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Biological Sciences

Betel Nut - The Chewing Package that activates a Precancerous Oral Disease

The traditional Asian chewing package used in marriages for symbolising heavenly love, is no longer having its heavenly charm according to a new research. Areca nut, packed with betel leaves and slaked lime, is an important chewing dessert in many Asian cultures. Its usage to cure indigestion and impotence dates back to first century AD and it is still being consumed by around 700 million people in the tropics for its psychoactive and brain stimulating properties. However, studies have indicated that several chemical compounds present in areca nut are carcinogens and its usage has been linked to oral cancers. Now a new study points at a detailed pathway on how chewing areca nut causes a precancerous condition.

Baheerathan

Scientists develop new class of antibiotics using Nanotechnology

Over the last several decades, antibiotics have played a critical role in fighting infectious diseases caused by bacteria and other microbes. However, blatant misuse and overuse of these drugs has resulted in the bacteria becoming resistant to a wide range of antibiotics where it changes itself to eliminate the action of the antibiotics and thus renders the drug useless. A recent work by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Bose Institute, Kolkata, has addressed the challenge of antibiotic resistance using nanotechnology.

Anand Kant Das

Biological Sciences

As we go through the motions of our everyday lives, we take for granted the complexities of our own body and near-perfect synchrony between the different components that make us human. Often it takes sickness and disease to remind us of how remarkable our own body is.

Sandhya Sekar