Climate hazards, including extreme heat, are associated with increased risks of developing complications that lead to adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. These may include multiple causes of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality such as gestational diabetes, hyper tensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm birth, low birth weight and stillbirth. In …
During the years prior to the turn of the century, scientific and medical attention for genetic disorders was mainly focused on understanding rare single-gene disorders, such as Huntington's disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and cystic fibrosis (CF), as well as chromosomal abnormalities. The medical specialty of clinical genetics was established in …
Like Kerala’s Kasaragod, neighbouring Dakshina Kannada is bearing the brunt of spraying of endosulfan. While Kasaragod grabbed media spotlight and Kerala banned the pesticide, victims in Karnataka are still struggling for recognition.
Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in December announced that his government would consider banning endosulfan. The highly toxic pesticide is banned in over 70 countries. The assurance has come too late and is too little for the hundreds of people in Dakshina Kannada district, like Santosh Menzes, who are …
After a long and herculean struggle, the people of Kasaragod district succeeded in getting the Kerala government to ban the deadly pesticide Endosulfan. In the meantime, 400 lives have been lost according to government figures, hundreds have been maimed and a much greater number are bedridden.So imagine our surprise when …
Kerala government has been pressing the Centre to impose a country-wide ban on endosulfan. But its own track reocrd hasn't been impressive. The ban on endosulfan in Kerala has proved ineffective and the pesticide is being smuggled in the state. A recent survey shows more children are falling victim, Down …
It is called the mango city. But of late, Muthalamada panchayat in Kerala’s Palakkad district has gained notoriety for excessive use of endosulfan in its mango orchards. Its effect is showing on people living there. When seven-year-old Sharanya was born, her parents Rukmini and Chandran were relieved the baby was …
CHIEF minister of Kerala V S Achuthanandan on November 23 announced a relief package for the victims of endosulfan in Kasaragod district. The package includes free ration, pension, a loan waiver, housing and drinking water supply, rehabilitation, training and employment for the 2,210 victims of endosulfan exposure. At a high-level …
Describe your findings. When cells divide, they require specialised proteins called microtubules arranged in an American football-shaped spindle. Microtubules divide DNA in two equal parts by pulling them apart with the help of a special organelle, called centrosome. Egg cells lack this organelle. We filmed egg cell divisions to understand …
On July 15, 1962, a Washington Post story, ‘Heroine of FDA keeps bad drug off market,’ shocked Americans. The heroine in question was Frances Oldham Kelsey. She had joined the US Food and Drug Administration two years earlier as a drug application investigator. With her expertise in pharmacology, she was …
Bisphenol A (BPA), a well-known endocrine disruptor, is highly glucuronidated in the liver, and the resultant BPA-glucuronide (BPA-GA) is excreted primarily into bile. However, in rodents, prenatal exposure to low doses of BPA can adversely affect the fetus, despite the efficient drug-metabolizing systems of the dams. The transport mechanisms of …
TAWANA WILLIAMS types, eats and braids hair with her feet. She does not have a choice. She entered the world without arms. Williams, born in Wilson, USA, was one of the 12, 000 babies around the world who either died or were born with severe limb defects in the early …
Controversy surrounding the true toll and disease burden caused by fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 has resurfaced following the release of a new study.
London: Scientists have discovered what they claim is a common gene that raises the risk of developing lung cancer in non-smokers, a breakthrough which may pave the way for new targeted therapies for patients. Despite several attempts to identify the specific genetic mechanisms responsible, the causes of lung cancer in
Chromosomal abnormalities are frequent events. Globally, at least 7.6 million children are born annually with severe genetic or congenital malformations. Precise prevalence data are difficult to collect, especially in India, owing to great diversity of conditions and also because many cases remain undiagnosed. Genetic and congenital abnormality is the second …
The aim of this study was to review epidemiologic evidence, provide summary risk estimates of the association between exposure to chlorination disinfection by-products (DBPs) and congenital anomalies, and provide recommendations for future studies.
Worldwide an estimated 7.9 million or more babies are born each year with a birth defect. The causes of birth defects remain largely a mystery, although a few culprits, including some environmental agents, have been identified as contributing factors. Reliable numbers for both types of defects and cases remain unclear, …
Who were the first Indians? Were they the chocolate-hued Dravidian southerners or the dark-skinned tribals that inhabit East India and the Andaman islands? Was the relatively fair Indo-European population of the North the original settler? Or did the Mongoloid-featured Tibetan-Burmans beat the rest to it? When and how did the …
Pune The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has approved a project to establish a pre-natal diagnostic technique for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
