Research Matters

Vast swathes of forests in many countries are being converted into agricultural lands to meet the ever-increasing food demand. India has increased its croplands by 56% from 1880 to 2010 while losing a whopping 26 million hectares of forest land during the same period.

In a recent study, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and Christian Medical College, Vellore, have developed a novel, inexpensive and easy-to-use device to detect tuberculosis.

A study published in the journal Scientific Reports probes the evolutionary relationship between cheetahs.

A new study from researchers at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, has decoded the bacterial species found in the vagina of pregnant Indian women by using advanced gene sequencing technology called Shotgun sequencing.

India is ageing. Approximately 104 million Indians are above sixty and vulnerable to cognitive disorders affecting memory, such as dementia. Despite this impending future, we haven't been able to assess the current prevalence of such illnesses in the country. It is partly due to the geographical and cultural vastness of India, and the barriers of language and ethics prohibit the use of tests used in western countries. Now, a new study is trying to close this gap by introducing a psychological test that is adapted to the cultural and linguistic diversity of India.

In a recent study researchers have assessed the ability of natural forest species and single-species (monoculture) plantations to capture and store carbon over a long period. 

Building on their previous research, researchers at Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai have tried to find out the root cause of sepsis in a recent study. So far, most drugs treat the symptoms of sepsis, such as inflammation, rather than its causes. In this study, the researchers find that broken pieces of chromosomes could trigger sepsis. The results of the study are published in the journal PLoS ONE.

 A recent study explores how childhood vaccination among children in India has impacted the level of education attained by them as adults.

Did you know that a humble bacterium influences  chickpea's yield?  While chickpea is believed to have come to India from Turkey a few centuries ago, from where did it get its microbe partner? Did the original rhizobium strain from Turkey hitch a ride along with its host, or did it find other local strains here? In a recent study, an international collaboration of researchers, including those from India, may have answers.

In the first-ever study from India, researchers at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru and the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, have analysed how prevalent the Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCV) is in India.