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

In the past century, fossil fuels like petrol and diesel have powered our vehicles, machines and in fact, our world! But the era of these fuels is coming to an end; all our petroleum reserves are soon ending, and the increasing pollution due to these fuels is making the world sick. Now, our hope lies in biofuels—fuels produced by organic wastes that are renewable and eco-friendly, unlike fossil fuels.

Dr. Renu Swarup, Senior Advisor and Scientist H at the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India took over as Secretary, DBT on 10th of April 2018. 

Researchers from National Institute of Technology, Durgapur and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in West Bengal, with support from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India,have shown that the one way to efficiently deal with oil sludge, is to cultivate suitable microbes using nutrients, which then disintegrate the contaminants in the sludge.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore use a computational approach to design peptides which are highly effective in killing drug resistant microbes.

On the 26th of March, 2018, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, ex-Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and ex-Director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), was appointed the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. He succeeds Dr. R. Chidambaram and is expected to assume the office shortly.

Latest research from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, demonstrates how chemical interactions take place between wasps and fig trees and the tussle between pollinating and non pollinating wasps.

The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) celebrated its 6th Foundation Day on Tuesday, March 20th, at the India Habitat centre in New Delhi. This year, the theme for the Foundation Day celebration was ‘Sustaining Innovation: A market driven pathway’. The event saw a participation from large number of dignitaries from the industry and academia, public and private sector, policy makers and national and international organizations.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women across the world. As per an estimate by the World Health Organisation, 570,000 women died from breast cancer in 2015 alone. Although genetic factors and the female sex hormone oestrogen play a role in the occurrence of breast cancer, several other factors like increased iron content in the body might also enhance the risk.

Some details of the reproductive journey of a fig wasp, to find a suitable tree and lay eggs while simultaneously pollinate it in the process are known. In a recent study, scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, fill in the gaps in our knowledge about this fascinating journey.