The walls were as quiet as ever. Warmth and protection radiated from them, but all went in vain against Ourelia’s boredom. She had been counting the days, as patiently as someone could, for the past 14 years. Every day presented the meticulous, yet mechanically planned, cellular routine in the same way. She would tend to the daily tasks by nibbling on the required nutrients and oxygen. She would then move on to cook some much-needed proteins and try to find some fun in watching the machine churn out strings of amino-acids.

Researchers from the University of East Anglia, UK, and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai, India, have explored how women’s work in agriculture affects nutritional outcomes for the family. The study found that although agricultural outputs have increased with women working in the farms, it has left them with little time to cater to the nutritional needs of their families and themselves, resulting in malnutrition.

Researchers from the IISc, Bengaluru, propose a mathematical model that can determine the number of mutations the hepatitis C virus can carry in an infected individual, even before starting any treatment.

Ever wondered about the genes that produces blood in the human body? Haemoglobin in our blood is produced by the haemoglobin beta gene (HBB) and the haemoglobin alpha gene (HBA). These two genes are responsible for providing instructions for making the proteins, beta globin and alpha globin. Beta globin and alpha globin are an important part of the larger protein called haemoglobin, which is found in the human and mammal red blood cells.

Researchers at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata; University of Otago, New Zealand; Fred Hutchinson Cancer  Research Centre, USA and National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, West Bengal, explain how altered levels of biological molecules, like lncRNA and miRNA, can lead to the development of oral cancer. 

It is hard to live without a good night’s sleep. However, 22% of the people in industrialised countries do that regularly, when they work in shifts, including those during the night. Working in different shifts disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm—a natural process in our body that regulates the sleep-wake cycle.

A recent study by an international group of researchers has revealed some unpleasant reality of a government-aided program in Bihar for diagnosing leprosy and has estimated the efficiency of an approach that can promote accurate diagnosis of the disease.

Researchers propose a set of recommended actions for hospitals to arm them against superbugs.

Every year, the 5th of June is observed as the World Environment Day to “encourage worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment”. For 2019, the theme is ‘Air Pollution’, and the host country is China. On this occasion, Research Matters caught up with three leading scientists from the country that are actively pursuing research on different aspects of air pollution. The three researchers, Prof. A R Ravishankara, Prof. S K Satheesh and Prof. Navakanta Bhat shared their work and thoughts on the ‘burning’ problem of air pollution.

Researchers from IIT Bombay have designed a protein-based carrier for delivering drugs into cancer cells.