Mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) have been linked by a recent study led by Amit Lahiri, a Senior Scientist at CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow. The study identified the protein CLUH as a regulator of mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation, providing insights into potential druggable targets for UC treatment.
Posted on in Pharmacology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology & Research
A recent study led by Anindita Bhadra at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, has analysed the foraging behaviour of stray dogs scavenging in groups in West Bengal. The findings have implications for understanding dog behaviour in stressful environments and potential conflicts between dogs and humans or among dogs in group settings.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought together scientists and experts from various institutions to build solutions to prevent, test, treat, or mitigate COVID-19 disease and the socioeconomic havoc that the pandemic wreaked on us. In this interview, we speak with faculty scientists to understand their COVID-related innovations and how they went about executing or deploying the same.
The Infosys Prize awardees this year were felicitated on 7 January, 2023. They represent the different disciplines of Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences. The awardees have been recognised and lauded for extraordinary contributions in their respective fields.
A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru has explored a new approach to treat mycobacterial infections, which are becoming increasingly drug-resistant. They found that a cocktail of mycobacteriophages – viruses that infect mycobacteria but not humans– were effective against slow- and fast-growing mycobacteria, in cultures. This has clinical significance in treating tuberculosis (caused by M.tuberculosis, a slow-growing mycobacterium), which is of concern, especially in developing countries. In this article, Edna George reports on this recent study by Rachit Agarwal’s team.
Stem cells of an embryo are pluripotent – they can grow into almost any cell type in the body. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are artificially reprogrammed body cells that can be made to function like embryonic stem cells, offering therapeutic advantages. However, understanding the genetic machinations of pluripotent stem cells is vital to successfully culture iPSC and is an active research area. In an exciting breakthrough, scientists have identified the group of genes responsible for maintaining distinct states of human pluripotency.
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.
Posted on in Health & Medicine, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology & Research