Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) affects 6-11 million people in India. Chronic HCV infection is the leading cause for liver-related deaths worldwide. In India, HCV infection was estimated to be responsible for 59,000 deaths in the year 2015. Moreover, untreated HCV infection could also lead to substantial economic burden. However, the advent of directly acting antivirals (DAAs), is proving to be a game changer in HCV treatment. Directly acting antivirals target specific enzymes and the genetic material in HCV, hence stopping the spread of the infection.

Why do we see certain species of animals in one place while they are absent in the neighbouring regions? How do species inhabit remote islands? Questions like these are central to our understanding of evolution and speciation. Exploring these question in a Sri Lankan context, scientists from National Centre for Biological sciences and University of Colombo studied how a two species of small passerine birds colonized the island nation. Through phenotypic and genotypic analysis they could show that not all Sri Lankan wildlife is a subset of Indian wildlife.

Climate change is here and governments around the world are trying their best to stem its debilitating impacts. REDD+ (Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), a programme to encourage the sustainable management of existing forests that take in large amounts of greenhouse gases, is a step in this direction. However, there are technical difficulties in measuring the effectiveness of REDD+.

Different parts of the country was inundated with floods this year, while other parts continue to face rainfall shortages, leading to drought situations. The culprit behind the disparity may be the sudden, extreme rainfall events we have been facing. Warming temperatures leading to extreme events may be affecting the overall rainfall the country receives says this new study.

Qissa-e-Sanjan, or the Story of Sanjan, records the epic tale of Parsi migration. It describes how a section of Zoroastrians left Iran to escape the Islamic conquest, and found India’s shores at Sanjan in Gujarat. Instead of a welcome they were presented with a full glass of milk, which symbolically suggested that there was no space for the newcomers. The priest then added a spoonful of sugar without spilling the milk, a promise that the Parsis would assimilate with the local community. Like sugar in milk, the Parsis found a new home.

For over a century, India has nutured a host of science and technology based institutions. We capture the timeline of these institutions as they were established.

Click here to view the interactive timeline.

Rabies is a fatal disease associated with dogs. However, it could well be spread by many animals -- both wild and pets. Today, on World Rabies Day, here is all you want to know about the disease and ways to prevent them. But if you thought it was a challenge, find out the truth about this and help make the world free of this deadly disease

Lentil (Lens sp.)  is an edible pulse cultivated as a staple food throughout the regions of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is an important dietary supplement in the Indian sub-continent. In a new study, scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have evaluated 162 genotypes including wild accessions, landraces, breeding lines and cultivars of lentil for their salt tolerance. This was based on four broad factors.

Cancer, as a disease, is a puzzle on its own and scientists across the world are looking for hints from all sides to crack it. Now, what if previous research on cancer itself acts as a hint and guides new developments? That is exactly what scientists have done using bioinformatics. By scouting previous research on circulating tumour cells, scientists have identified the molecules responsible for metastasis in cancer. This discovery, they believe, can help not only in understanding the spread of cancer, but also in identifying new drug targets against the killer disease.

Do you wish sometimes that you didn’t understand the consequences of cancer? The disease continues to terrorize mankind, mentally and economically. In order to develop therapy, you need suitable drug targets. Step in, non-B structures. These are simply, irregular DNA structures. A few examples of these structures are G-quadruplex or GQ, which is rich in guanine and intercalated motif or i-motif which is a guanine-rich and cytosine-rich DNA quadruplex. Several reports summarize that these structures could be related to genetic instability.