Science Stories

  Human gut microbiome                                                   The researchers found that manipulation of gut microbiota of  mice  shows a significant difference in learning in comparison with a mouse of the normal gut. Microbiota  refers to a complex consortium of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. In mammals,  they have found changes in microbiota composition  to influence many physiologic processes such as development, metabolism, and immunity. Changes in the composition of microbiota can also modulate the behavior of the host—such as  social  activity, stress, and anxiety-related responses - that  are linked  to diverse neuropsychiatric disorders. However, one question remains enigmatic to the neuroscientist. How does the microbiota influence the neuronal activity and t...

                           Dr. M.K. Bhan addressing a Press Conference to apprise on the two significant R&D results emanating from DBT support, in New Delhi on May 31, 2012. The scientist who developed India’s first indigenous vaccine dies at 72. He was born in 1947, the year when India got independence and he passes away on 26th January, when India was celebrating its 71st Republic day.  He was destined  to be part of the country’s history. Maharaj Kishan Bhan is an Indian pediatrician and clinical scientist who developed the vaccine for rotavirus, the first indigenous vaccine produced in the country. He was born on 9th  November 1947. He completed his MBBS degree from AFMC, Pune and M.D. Degree from Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. As a faculty in AIIMS, Delhi he worked extensively on childhood diarrhea and nutrition. Childhood diarrhea  is ...

Bretzel  and Citelli with  Capsula Mundi Model.  Whenever a person dies, it is a burden for the family emotionally and financially. We spend thousands of dollars in funerals paying for the casket, flowers, and monuments. Environmentally, those caskets and monuments left behind an enormous carbon footprint. Recently, many people have begun to embrace the idea of  green burials. People are environmentally more aware and there is a shift from cremation and  the use of wood, the synthetic cushioning and the metals generally  used in traditional coffins  to green burial. Green burial is a method of burying the body in a wooden coffin without a concrete burial vault. The body along with the wooden coffin is degraded easily by the bacteria in the soil. This type of  burial allows the graveyard to return to nature. Nearly 54 percent of Americans are considering green burial and 74 percent of cemeteries are reporting an increased demand for g...

Blood group A converted into group O by gut bacterial enzymes. Gut Bacterial enzymes provide a way to increase human blood type O supply. Blood transfusions are a daily routine procedure in hospitals. In a day, 16k liters of blood are transfused daily in the United States. Human being has four types of blood group- A, B, AB, O. Blood type A, B, and AB have their own antigens on their surface. Blood Antigens are basically a polysaccharide on the surface of red blood cells.  Type O does not have any antigens on their surface. The demand for blood all over the world is very high, especially during emergency surgeries and operations. Blood transfusion is only possible when the blood group of donor and recipient are matched . If they are not matched , the immune cells of the recipient will attack and destroy the RBCs of the donor. Blood group O does not have an antigen on their surface, thus making them transfusable to any recipient irrespective of the blood group of...