Research Matters

We live in an era of medical advancements where sequencing of the human genome and its subsequent applications in personalised medicine, offer to completely revolutionise the diagnosis, treatment and even prevention of various diseases. Personalised or precision medicine is an approach that strives to move away from the ‘one-size-fits-all’ philosophy of Western medicine. It tries to cater to an individual’s disease condition, genetic predispositions as well as local environmental factors. Surprisingly, the concept of personalised medicine isn’t a brand new one.

Snakehead fishes are predatory ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Channidae. Found across Asia and Africa, snakehead fishes are important sources of food, and are widely cultivated by humans. Snakehead fishes are known survive on wet land for up to 4 days, and are considered to be a highly invasive species, with a single snakehead female capable of laying up to 150,000 eggs in just a span of two years. So far, 38 valid species of snakeheads had been recognised.

Have you ever been away from the city, away from the bustling activities and clattering? If you have, then, without all the noises of the city to distract you, you might have noticed how loud a seemingly empty field is! Birds, frogs and insects all join in on this chorus. The animals making these calls need to invest time and energy into making them, and hence are made for specific reasons, where every call counts.  Often, in the animal kingdom these vocalisations are used to attract potential mating partners.

Medical advancements and modern scientific techniques strive to solve challenges posed to human communities, especially healthcare threats. Viruses are one of the major threats and tend to make themselves resistant to drugs and evolve new mechanisms for survival by making subtle changes in their DNA called as mutations. Today among the many viruses, Dengue virus has been a serious problem causing mortality in widespread areas. Although treatments and drugs have been developed, it is essential to make sure that we’re ready to face worse cases in future.

The human body has a mechanism to maintain a certain balanced pH (potential of Hydrogen), or the degree of acidity or alkalinity in the body. Generally, this is found to be around 7.35 (on a scale of 0-14), and it varies throughout the day, depending on one’s diet and activities. The pH levels in tissues are far more sensitive.