Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
it is estimated that of the 2.5 billion people at risk of contracting malaria today, there are one billion people who are actually carrying malarial parasites. Two million to three million of them die each year. The death toll could rise to eight million a year due to the spread …
electrical signals from genes travel along a dna information "superhighway', according to the findings of Jacqueline Barton and her team at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, usa . Moreover, the signals can course through distances required to affect gene activity along dna ( Chemistry & Biology , Vol …
RESEARCHERS at the Stanford University of usa have shown, rather ingeniously, how a puzzling observation in molecular biology might be put to practical use in developing new drugs and finding specific genetic targets of drugs. The observation is one of so-called redundancy: in many organisms, and in respect to many …
in what is considered a significant step, the National Cancer Institute ( nci ), Bethesda, usa, has urged thousands of us doctors to use chemotherapy along with radiation while treating cervical cancer after studies showed that such treatment can halve death rates. Randomised clinical trials conducted in various hospitals across …
nobel laureate Linus Pauling, who died at the age of 93, consistently extolled the benefits of vitamin c . He was said to stir 18 gramme of the vitamin into his daily orange juice. Last April, however, researchers at the University of Leicester, uk , reported that a supplement of …
A new strain of the influenza A virus ( h9n2 ) has been discovered in two patients by the virus unit of the Hong Kong department of health. The two patients are girls, aged one and four, who recovered fully from an influenza-like illness in March. A typical influenza virus …
the Japanese government is considering revising its guidelines on gene therapy. The present rules, which were introduced in 1994, limits researchers to its use only for treatment of terminal diseases such as cancer and aids . The move follows an application by researchers to Osaka University's ethics committee for permission …
though we usually do not think of congested streets and hour-long traffic jams when we talk of cells and their functions, on a metaphorical level, jam-packed city streets and the microscopic cells of the human body do not differ much. Both experience the typical rush hour symptoms, though the way …
tumours are a form of uncontrolled tissue growth. One of the main reasons why a malignant tumour can lead to death is that the tumour secretes factors that induce the growth of blood vessels in its neighbourhood. Thus, by increasingly monopolising the supply of nutrients, the tumour succeeds in starving …
Matching blood from the scene of a crime to a suspect may soon be easier, thanks to an antibody test. Researchers say the test is quicker than conventional DNA tests, and also much cheaper. The test exploits "individual-specific autoantibodies' that are specific to each person. Scientists at Miragen, a biotech …
Many doctors have been quite concerned about the increasing number of caesarean babies being born in hospitals. And many suspect that a large number of them are done merely for the convenience of the obstetricians. Now, a new finding by Canadian researchers Patricia Bosk and El-Khodor of McGill University in …
a pill-sized transmitter, quite similar to the one swallowed by us astronaut-turned-senator-turned-astronaut John Glenn to measure his body temperature on his recent space shuttle mission, could soon help surgeons monitor the progress of foetuses following surgery in the womb. The silicon-coated transmitter, which is 35 millimetres (mm) long and 9mm …
for the first time the us and the uk scientists have mapped the entire gene pattern of an animal, a tiny worm. This achievement is providing clues to human health problems such as cancer, ageing and Alzheimer's disease. "This worm is really an animal just as we are. It has …
Early musical training appears to improve memory for words, claims a new study. Agnes S Chan at the Chinese University in Hong Kong gave a series of verbal memory tests to 30 female students who had had at least six years of music lessons before 12 years of age and …
when William Gibson, the then-unknown author of cyber-age science fiction penned Neuromancer in the 1980s he had no way of knowing that many of his ideas, would become reality in this century itself. One of his ideas was to eliminate all visual display units and tv s by projecting images …
alzheimer's disease is the commonest form of dementia afflicting millions across the world. Patients with the disease slowly loose all powers of thought and are eventually reduced to vegetables completely dependant on others for their survival. A lot of research has gone to find a cure or, at least, a …
Breathalysers for diagnosing the cause of a sore throat or serious diseases such as asthma and diabetes will soon revolutionise medicine, predict researchers from Imperial College, London. These devices will look out for chemicals in the breath of patients that are associated with certain infections or illnesses. Respiratory specialist Peter …
Honey contains low-to-moderate levels of disease-fighting antioxidants with the dark-coloured variety containing more antioxidants than do lighter ones, US researchers announced recently. According to researchers May Berenbaum from University of Illinois in Urbana, USA, honey might "play an important
