In a recent study, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune have investigated the role of an enzyme in the cells of individuals with PHARC. PHARC is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by polyneuropathy (damage to multiple nerves outside the brain and central nervous system), hearing loss, ataxia, retinitis pigmentosa (loss of cells in the retina) and cataract.
A new open-source satellite tool has revealed the critical ecological and economic importance of India’s Open Natural Ecosystems, challenging the colonial-era classification of these biodiversity hotspots as unproductive wastelands.