Expanding the Indian Knowledge System inspired biomedical science in the USA

Summary: To meet the complex challenge of the 21st century, science needs the support of philosophy. Yet, modern scientists, especially biomedical scientists, rarely seek philosophical guidance to gain conceptual insight or formulate new ideas/theories on basic science as well as public health. In this context, the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) may play a key role as it is enriched in great philosophical thoughts. We and others have applied philosophical ontology to gain insight into stem cell biology, especially stemness (the identity and state of a stem cell) [1-4] (Figure 1-2). Importantly, by implementing the Vedic philosophy of "Avatarvada" and "Satavata Tarka" (Figure 3), we have gained insight into stem cell altruism and stem cell niche defense [3-5] as well as global health diseases like tuberculosis and covid19 [3], [5-6]. Moreover, based on Vedic Altruism's metaphysic of community healing through temple networks (Figure 4), we have developed a hybrid digital therapeutic regime for bio-social medicine, an emerging area of global health practice [7-8]. These are a few examples of the practical applicability of Vedic philosophy-inspired biological altruism in clarifying and formulating new concepts in stem cell biology and its application in diseases such as tuberculosis and cancer. Significantly, these examples shine the need for the IKS for modern science to progress. In this context, as per new UGC guidelines, we have developed a Vedic Altruism-based Project course for the undergraduate and graduate students of IKS. We have achieved this success through the KaviKrishna lab at Guwahati (est. 2010), and its sister lab, the Thoreau Lab for Global Health at Lowell, Massachusetts (est. 2018), plus two philosophical centers, the Suad Muni Pond campus of rural Sualkuchi (near Guwahati), and Walden Pond campus of Concord (near Boston, Massachusetts). The Walden Pond is the site, where the famous American Vedic philosopher Henry David Thoreau meditated on Hindu philosophy. Reviving the traditional Vedic Philosophy and Science study at Walden Pond has been a key mission for us since 2015 when Dr. Bikul Das talked about this plan in a speech at Harvard University (https://youtu.be/XyUhs6rCJcM). Thoreau and his mentor Emerson had regular ancient Indian philosophical and scientific discussions at Harvard, but that tradition is somewhat lost or not being fully utilized for the advancement of modern biomedical science, especially stem cell science. We now would like to revive Thoreau's tradition by expanding Thoreau Lab for Global Health to Kendall Square, a world-renowned hub of innovation, ingenuity, and imagination (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendall_Square) that serves as the tech hub of MIT/Harvard and allied institutions, including Forsyth Institute, where Dr. Das worked as a faculty for five years. The Thoreau Lab at Kendall Square will then connect to greater India's emerging IKS academics through KaviKrishna Laboratory, Guwahati. Through these two centers as one hub, the International Vedic Center of Health Sciences (Figure 5), we would like to accomplish the following objectives in the next three years.

1. Consolidate our gain in the application of IKS in bio-medical science (Figure 1-3).
2. Consolidate our gain in the application of IKS in Public Health and Global Health Theory (Figure 4).
3. Development of an IKS based Medical Humanities research project for USA students interested to pursue short term research in rural India.

References: 

1. Laplane L, Mantovani P, Adolphs R, Chang H, Mantovani A, McFall-Ngai M, et al. Why science needs philosophy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2019;116(10):3948-52. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.190035711
2. Das B, B.-M.R., Tsui M, Lotfi S, Tsuchida R, Felsher DW, Yeger H., HIF-2α suppresses p53 to enhance the stemness and regenerative potential of human embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells, 2012; 30(8):1685-1695. PMID: 22689594; DOI: 10.1002/stem.1142
3. Pathak L, Gayan S, Pal B, Talukdar J, Bhuyan S, Sandhya S, et al. Corona virus activatesan altruistic stem cell mediated defense mechanism that reactivates dormant tuberculosis: implications in COVID-19 pandemic. Am J Pathol, 2021;7:1255–68. PMID: 33887214; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2021.03.011
4. Akeel IS. Oral Microbiome Induced Tumor Stemness Pathway in Oral Cancer. PhD thesis. Harvard School of Dental Medicine Boston, Massachusetts, 2020. https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/37365590.
5. Das B, Pathak L, Gayan S, Pal B, Saikia P, Baishya T, et al. Stem cell basis of a host driven transmission of antigen packed aerosols: a novel mechanism of natural vaccination for tuberculosis. BioRxiv, 2020;11.14.382572. DOI:10.1101/2020.11.14.382572
6. Das B, Kashino SS, Pulu I, Kalita D, Swami V, Yeger H, Felsher DW, Campos-Neto A: CD271(+)  bone marrow mesenchymal   stem cells may provide a niche for dormant Mycobacterium  tuberculosis. Sci Transl Medicine, 2013: 5(170). PMID:23363977.DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3004912
7. Baishya T, Pathak L, Das R, Baishya S, Saikia P, Mitra S et a. A Vedic Jiva UpakaraCikitsha Tantra (Vedic altruism) based telemedicine program for rural health care in India. Proceeding of the North East Research Conclave, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.2022. https://zenodo.org/record/8062404
8. Das, B. Kavikrishna Laboratory: Recovering the spirit of Jiva Upakara Tantra (Vedic Altruism).Kavikrishna Prakash.Sualkuchi.2019, ISBN:978-81-939858-3-0https://www.amazon.in/Recovering-Spirit-Upakara-Tantra-Altruism/dp/8193985834/