Author: manjusha.ghatke

Cryopreservation refers to a process used to preserve biological constructs (like 2D and 3D cell assemblies) by storing them at low temperatures, states a study by a team of researchers from Inje University, Republic of Korea.   This study highlights the existence of cryoinjury: cell damage occurring due to phase changes of water in extracellular (outside the cell) as well as intracellular (inside the cell) environments. This can occur because of osmotic rupture (happens due to an imbalance between concentrations across the cell’s outer layer) and intracellular ice formation (IIF: ice crystal formation within cells during rapid freezing). On cryopreservation…

Monitoring sweat through sweat-analyzing devices has a huge potential in the field of physical fitness and medical applications, states a study by a team of researchers from different universities in the Republic of Korea—Hanyang University, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul National University, and Yonsei University; published in Nature Communications. Using sweat-analyzing devices can aid us in various ways: maintain hydration during workouts, recognize pre-symptoms of heart attacks and hypoglycemic shocks, provide information on blood composition, monitor health conditions in a non-invasive manner, and can be used for a long time since they are non-invasive, mentions the study. In…

The National Health Service (NHS) describes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as a range of conditions that occurs due to the build-up of fat in the liver. This disease could lead to more severe conditions like non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH: a condition that involves fat build-up in the liver with inflammation and liver cell damage) and cirrhosis (permanent scarring and hardening of liver), explains an account by Johns Hopkins Medicine. A recent review article by a team of researchers from University of New England Biddeford, USA, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, states that there is growing evidence that NAFLD is a…

According to an article by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), climate change refers to the shift in average weather conditions. The increase in climate change is chiefly caused by human-led activities: operation of factories and transport as well as the burning of fossil fuels. The world is 1.1°C warmer when compared to the 1900s and atmospheric CO2 has increased by 50%, states the report. These kind of changes could have devastating effects on life as we know it. Birds are of immense ecological importance; they aid, in various ways, in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem and contributing to the…

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are six criteria pollutants that harm our health and the environment: lead, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO2), ground-level ozone, particulate matter (PM: particles that can be seen with the naked eye—dust, dirt, soot, or smoke—and particles with diameters less than 10 micrometers, PM10, or 2.5 micrometers, PM2.5), and sulfur oxides (SO2). The EPA further states that criteria air pollutants emerge from various sources: emissions (industrial, electric utilities, burning fossil fuels), construction sites, unpaved roads, fields, metal processing, and smelters, to name a few. These pollutants can get into our…

Bacteria have the ability to survive in harsh environmental conditions (like temperatures up to 150°C), states a StatPearls report by researchers from St. George’s University, Grenada, and Loma Linda University, USA. These organisms form spores (a type of physiologically inactive cell), which are the dormant form of bacteria and are thick-walled. Though these spores aid in bacterial survival, there is an immense concern surrounding their survival tactic: severe infections and bioterrorism. Some bacterial species (like Clostridium difficile) infection are associated with high mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs (estimated at $5.4 billion in the USA alone), lists the StatPearls report; highlighting…

A recent report by Capgemini Invent, a brand of Capgemini, brings forward the idea of a device called “Green Horizon”, with an intention to develop a greener alternative for the existent process involved in medication. Capgemini’s green solution Capgemini’s proposed device is a patch that is connected to mRNA (messenger RNA) —made from DNA through a process called transcription, and which is necessary for producing proteins. The device is believed to deliver to the patient an mRNA that would produce a molecule as per the requirement, in the right concentration, and at the right time. Age, gender, and RNA, would…

As per the latest fact sheet of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tuberculosis (TB), a communicable disease of the lung caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), affected 1.2 million children in 2021. The data also provides evidence regarding the organization’s continuous measures to support efforts towards managing TB and recognizes the importance of TB research. A recent investigation by researchers from Boston University, US, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa, University of Cape Town, South Africa, and University of Western Australia, Australia, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, brought to light the fact that post-TB illness…

Reports state that we live in a world where the global antibiotics consumption rate has increased by 46 percent in the last twenty years. It is well known that antibiotics are potent medications that help fight bacterial infections by either killing the bacteria or by making it difficult for the bacteria to increase in number. Although antibiotics are useful in treating and managing bacterial infections, they do have harmful side-effects (nausea, diarrhea, bloating, rashes, indigestion, etc.). As per various studies, the most concerning side-effect is that, along with killing the harmful bacteria, which cause infections, antibiotics end up killing the…