In a new study, the researchers from the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, in collaboration with researchers from France and Chile, provide us with an understanding of the physical forces that drive axonal beading and retraction. The findings could hold new insights on understanding neurodegeneration. The results of the study, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), are published in the Biophysical Journal.

In India, one woman dies of cervical cancer every 8 minutes, and for every two women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, one succumbs to it. In 2018, all over the country, 7,84,821 people lost their lives to cancer. Numerous scientific research is underway to discover new and improved drugs for cancer. Chemotherapy, where anti-cancer drugs are administered to kill cancerous cells, is one of the traditional and most successful treatment methods. In a recent study, Dr Sumit Ghosh, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, discusses cisplatin, the first-ever metal-based drug used in chemotherapy.

Lectures on Probability and Stochastic processes (LPS), an annual workshop for early-career young researchers in India, begins in the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Delhi today. The workshop, in its fourteenth year, focuses on the latest advancements in the field of Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes. Held between the 2nd of December to the 6th of December, 2019, the workshop has mini-courses and invited talks, and provides ample networking opportunities for those interested in this field of mathematics.

Since 2012, six bridges have collapsed in Mumbai, killing 28 people and injuring hundreds. Often, news of flyovers and pedestrian bridges tumbling down have made it to the headlines across the country. Although durable materials like steel and concrete are used in today’s structures, poor quality of construction and lack of maintenance are often blamed for such catastrophes. Contrast this with the rock-solid centuries-old root bridges found in Meghalaya—many as old as 250 years and still growing strong—built without modern tools or design. Could the structure of these bridges unravel architectural clues for urban construction? In a recent study, researchers from Germany and the USA have tried to understand the morphology and structure of these root bridges, built out of the aerial roots of strangler figs, and that have endured floods, earthquakes, landslides and fires.

The allopathic system of medicine that treats symptoms of diseases using drugs came into existence in the 19th century. Before that, traditional medicines were common in many Asian countries, including India. A common drawback of allopathic medications is their undesired side effects caused by the adverse reactions of specific drug compounds with parts of our body. This has now rekindled interests among scientists in many traditional forms of medicine which are known to have no side effects.

Our genetic material is a big molecule of DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid, whose structure is a double-stranded wound-up helix. It contains specific instructions that run a living cell, and these instructions are written on the strands. When cells divide, the DNA replicates too. In this process, the contents of the strands are read and copied carefully by unwinding the strands. But that's not as simple!

In a recent study, scientists have discovered two new species in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India. To date, this group of termites has been documented only in the Western Ghats of India. The termite species were named after Sri K.A. Dineshan and Sri. Manikandan Nair of the Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode, who collected the samples from the field and contributed greatly to the entire faunal survey.

Banana, a nutritionally-rich, delicious fruit, is a widely-cultivated crop across the world and is a staple diet of people living in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Due to pests and diseases, only 13% of the global production is traded, and often, farmers in India experience severe loss due to fusarium wilt or Panama disease. A novel innovation now aims to change the fortunes of banana growers by helping them detect diseases and pests with their smartphone. In a recent study, researchers from the USA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Ethiopia and India have developed a banana pest detection app powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

This study, by researchers from Hungary, India, France and the USA, explored the potential of some new chemical compounds as therapeutic agents against tuberculosis. Such compounds represent new possibilities for further anti-TB drug development.

A new study by researchers at the WHO attempts to throw some insight into how many boys and girls, between the ages of 11-17 years, are physically active across the globe. The study, published in the journal The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, analysed data from 1.6 million students in that age group during the years 2001-2016. It found that most adolescent boys and girls—four in five—aren’t as physically active as they ought to be in 2016.