Research Matters

India today faces several challenges, an air pollution is one of the important one’s to overcome. Four Indian cities often features on world’s top 10 most polluted cities. And lack of data has prevented us from understanding effects of the pollution and take measures to tackle them. A new study now shows that one’s daily routine can be a good indicator for the level of pollution one might face.  It has already shown us that people travelling in cars and CNG buses face a lot less pollution and could help us find a lot more solutions to our pollution woes. 

Plant based derivatives that cure cancer are a plenty with scientists discover more of them with time. One on the list from a long time is Resveratrol, a compound found in grapes, peanuts and berries. But how does this compound fight with cancerous cells? A new study has now thrown some light on the exact mechanism of how derivatives from resveratrol acts on cancerous cells and kills them, in the process, letting the other healthier cells remain unharmed. This discover, the researchers claim, can help scientists in developing more efficient drugs that can fight cancer, a deadly disease. 

Mosquito borne diseases like malaria and dengue are still rampant and have posed a great challenge to mankind. We have lost several lives in our war against mosquitoes, and scramble new ways to fight them. Now, researchers are working to genetically engineer the genes of mosquitoes using the technique of RNA interference, where an RNA is artificially inserted to disturb the normal functions of mosquito cells, thereby killing them in the process. This process, they claim, is environmentally friendly and most effective compared to existing strategies.

Indigenous people throughout the world from the Amazon to the Andamans are caught in a tricky devastating situation. On the one side, their habitats are being continuously destroyed and the resources that they once depended upon -- like water and forests are being snatched away from them. On the other side there is a pressure of ‘modernization’ pushing them to everlasting poverty. Without a sustainable solution to these challenges that they face, they always remain left out from the mainstream unable to fend for themselves. On this   International Day of World’s Indigenous People, let us take a look at the Todas of Nilgiri and understand what it is like to be a tribesman in the  21st century.

Cells are the building blocks of life and have witnessed many exciting phases of evolution. Over this period, since the beginning of life several million years ago, the functionalities of the cell and its organelles have become sophisticated. Cells have also evolved smarter ways to address common challenges and one of them is the acidification of the enzymes found inside cells. While this acidic environment serves many well known functions, a new study shares an interesting hypothesis on the reason behind the acidic pH -- detecting leaks in the cell. Since synthesis of enzymes is an expensive process, the study argues that cells use the acidic medium to detect possible leaks, thus saving energy in the process.