A team of researchers from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, has revealed how crosstalk between two molecular pathways in the cells of the gut mediates the aberrant inflammation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

In a new study, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have demonstrated the functioning of a motor protein responsible for recycling material inside a cell. These findings are crucial since faulty recycling in cells is responsible for many disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and Cancer.

TNQ’s Inspiring Science Award 2022 is now open for entries and will close at midnight, on 15 October, 2021. The award is given annually to young researchers for the best paper in the life sciences published from India in the previous year. This article tells more about the award and summarizes the results of its 2021 edition.

Foetal bovine serum is a nutrient-rich additive widely used for in vitro cell culture studies. However, harvesting the serum involves inhuman methods, calling for replacing or reducing its use in experiments. Here is a report on one such ethical step by a team of researchers who found a novel technique to grow skin cells by drastically reducing bovine serum use.

Timely intervention is critical to curbing the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria. A team of researchers from Mangaluru, Karnataka, has shown that information technology tools such as their Malaria Control System can be powerful allies in anti-malaria programs. Here is a report on how digitisation helped Mangaluru chalk its success story against malaria.

Streptophyte algae are considered the ancestors of land plants who shared habitats with primitive microbes. However, scientists have been intrigued by how the algae developed mechanisms to evolve as land plants and survive the soil conditions below the ground. In this exciting study, a team of researchers reveal the crucial role primitive microbes could have played in the evolutionary process of land plants.

As the world focused on developing coronavirus vaccines, a team of researchers from the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Manesar, delved into finding a therapeutic route for COVID-19. They tapped into the rich repository of Ayurvedic herbs and found Mulethi to be a promising candidate. The herb contains an active ingredient that shows potential in alleviating aggressive symptoms of COVID-19. Here is a report on their findings.