Banana genome sequence will aid crop improvement

Scientists have sequenced the complete genome of the banana, an important crop in developing countries that provides a fruit widely enjoyed the world over and is a staple food in some of the poorest parts of the globe.

The draft sequence provided “a crucial stepping-stone for genetic improvement of banana,” observed Angélique D’Hont, a French agricultural research scientist, and colleagues from a number of other countries in a paper that is being published this week in the scientific journal Nature. 

The international team has sequenced the genome of DH-Pahang (Musa acuminata), a banana popular in south-east Asia and which is able to resist the devastating Panama disease fungus that has been spreading in Asia.

Satyendranath Bose: Higgs-Boson’s Forgotten Hero

The world is celebrating the discovery of the sub-atomic particle at CERN, Geneva, which many believe could well be the long sought after Higgs-Boson. This particle is also called the ‘God Particle’ because its existence is fundamental to the creation of the universe.

School physics teaches us that everything is made up of atoms, and inside atoms are electrons, protons and neutrons. They, in turn, are made of quarks and other subatomic particles. Scientists have long puzzled over how these minute building blocks of the universe acquire mass. Without mass, particles wouldn't hold together and there would be no matter.

Higgs-Boson

One theory proposed by British physicist Peter Higgs and teams in Belgium and the United States in the 1960s is that a new particle must be creating a "sticky" field that acts as a drag on other particles. The atom-smashing experiments at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, have now captured a glimpse of what appears to be just such a Higgs Boson like particle.

British Physicist Peter Higgs of the ‘Higgs-Boson’ is a familiar name in the world of science. However, it is not well known that the term Boson, owes its name to the pioneering work of the late Indian physicist, Satyendra Nath Bose. He is a forgotten hero, even in India, even though he won a world wide fame for his association with the great Albert Einstein in developing a theory of the particle-like qualities of light.  His pioneering work on the quantum theory of light provided the foundation for Bose-Einstein Condensates, a new state of matter in which thousands of atoms condense into a single giant atom that behaves like a wave. Particles that follow Bose’s statistics have been named bosons in his honour.

Who was Satyendranath Bose?

Satyendranath Bose was born on January 1, 1894 in Calcutta (now Kolkata). His father Surendranath Bose was employed in the Engineering Department of the East India Railway.

As a student of the Hindu High School, Bose once was awarded 110 marks out of 100 in mathematics because he had solved some problems in the exam paper by more than one method. He made a name for himself in school due to his love for science.Later he attended the Presidency College also in Calcutta, where another noted scientist Meghnad Saha was his fellow student.  Bose came in contact with teachers like Jagdish Chandra Bose and Prafulla Chandra Ray, who provided inspiration to aim high in life.

In 1924, while working as Reader in the Physics Department of University of Dacca, Bose wrote a paper on novel way of counting states with identical particles. This paper was seminal in creating the very important field of quantum statistics. His paper was not accepted for publication at once.

  Not losing heart, Satyendranath Bose sent the article directly to Albert Einstein in Germany with a request to help it get published in the leading German language science journal Zeitschrift fur Physik. In his covering letter to Einstein, Bose wrote “though a complete stranger to you, I do not feel any hesitation in making such a request. Because we are all your pupils though profiting only by your teachings  through your writings.”

Einstein, recognizing the importance of the paper, translated it into German and submitted it for publication on Bose’s behalf. The publication changed the life of Satyendra Nath Bose. The Dacca University now opened its eyes and agreed to fund his tour to Europe, even though he had only possessed a Master’s degree and no further qualifications.

Bose first visited Paris in 1924, where he stayed for a year. He conducted research in the Madame Curie Laboratory, which had special facilities. The next year, he left Paris for Berlin to join Einstein and work with him. There he came into close contact with noted scientists like Schroedinger and Heisenberg. He participated in all the meetings and discussions held there.

While Bose was in Berlin, the post of a Professor fell vacant in Dacca University. Bose’s friends persuaded him to apply but he was hesitant, as he had not got his doctorate yet. A recommendation by Einstein could have fixed the matter. With great hesitation, Bose approached Einstein for help. Einstein was surprised. He said “you are so proficient in your subject. Is their need for any other certificate?”  He wrote a letter to the authorities in the Dacca University, which had a desired effect. In 1926, Satyendranath Bose was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Physics. 

Bose served in Dacca University for nearly 25 years. As a teacher he was admired by his students who held him in high esteem. In 1944, when he was the Head of the Science Section in Dacca University, Bose was chosen as the General President of the 31st  session of the Indian Science Congress.

Bose, who worked with Albert Einstein to bring out the Bose-Einstein statistics and the theory of Bose-Einstein Condensate in the 1920s, was a natural candidate for a Nobel Prize which he never got.  Yet, at least ten scientists have been awarded the Nobel for their research in the field of particle physics based on concepts like the Bose-Einstein Condensate or the Boson.

'Indians are incapable of achieving anything great in science. At best, they are experts in subjects like philosophy “ was the view most held in the West during those years. Satyendranath Bose dispelled that impression and did yeoman service in the fields of science, with some pioneering contributions in the fields of quantum physics.

Satyendranath Bose was a self-taught scholar who had a wide range of interests in varied fields including physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, mineralogy, arts, literature and music.

Back home, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore dedicated his only book on science – Vishwa Parichay to him. The Government of India conferred the Padma Vibhushan award on Satyendranath Bose in 1954. At the age of 80, Bose suffered an unexpected and a severe heart attack and breathed his last on the 4th of February 1974. 

The CERN experiment has once again brought focus on Satyendranath Bose. For India God Particle is as much Boson as Higgs.

Anti-malarial drug

Synriam is India’s first indigenously developed anti-malarial drug. It beats all currently available options on the counts of affordability, compliance and relief. The drug is the result of first successful public-private partnership on pharmaceutical research and development in India. Ranbaxy and the Ministry of Science paid Rs 5 crore each for the development of the drug.

State-of-the-art ground station to come up at Antarctica soon

A state-of-the-art ground station for earth observation satellites which will function in sub-zero temperatures and withstand high wind speeds will be established at Bharati Station, the third research facility being set up by India on the icy continent of Antarctica.

The installation and commissioning of the ground station will be taken up in summer season at Antarctica, starting from December 2012 to March 2013.

The prestigious project for setting up the ground station as also a communication facility has been bagged by the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for a contract value of Rs.50 crore in the face of stiff global competition, according to Y.S. Mayya, Chairman and Managing Director, ECIL.

High-speed satellite raw data would be beamed in real time from Bharati Station to NRSC at Shadnagar, near here, for processing the images once the project starts functioning. 

Communication facility

As part of it, a data reception station and another data communication facility linking Bharati Station and NRSC would be established.

ECIL would install two large antennae of 7.5 diameters each-one for remote sensing and the other for communication. The antennae would be enclosed in a radome to protect them from heavy winds. While one antenna was already fabricated, the second one was expected to be ready shortly.

The antennae would be installed on a platform weighing 50 tonnes and developed with special steel structure.

The entire equipment would be taken to Cape Town, South Africa, by the end of September 2012 and transported from there to Bharati Station with logistic support from National Centre for Antarctica and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa.

In 2007, ECIL also established the communication link between Maitri, the second Indian research station in Antarctica and NCAOR. Among others, research on tectonics and geological structures would be undertaken at Bharati Station by Indian scientists.

Karakoram glaciers bucking global warming trend and ‘putting on mass’

Some glaciers on Asia’s Karakoram mountains, which is home to K2, are defying the global trend and getting thicker, a new study has claimed.

For the study, a French team used satellite data to show that glaciers in part of the Karakoram range, to the west of the Himalayan region, are putting on mass.

The reason is unclear, as glaciers in other parts of the Himalayas are losing mass, which also is the global trend.

The region’s glaciers are poorly studied, yet provide a vital water source for more than a billion people.

The response of Himalayan glaciers to global warming has been a hot topic ever since the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which contained the erroneous claim that ice from most of the region could disappear by 2035.

Although often regarded as part of the Himalayas, the Karakoram range is technically a separate chain that includes K2, the world’s second-highest peak.

Much of the region is inaccessible, and there has been a general recognition that observations need to be stepped up in order to clarify what is going on.

“It could be due to a very specific regional climate over Karakoram,” the BBC quoted Julie Gardelle, CNRS-Grenoble as saying.

The French scientists, from the National Centre for Scientific Research and the University of Grenoble, compared two models of land surface elevation derived from satellite observations, for 1999 and 2008.

The method has been used before in other mountain ranges, but it is not as straightforward as it might sound.

"It’s not been used more because these elevation models are quite difficult to acquire -- you need clear sky conditions and reduced snow cover,” Gardelle, the lead researcher, said.

Other factors that can change the height of the ice surface, other than changes to the ice itself, also need to be accounted for.

Having done all these calculations, the team found that between 1999 and 2008 the mass of the glaciers in this 5,615 sq km (2,168 sq miles) region of the Karakoram increased marginally, although there were wide variations between individual glaciers.

Why this should be is not clear, though it is well known from studies in other parts of the world that climate change can cause extra precipitation into cold regions, which if they are cold enough, gets added to the existing mass of ice.

“We don’t really know the reason.

“Right now we believe that it could be due to a very specific regional climate over Karakoram because there have been meteorological measurements showing increased winter precipitation; but that’s just a guess at this stage,” she said.

Whatever the region, it is clear that the trend contrasts with other parts of the wider Himalayas-Hindu Kush region, home to an estimated 210 million people and where glaciers act as fresh water stores for about 1.3 billion living in river basins below.

The study has been published in the Nature Geoscience journal.

A Gas-filled Aspirin was invented by the Scientist to fight Cancer

A scientist from Iran developed a gas-filled aspirin that can enhance the cancer-fighting ability of the drug. The new Aspirin was dubbed NOSH, which stands for Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Sulphide. The new Aspirin reduces the harmful side effects of taking aspirin.

Aspirin is effective against Cancer. But it can also cause bleeding in the gut and ulcers. The gas-filled Aspirin protects the gut from damage by producing nitric oxide and hydrogen sulphide. NOSH-aspirin was 100000 times more effective than the original drug in case of colon cancer.

Japan tsunami debris spreading across Pacific

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated the first bits of tsunami debris will make landfall soon on small atolls northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands. Other pieces were expected to reach the coasts of Oregon, Washington State, Alaska and Canada between March 2013 and March 2014.

NOAA’s tsunami marine debris coordinator, Ruth Yender, told an online news conference on Tuesday that agency workers were boarding Coast Guard flights that patrol the Hawaiian archipelago. NOAA also asked scientists stationed at Midway and other atolls to look for the debris.

Debris initially collected in a thick mass in the ocean after tsunamis dragged homes, boats, cars and other parts of daily life from coastal towns out to sea. Most likely sank not far from Japan’s eastern coast.

In September, a Russian training ship spotted a refrigerator, a television set and other appliances west of Hawaii. By now, the debris has likely drifted so far apart that only one object can be seen at a time, said Nikolai Maximenko, a University of Hawaii researcher and ocean currents expert.

One to 2 million tonnes of debris remain in the ocean, but only 1 to 5 per cent of that could reach Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon, Washington State and Canada’s British Columbia, Mr. Maximenko said. The tsunamis generated a total of 20 million to 25 million tonnes of debris, including what was left on land.

Ms. Yender said that so far, no debris confirmed to be from the tsunamis has landed on U.S, shores, including large buoys suspected to be from Japanese oyster farms found in Alaska last year. The buoys would have had to travel faster than currents to get to Alaska at that time if they were set loose by the March 11 tsunamis.

Ms. Yender said there is little chance of any debris being contaminated by radiation. The debris came from a large swath of Japan’s northeastern coast, not only near the tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Further, it was dragged out to sea with the tsunamis, not while the Fukushima plant experienced multiple meltdowns.

Nicholas Mallos, a conservation biologist and marine debris specialist for the Ocean Conservancy, said many of the objects in the debris were expected to be from Japan’s fishing industry. That could pose a risk for wildlife, such as endangered Hawaiian monk seals, if fishing gear washes up on coral reefs or beaches.

“The major question is how much of that material has sank since last year, and how much of that remains afloat or still in the water column,” Mr. Mallos said.

Mr. Maximenko said the dispersion of the debris makes it more difficult to track but no less hazardous.

“In many cases it’s not density that matters, it’s total amount,” he said. “For example, if there’s a current flowing around Midway island, that island would collect debris like a trawl moving across the ocean. It will collect all the debris on its way.”

Ultimately, Mr. Maximenko said, tsunami debris will join garbage floating in a gyre between Hawaii and California produced by swirling Pacific currents. Much of that trash in a wide area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is bits of plastic, which slowly breaks down into smaller pieces but doesn’t completely disappear.

Facebook turns eight

Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking site with an estimated 845 million active subscribers, has turned eight.

Since its launch on February 4, 2004 at Harvard University in Mark Zuckberg’s dormitory room, the social networking giant that has changed our lives over the years has witnessed massive growth and is most likely to have one billion users by August this year.

While, the company CEO Mr. Zuckerberg is best known as the man who built Facebook, the company has three other co-founders, all college roommates and fellow students at Harvard; Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.

The four initially built the service exclusively for Harvard students, but it was soon expanded to other colleges and eventually added support for students at various other universities.

Initially before its public launch, it was called thefacebook.com However, on February 4, 2008; Mr. Zuckerberg renamed to domain name and launched what we know today as Facebook.

It now seems almost impossible to imagine life without Facebook status updates, friend requests, relationship statuses or photo tags.

Facebook has not only put Mr. Zuckerberg in the list of top and youngest millionaires but also helped a lot of start-ups, non-profit and other companies grow, interact and increase sales.

In January 2009, Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social networking service by worldwide monthly active users. Quantcast estimates Facebook has 138.9 million monthly unique U.S. visitors in May 2011.

According to Social Media, in April 2010 an estimated 41.6 per cent of the U.S. population had a Facebook account.

In India, Facebook has registered a growth of 132 per cent this year, which is higher than many other countries. In some countries, such as Turkey or Chile, up to 80 per cent of Internet users are registered with Facebook. The Russian Facebook audience exceeds 5 million people.

However, company’s market growth has started to stall in some regions, with the site losing 7 million active users in the United States and Canada in May 2011.

Wikipedia turns 11

he world's largest free encyclopaedia turns 11 on January 15. To mark the occasion, the Wikipedia community will host events in seven cities across the country. The community is also celebrating the first anniversary of the Wikimedia India chapter.

On this occasion, the India chapter will launch a new portal (www.wikimedia.in) for easy access to Wikimedia sites in the Indian languages. Wikipedia is currently available in 21 Indian languages.

The India chapter is focussed on creating greater awareness of Wikipedia in Indian languages and to increase the volunteer editor base and Indian content through its initiatives. “The portal will make it easier to locate Indian language Wikipedias and other projects,” said Arun Ram, executive committee member of Wikimedia India.

The Bangalore event, open to all Wikipedia users, contributors and enthusiasts, is being held at the Centre for Internet and Society at Domlur (Bangalore).

Besides Bangalore, events are being held in Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, all centres where Wikipedia editors or contributors are present in sizeable numbers.

‘Deepen engagement with students'

In order to address the complaint raised by the industry about students' “poor employability”, the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce organised a seminar in Bangalore on Wednesday.

A recent survey by the World Bank indicated that there was a “severe mismatch” between the skill sets required by the IT-ITES industry and what was available in graduates from Indian institutions.

S. Sadagopan, director, Indian Institute of Information Technology, said the level of engagement of the academic institutions with the students needed to be “reoriented and deepened”. “Equally important is the responsibility of the recruiters in changing their recruitment processes,” said Prof. Sadagopan. He added, “The question is, are you giving the recruits a challenging job?”

Award for networking major

Cisco announced that its Networking Academy has won the prestigious eINDIA 2011 jury choice award for the ‘Best ICT Enabled Skills Development Initiative'.

The award was conferred on Cisco Networking Academy in recognition of its efforts toward enabling students to develop valuable information, communications and technology skills for increased access to opportunities in the global economy, a release from the networking major said.

Speaking on the occasion, Bina Raj-Debur, regional head, Social Innovation Group, India and South Asia, said: “We are proud to receive this prestigious award. It is testimony to the continued efforts of the Networking Academy programme to make a positive difference to the skills-building efforts of the nation and the communities in which we live and operate. At Cisco, we aim to enhance the employability of youth through technology, enabling them to harness the enormous opportunities in the ICT domain. We are very pleased that our efforts have been recognised by industry and society alike.”

Help with transition to IPv6

Global IT major Hewlett Packard (HP) has signed a partnership agreement with the Government of Karnataka and the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, to conduct a pilot project that will help organisations in Karnataka through a smooth transition to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

The current version of IP addressing, IPv4, is reaching its theoretical maximum of about four billion Internet addresses. IPv6 is the new Internet addressing protocol with the capacity to support 340 trillion addresses, a press release from HP said. This allows for the dramatic expansion of connected devices from computers and smart phones, to household electronics, industrial appliances, vehicles and commercial systems.

IPv6 also provides for improved quality and new applications like IP TV, telephony and ecommerce. The pilot project aims at identifying major challenges in IPV6 adoption, developing solutions to meet these challenges and actively promoting IPV6 adoption.

Science Communication for Science Temper

Science is as old as the Universe itself. Understanding ‘Science’ can be attributed to the ‘Sixth’ sense. However, communication of science lagged behind even after language developed. Collective progress takes a country selectively ahead. Science, until it reaches masses, is as good as no science. Scientifically aware society shuns ignorance and thereby superstition. Dissemination of scientific information in modes and means understandable by masses is the key. Science communication has been the backbone of man’s progress since beginning. Efficient and speedy communication of scientific information as well as its instant access has been crucial for overall development of mankind. Inculcation of scientific knowledge to the masses, in other words “scientific temper”, has broken many cultural, social and religious dogmas that were otherwise hindering the progress of the human civilisation. Acquisition of scientific temper is must for any society to progress and those who failed to acquire lagged behind in time and space.

Scientific temper is an indigenous discourse rich with potential for cross cultural, gender and environmental sensitivity and laden with a continuous struggle against the ill effects of technology on one hand and extra scientific belief systems on the other. It is necessary for people to deal rationally with every mundane issues of the society. In India, the notion of scientific temper was well articulated by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Disseminating science is constitutional obligation.

This International Conference on Science Communication for Scientific Temper intends to have a conceptually clarity and develop indicators to benchmark the scientific temper. It proposes to bridge the two disciplinary domains- science communication and public understanding of science. It is also aimed at nucleating new groups in India and in countries where science communication and public understanding of science research is in nascent stages. About 200 delegates from 20 countries are attending this International Conference. This gathering will provide an opportunity to share the experience between the developing and developed world, and to inspire young and trans-disciplinary researchers to bring their fresh perspective and experience from other fields of research with similar concerns.

Organisers

CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), a constituent establishment of CSIR is a premier institute in Science Communication and publishing promoting science to diverse constituents at all levels, using appropriate technologies. It provides formal linkages of communication among the scientific community in the form of research journals in different areas of S&T, information on plant, animal and mineral wealth of the country; Science popularization; Harness IT applications in information management with particular reference to science communication and modernizing libraries; Act as a facilitator in furthering economic, social, industrial, scientific and commercial development by providing timely access to relevant and accurate information; Develop HR in science communication, library, documentation and information science, and S&T information management systems and services, IPR, herbarium techniques, etc. The institute also offers wide range of information products and services ranging from production of S&T publications, translation & interpretation from foreign languages to English (scientific documents). NISCAIR also undertakes projects in its area of activities.

Vigyan Prasar (VP), established in 1989 as an autonomous organization under Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, takes up large-scale science popularization tasks/activities, to promote and propagate scientific and rational outlook, to act as a resource-cum-facility centre for S&T communication. VP develops and disseminates and market a variety of software on S & T popularization in different Indian languages (Audio, Video, Radio, TV, Print, Learning packages, Kits, Toys). It organizes training programmes on use and dissemination of software produced.

 National Council for Science & Technology communication (NCSTC) is an Apex Organization under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India that endeavors to communicate Science and Technology, stimulates S&T temper, and coordinates and orchestrate such efforts. Main objectives of the council are: to create excitement concerning advances in Science & Technology, to enable informed decision-making at the grass roots level, and to encourage intelligent debate on development issues.

Scientists produced Artificial Human Semen to help Infertile Men

Scientists claimed to find a way to produce artificial human semen that could help infertile men father their own children. The scientists for the first time grew mouse sperm in a laboratory. For this, they used few germ cells in a laboratory dish. These cells produce semen in testicles.
In fact, the scientists grew the sperm by enveloping the germ cells in a special compound called agar jelly to create a similar environment to that found in testicles.

The sperm produced thus were healthy and not genetically damaged. The findings of the scientists are published in the latest edition of the Asian Journal of Andrology.

India Declared Free from Bird FLU

India has declared itself free from bird flu (H5N1). The declaration was made here on December 29, 2011 and notified to OIE. However, the surveillance will be continued throughout the country especially in the vulnerable areas bordering the infected countries and in areas visited by migratory birds. Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture has advised the States to maintain vigil against the disease.

Outbreak of bird flu was notified on September 8, 2011 in village Bhamondanga, part- I, Agomoni Block in Dhubri district of Assam. This was followed by another outbreak in Betai Nanshatola and Putimari Christianpara in Tehetta Block of Nadia district of West Bengal, which was notified on September 19, 2011. Thereafter, there has been no further outbreak.

The control measures adopted in the outbreaks were stamping out of entire poultry population including destruction of eggs, feed, litters and other infected materials in the radius of 3 kms. around each outbreak location, restriction on movement of poultry, poultry products to and from the area of outbreak, disinfection and cleaning up of infected premises. The final disinfection process was completed on September 29, 2011.

Surveillance was carried out throughout the country. Surveillance around the area of outbreak since completion of the operation (including culling disinfection and clean up) and surveillance in rest of the country has shown no evidence of presence of bird flu (H5N1).

The World's First Test Tube Eld's Deer born at Khao Kheow Zoo in Thailand

The first Eld’s deer was born via in vitro fertilization in Thailand. The researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) collected eggs, inseminated in vitro with thawed semen to produce embryos and transferred the embryos to a surrogate mother. As a result, a fawn was born on 17 October 2011 at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand. The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute plays a key role in the Smithsonian’s global efforts to conserve species and train future generations of conservationists.
Eld's Deer is also known as the Thamin or Brow-antlered Deer. It is an endangered species of deer indigenous to southeastern Asia.

Oxygen ‘2.48 billion years old’

Oxygen is likely to be 2.48 billion years old, a new research has suggested.

An international team says that banded ironstone core samples from the Pilbara rocks in Australia have aided in dating the first appearance of atmospheric oxygen at 2.48 billion years ago.

Prof Mark Barley, who led the team, says their findings, published in the ‘Nature’ journal. rested on the reliability of the rock samples they used as evidence.

According to geologists, the Great Oxidation Event, when earth’s atmospheric oxygen formed, happened at between 2.48 and 2.32 billion years ago.

“This was evidence for the most primitive form of aerobic respiring life, aerobic respiring bacteria which oxidise pyrite that released acid that dissolved rocks and soils on land, including chromium, that was then carried to the oceans by the flow of water.

“The aerobic respiring chemolitho-autorobic bacteria require coexistence with cyanobacteria producing oxygen to do this,” Prof Barley said.

Prof Barley says that geobiologists are working towards a better database, for more evidence of when the types of bacteria linked to the rise of oxygen were really functioning.

“We got a good group of samples from banded iron formations and analysed the chromium isotopes and other elements because that gives the strongest evidence of oxidation.

Launch of Weather Satellite Mission

The Government has recently launched a Megha-Tropiques weather satellite mission on 12th October 2011 for improved understanding of weather and climate processes through obtaining reliable statistics of the water and energy budget in the tropical atmosphere so as to describe the evolution of its systems (monsoons and cyclones) at appropriate time scales. Thus, this mission provides opportunity to critically study water cycle of the tropical atmosphere in the context of climate variability and change.

The Megha-Tropiques consists of three radiometric instruments allowing to observe simultaneously three interrelated components of the atmospheric engine - water vapour, condensed water (clouds and precipitations), and radiative fluxes that has a privilege sampling the atmosphere all through day and night with all-weather viewing capabilities. It will pass over India almost a dozen times every day, thus giving opportunity for an almost real- time assessment of the evolution of clouds. Multi-frequency Microwave Scanning Radiometer would complement other global research efforts of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The information so received will benefit India and other countries in the Indian ocean region.

The satellite mission will benefit India and other countries in tropical Indian Ocean region as the availability of above mentioned parameters will help the countries to study monitor and forewarn the evolution of weather systems.

World's ‘lightest material' developed

Scientists have developed what they claim is the world's lightest material — a metal with a density of 0.9 mg/cc.

A team from the University of California, the California Institute of Technology and the HRL Laboratories says that the new material redefines the limits of lightweight materials because of its unique “micro-lattice” cellular architecture.

The scientists were able to make a material that consists of 99.99 per cent air by designing the 0.01 per cent solid at the nanometre, micron and millimetre scales, the latest issue ofSciencereported.

“The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair,” said lead scientist Tobias Schaedler of HRL.

The material's architecture allows unprecedented mechanical behaviour for a metal, including complete recovery from compression exceeding 50 per cent strain and high energy absorption, say the scientists.

“Materials actually get stronger as the dimensions are reduced to the nano-scale. Combine this with the possibility of tailoring the architecture of the micro-lattice and you have a unique cellular material,” team member Lorenzo Valdevit said.

Developed for the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the novel material could be used for battery electrodes and acoustic, vibration or shock energy absorption, say the scientists.

William Carter, manager of the architected materials group at HRL, compared the new material to larger, more familiar edifices: “Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture. We are revolutionising lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales.”

Indian vaccine market reaches $ 900 million

India has made a significant contribution to Vaccine development. Speaking at the opening ceremony of International Vaccine Symposium here at Surajkund today, Dr Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences said, India produces 60 percent of the world’s vaccines and account for 60-80 percent of annual UN vaccine purchases. Several Indian vaccine manufacturers are WHO pre-qualified. The current Indian vaccine market is estimated at around $ 900 million and targets $4.6 billion revenue by 2017. It is poised to grow 23% during 2011-2012. Vaccines are the most cost-effective public health products known to us. And they are means to prevent or the potential to develop preventive solutions. Every year, about eight million children globally never make it to their fifth birthday that can be saved with vaccines.

The Minister told that India’s contribution in mid level vaccine innovation coupled with an improvement in biopharmaceutical R&D capacity and capability is noteworthy. India has indigenously developed novel vaccines that today are either commercialised or are near commercialization for diseases like: Meningococcal Meningitis; Rotavirus; H1N1 & Japanese B Encephalitis. Government investment and support has been an integral part of this endeavour. The Minister referred to new schemes such as Small Business Innovation Research Initiative (SBIRI) & Biotechnology Industry Partnership Program (BIPP) which have been started by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and have provided an impetus to the innovation cascade and encouraged new players.

Referring to the 2010-2020 as the “Decade of Innovation”, Dr Kumar said innovation in Vaccine R&D and endeavour towards affordable health care must live up to Gandhiji’s commandment of practicing science with humanism. This should also help us address other challenges facing the country like food and nutrition, climate and environment, energy, affordable housing etc.

India’s growing focus on funding for scientific education and encouragement to our scientists returning from foreign shores in the form of efforts like efforts like DBT-Wellcome Trust Fellowships & Ramalingaswami Fellowships have helped in the success in the field of vaccine production. Key elements enabling an innovation-friendly environment in place are a balanced contribution for high risk projects by the public and private sectors, academia-industry collaboration within the country and with global non-profit agencies, efficient regulatory system and vast network with international collaborations including South-South engagements.

India innovated vaccines for big killer diseases like HIV, TB, Malaria, Dengue etc. India’s scientists at the DBT-supported International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) are working in malaria and dengue. Our R&D in vaccines against HIV and TB is improving. The establishment of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) at Faridabad and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) partnered HIV vaccine Design Centre is an important milestone in this area. We have correctly valued global partnerships with agencies like the IAVI, National Institute of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as it has helped mobilization of global talent and working together of best scientists to serve our nation’s future public health needs. Greater efforts are yet needed for Vaccines for Cancer and Non Communicable diseases, Dr. Kumar added.

He informed, “The low pricing has been possible due to social innovation, Public Private Sector Partnership programs and competition amongst the Indian and other Developing country manufacturers. Bharat Biotech’s Rotavirus vaccine and Serum Institutes Meningococcal Meningitis Vaccine was developed is as an example of this arrangement. The National Rural Health Mission efforts are beginning to show results with steady increases in coverage of routine EPI vaccine.”

In today’s globalized world, collaboration with and across national boundaries is essential. TB, Malaria and HIV solutions require concerted efforts by the best minds such as the ones present with us today.

The objectives of this symposium are to leverage on the knowhow of existing research, developments and management opportunities globally and within India proactively and identify/promote set of vaccine R&D targets for each stage of development to shape the portfolio at every stage, develop and promote a global and sustainable pipeline delivering the optimal cost-effective vaccines for Government of India priority disease by Indian researchers for public health use in synchronization to the national vaccine strategy of Government of India.

Approximately 100 Vaccine Research scientists and developers from the public and private sector in India and globally including specialists or physicians in training in the following disciplines: infectious diseases, clinical microbiology/immunology, public health, vaccinology and other disciplines dealing with all aspects of vaccination are attending this symposium.

The meeting is a first of its kind in India and promises to maintain its position as the largest scientific meeting devoted exclusively to research on vaccines and associated technologies for disease prevention and treatment through immunization. It will provide an opportunity to initiate collaborations with the established groups and ensure the mix and percolation of scientific knowledge through engaged discussion around different themes promoting an interdisciplinary approach.

It is expected that these discussions from the public and private sector in India and Globally would facilitate collaborations for future vaccine design , accelerated development and validation of specific new or improved version of existing vaccines against infectious diseases of public health importance in India.

The symposium has been organized by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India (GOI) in partnership with International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), Indo US Vaccine Action Program, Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI) and Clinical Development Services Agency (CDSA); a meeting about international exchange of information on Vaccine Research and Development.

Union Ministry of Health launched Anti-measles Vaccination

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched anti-measles vaccination drive, Measles Catch-up Campaign. The vaccination programme was launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to target children aged up to 10 years, particularly in 14 States where the routine immunisation coverage is less than 80 per cent. More than 13 crore children are expected to be covered under the Measles Catch-up Campaign, irrespective of their previous measles vaccination status.

The State Education Departments in the states are to set up a State Steering Committee for implementing the campaign. A nodal officer will collaborate with the principals and guardians of private and government schools for implementing the campaign. They will provide a list of the schools and of students enrolled in these schools. For each school, the vaccination programme will be completed in one day with the least disruption to academic routine. However, unlike the Pulse Polio campaign, there will be no door-to-door visits, and children will have to be mobilised from outreach areas to the session site. Mobilisation and actual vaccination will be done by accredited social health activists, auxiliary nurse midwives, male health works and other paramedical staff. The first round will be conducted in the education institutions and subsequently at the health centres.

Beneficiaries
The States that will benefit from the campaign are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh.

About Measles
Measles is a highly infectious disease which is contracted by children with low immunity and can cause acute respiratory problems, diarrhoea, and pneumonia. The disease can also result in disabilities such as visual impairment. Measles can be prevented by a single dose of vaccine if it is administered when the child is between 9 to 12 months.

Measles in India
   While India has made significant improvement in reducing child mortality due to immunisation coverage, measles continues to remain a major cause of death among children, claiming between 50000 to 100000 lives every year.  Only 69 per cent of children in the country are protected against this disease. The campaign offers an opportunity to the children to get immunised, particularly those who were left out earlier.

Scientists to explore Indian Ocean's depths

The first time scientists explored deep in the Indian Ocean, they found a new species of glowing squid. Now researchers who are departing from South Africa on November 07 with even better equipment are hoping for similar success.

In 2009, the scientists collected some 7,000 samples including the newly discovered squid, which has light-producing organs that it uses to attract its prey. Researchers aboard the RRS James Cook are taking along special cameras for photographing the ocean floor something they didn’t have last time.

“We don’t know much about the deep sea community,” Aurelie Spadone, a sea specialist with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said in a telephone interview November 07 before setting out. “It would be very surprising if we don’t find something like a new species.”

The trip is focused on learning more about how deep sea fishing is affecting marine life along seamounts peaks rising from the floor of the southern Indian Ocean.

Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme, said many of the species that live around seamounts grow and reproduce slowly, so overfishing can severely affect their populations.

“Deep-sea bottom fisheries, including bottom trawling, can damage seamount habitats and negatively impact fish stocks,” Lundin said. “It can also irreversibly damage cold water corals, sponges and other animals.”

Oxford’s Alex Rogers, the expedition’s chief scientist, said the goal was to better understand a unique underwater environment and the threats it faces.

“Based on what we learn by studying five seamounts in the southwest Indian Ridge, we’re hoping to get a better idea of where special habitats, such as cold water coral reefs, occur on seamounts and how we can protect them in the ocean globally,” he said in a statement. “Perhaps we’ll also be lucky enough to discover some new species living in these virtually unknown waters.”

The expedition is being funded by IUCN, the Global Environment Facility and Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council.

Linking genetic changes to human diseases becomes easy

The parts of the human genome that control when and where genes are turned on have been successfully identified.

The map created with this information will be a shot in the arm for researchers trying to understand and interpret genetic changes linked to human diseases.

The results are published in Nature on October 13, 2011.

This has become possible by comparing the sequences of 29 mammalian genomes. The genomes of mammals studied include those of chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys, mice, dogs, rabbits, rats, cats, squirrels, fruit bats, horses, cows, and even elephants.

Conserved regions

The authors were able to detect highly conserved regions of the genome in all the 29 mammals studied. The highly conserved regions have remained the same across species for a very long time.

These highly conserved regions make up nearly 4 per cent of the human genome. They were also able to ascribe potential functions to around 60 per cent of the bases found in the conserved regions. This comparative study has helped in understanding how the regulatory controls have remained the same across all mammals.

Compare this with just about 1.5 per cent of the human genome that was found to encode for protein sequence when genome was studied in isolation. But when a comparative study was done with the genomes of mouse, rat and dog, it was found that at least 5 per cent of the protein sequence was probably functional.

A very interesting offshoot of this study was the certainty with which scientists could understand how evolution dating back to more than 100 millions years ago has contributed to adaptation to different environments and lifestyles.

Rapid evolution

For instance, they were able to pinpoint the specific proteins that are under rapid evolution, like those for the immune system, taste perception, and cell division. Even the protein domains within genes — like those related to bone remodelling and retinal functions – have been found to be evolving rapidly.

Of special interest is the finding that certain DNA controls have been changing only in human and primate genomes.

If scientists were earlier able to identify 200 such regions, the latest study has helped in expanding the list to more than 1,000 regions. This will help in understanding human evolution.

Health implications

The study has particular relevance in helping us understand genetic variants or mutations closely tied to certain diseases. Individuals suffer from certain diseases when these mutations are disrupted.

Surprisingly, most of the genetic mutations have been identified in the non-protein coding regions of the genome. But for this comparative study, it would have been very difficult to identify mutations that cause diseases in the non-protein coding regions.

“Sequencing of additional species should enable discovery of lineage-specific elements within mammalian clades and provide increased resolution for shared mammalian constraint,” the authors note.

The authors were also able to assign or suggest possible functions for more than half of the 360 million DNA letters present in the conserved elements. These regions have been carefully preserved across mammals for millions of years.

The authors now intend to sequence 100 to 200 mammalian species so as to achieve single-nucleotide resolution.

The advantages

The biggest advantage of comparing the sequence of many mammals becomes apparent in the case of humans.

For instance, even to undertake experimental studies to know the functional regions requires prior knowledge of the biochemical activity sought.

But “comparative approaches provide an unbiased catalogue of shared functional regions independent of biochemical activity or condition,” the authors write. “It can thus capture experimentally intractable or rare activity patterns.”