Aarathi prasad biography

Born in London to an Indian mother who wore only silk saris and a Caribbean father who loved the natural world, Aarathi was educated in the West Indies and the UK. After completing a PhD in molecular genetics from Imperial College London, she later trained in bioarchaeology.
AARATHI PRASAD is a writer, broadcaster, and researcher.
Biologist Aarathi Prasad spins a fascinating history of a familiar fabric.

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Biologist Aarathi Prasad spins a fascinating history of a familiar fabric

When biologist and writer Aarathi Prasad learned that a piece of fabric woven from threads produced by a Mediterranean mollusk called Pinna nobilis had been found outside Budapest in a tomb of a woman mummified in the style of the ancient Egyptians, she got on a plane.

The museum holding the remains and most of the documentation of the discovery had been destroyed in a Nazi bombing during the 1940s, but she was undeterred. “I called the museum,” says Prasad, “and asked, Is there any chance you have anything? They said, Yes, yes, come and see. . . . My daughter asked, ‘Are you some kind of spy?’ I landed in Budapest and went directly to the museum. It was closed. They let me into the basement. [The mummified woman] was wrapped in hemp, very well preserved, they said. But did you find any silk? [I asked.] They said yes, when the sarcophagus was opened there was very fine fabric covering her. But it disappeared as soon as the lid was lifted.”

The unusual, hermaphroditic Pinna nobilis mollusks anchor themse

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Aarathi Prasad

Associate Professor of Computer Science

Office: CIS 240B
Telephone: (518) 580-5223
Email: aprasad@skidmore.edu
Personal Web Page: Aarathi Prasad
Lab Website

Professor Prasad received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Dartmouth College, completing a thesis that proposed techniques to allow users to share information, when using mobile health applications, while protecting their privacy. Prior to coming to Skidmore, she worked as a visiting professor at Amherst College. Her research interest is in developing secure and usable applications for mobile and wearable technologies. She teaches computer science courses at all levels, especially in the areas of systems and security.

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Silk—a luxury fabric, a valuable trade good, and a scientific marvel. This material, created by the bombyx mori silkworm, has captivated artisans for centuries—and it captivated science presenter and writer Aarathi Prasad, who was studying the scientific potential of silk for new treatments.

That started Aarathi on a journey to explore the world of silk—not just the traditional silk we use today, but all its different varieties: wild silks, made from less famous moths; sea silks, made from mollusks; and spider silk, strong, yet significantly more difficult to harvest. This all comes together in her latest book, Silk: A History in Three Metamorphoses.

In this interview, Aarathi and I explore this world of silk, in all its forms, and why silk may be the hottest new material in biotechnology today.

Aarathi Prasad is a writer, broadcaster, and researcher interested in the intersection of science and technology with cultures, history, health, and the environment. She is also the author of In The Bonesetter’s Waiting Room: Travels Through Indian Medicine (Profil