Mitali Mukerji was criticised for testing Ayurveda with genomics; now she uses AI

In science, some questions are dismissed long before anyone tries to answer them.When molecular geneticist Mitali Mukerji began exploring whether Ayurveda's ancient idea of Prakriti — broadly classified into Vata, Pitta and Kapha constitutional types — might have measurable biological correlates, the reaction was not universally welcoming. Years later, a prominent American science blog would launch a sharp attack on the emerging field of Ayurgenomics, calling it “woo-omics” and questioning whether genomics was being used to legitimise traditional medicine.Mukerji, however, was not approaching the subject as an outsider to modern science. Her academic journey had been built firmly inside laboratories, genomics and molecular genetics.