and other related topics.

The students have to quickly take up the AAT 2025 registration as the time left would be very short.

Like JEE Advanced exam where the registration is open for a longer duration, that of AAT 2025 registration is open for only a short period.

The details about AAT 2025 registration provided above are for general understanding purpose of the students.

There could be some changes in the exam, students can visit the official website of the exam at regular intervals to receive updates.

More information could be provided as the time for AAT 2025 registration would commence, till that time, students can refer other sources also.

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