The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
A TEAEM of researchers from the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, has isolated two fungal and one bacterial strains which are capable of removing colour and heavy metals from polluted water. Mycologist R S Upadhyay and his research-studen( R K Maurya are striving to develop a water treatment …
there is good news for people who have athlete's foot, jock itch and those who have laundry baskets full of smelly socks. An acrylic fibre that can kill irritating, odour-producing microorganisms has been produced by British textile company Courtaulds. The fibres are impregnated with antifungal and antibacterial compounds that slowly …
stomach disorders, respiratory illnesses and other inflammatory malfunctions - caused due to the entry of pathogens through the linings of the gut (the intestine), the tonsils, nose and lungs - are common in India. So is the knowledge of their causative factors. What most of us are unaware of is …
As the immune system is designed to distinguish 'self' from 'foreign' and reject the latter, intestinal immunity also has a role in preventing exaggerated immune responses (allergy) by discriminating between the two. For example, touching the leaf of the Japanese sumac tree, used in making lacquer, can cause severe skin …
While it is common knowledge that physiological reasons - a good meal, an inherent biological clock, or fatigue - induce sleep, how did sleep evolve in the first place? An interesting theory on the evolutionary origin of sleep, that relates this nodding habit to gut immunity, has been published recently …
Oral vaccines are convenient to administer, and are preferred to injections. But a more important consideration for scientists while developing any vaccine is to ensure long-term protection. The key to prolonged immune protection by vaccination lies in the body's ability to develop an 'immuno-logical memory' - which means that the …
in the us, they are clubbed under the curious heading of 'Life industry': giant transnational enterprises which buy, sell and control the market for bio-industrial products. These enterprises thrive on biological materials (plants, animals and microorganisms). From seeds and agrochemicals to pharmaceuticals and veterinary medicines, these corporate heavyweights cater to …
• Screening: First, appropriate microorganisms are identified from the soil, water, air or sea. The technique usually comprises a series of tests, depending solely on the discretion of the researcher. • Strain development: The term 'strains' refers to different sub-species of microorganisms. Once an appropriate strain is identified, it is …
The first ever patent in microbiology was granted to Louis Pasteur in 1873. It was on "yeast, free from organic diseases, as an article of manufacture". This was followed by the anti-toxin serum patent (1877), the bacteria vaccine patent (1904) and the viral vaccine patent (1916). The first microorganism-based product …
genetic engineering is primarily based on the existence of a class of enzymes known as restriction enzymes. These enzymes are made by a large number of bacteria and have the ability to cut dna at or near specific recognition sites. Because of this property, when a piece of foreign dna …
behind their facade of apparent passivity, plants possess a sophisticated behavioural repertoire. In particular, they respond to pathogens by mounting a variety of self-protection measures. Recent work by Sreeganga Chandra and colleagues at Purdue University, us, provides an insight into the method by which plants resist microbial infection (Proceedings of …
contaminated soils can be cleaned if exposed to bacterial action. But the effectiveness of any such clean-up operation can seriously get hampered if the population of protozoa, which eat these bacteria, is not controlled. Bryan Travis and his team at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, us, have discovered …
when certain forms of bacteria are subjected to starvation they are rendered fit to penetrate contaminated media whose surfacial pores would otherwise be too small for their size. Reaching the undersurface, shrunk bacteria resuscitate and accomplish a task hitherto unthought of. They create a barrier between the contaminated stretches of …
manufactured products often contain unnecessary and undesirable chemicals which are generated during the production process. These chemicals are potential polluters of the environment. Ideally, it should be possible to modify the manufacturing process so as to be able to remove such unwanted substances without endangering the quality and essential properties …
Genome sequencing of Methanococcus jannaschii, at the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, US, has confirmed that this ancient-Iooking microorganism is not really a bacterium, but belongs to the phylogenetic family, Archaea (Science, VoI 271, No 5252). Methanococcus jannaschii lives near hot sea vents in temperatures close to …
A major success is on the anvil for scientists at the University of London, which could mean an end to the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Michael WilsoQ and his colleagues have been testing a number of light sensitive compounds that kill bacteria immediately when activated for a few …
A more proactive World Health Organization (WHO) seems to be in the offing. The Organi- zation intends to set up an earlywarning system El and a rapid reaction force to tackle epidemics. A section of the WHO is launchimg a global surveillance network of laboratories geared to focus on rare …
THERE may finally be an answer to disposing off the scourge of environment: plastics. Researchers at the National institute of Bioscience and Human Technology in Japan have homed in on wro bacteria that decompose polyvinyl allcohol (PvA) and polylactic acid. PvA is used in textile mills largely to prevent fibres …
IN A recent study, scientists at the On-based Columbia University have disproved the belief that cells in multicelular organisms do not stick together in a glue-iike fashion, but where to one another in the manner of bond formed by a zip (Discover, vol W NO 9). Life on earth evolved …
