In 2018, around 1.5 million people died from tuberculosis (TB) — an infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs. A major obstacle in the clinical treatment of TB is the long therapy time required to clear the infection. An infected patient needs to take antibiotics for over 6 to 9 months to prevent a relapse — a duration so long that many discontinue their medications.

Study from the Ashoka Trust from Research in Ecology and the Environment details the importance of a global standard to curb the adulteration of herbal medicines.

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, use magnetic fields to navigate nanomotors in cells.

Study by researchers from  Institute of Public Health, Bangalore investigate how successful Primary healthcare Centres are for treating non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension. They find many loopholes in the healthcare delivery system.

The whole world is struggling with the problem of antibiotic resistance developed by disease causing organisms. The epidemic of Tuberculosis especially plagues countries like India. In their recent research scientists from the Central University, Punjab have identified a new target drug to beat the bacteria’s defense against antibiotics.

From their first appearance on the academic scene as a tool for dissection to making it into mainstream medicine and cosmetics in the recent years, microneedles have an array of applications. Dr.Venuganti and a team of researchers from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Hyderabad and the US Food and Drug Administration, recount the journey microneedles have made through the years and the range of possible applications in the future.

Across many countries in the world, people from an economically backward background struggle to get adequate medical care. As a part of its Sustainability and development goals for 2015 the United Nations has declared ensuring “healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. This target of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) aims to ensure accessibility to quality health care services by the year 2030. With 13 years to go, an international team of scientists explores how this goal can be achieved in five South Asian countries. 

Malaria, the biggest killer of all time, has a long association with humans. As we develop new strategies to combat the fatal disease, the parasite causing the disease gets stronger than ever. In this seemingly never-ending tussle, who ultimately wins the battle? The judgement, it seems, is not an easy one! On World Malaria Day, here is a brief insight into the details of this deadly disease. 

Technology has revolutionised medicine in the past century. We now have imaging methodologies like X-rays, Computed Tomography (CT) scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) allowing us a look inside the body without cutting it open. Nanotechnology seems poised to write the next chapter of this revolution, with various applications in biomedical imaging, diagnosis and effective treatment of diseases. In yet another advancement in this direction, an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Materials Engineering Department and Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, have synthesised iron nanoparticles without any oxide cover that could be used to enhance the sensitivity of MRI by producing images with better contrast. They have also demonstrated the potential application of this research in the targeted delivery of medicines and other biological molecules to specific organs in the body.