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BIOTECH
Biosafety guidelines for genome edited plants
As per the guidelines, researchers who use gene-editing technologies for plants are exempted from seeking approvals from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).
GEAC is an expert body under the Union Environment Ministry that evaluates research into genetically modified (GM) crops and approves or rejects them.
However, the final decision-making power is with the Union Environment Minister and State governments.
All other requirements that researchers must adhere to develop transgenic seeds will apply to gene-edited seeds except clauses that require permission from the GEAC.
Union environment ministry exempted site-directed nuclease (SDN) 1 and 2 genomes from rules 7-11 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA).
IISc: New algorithm to study brain connectivity
The new Algorithm is called RaAl-LiFE (Regularized, Accelerated, Linear Fascicle Evaluation).
It can help scientists in understanding and predicting connectivity between different regions of brain, in a better manner.
It can rapidly analyse the enormous data generated from diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) scans of human brain.
dMRI is the use of specific software and MRI sequences that generates images from resulting data. It uses the diffusion of water molecules for generating contrast in MR images. The dMRI allows mapping of diffusion process of molecules in biological tissues.
Using the new algorithm, team was able to evaluate dMRI data 150 times faster as compared to existing state-of-the-art algorithms.
This study was published in the journal ‘Nature Computational Science
Millions of neurons are fired in the brain every second. It generates electrical pulses, which then travel across neuronal networks, from one point of brain to another, by connecting cables or axons.
These connections are required for computations that the brain performs. Understanding the brain connectivity is significant to uncover brain-behaviour relationships at scale.
PIVOT: AI-based tool to detect Cancer
An Artificial Intelligence-based tool called ‘PIVOT’ has been developed by researchers at the Indian institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras).
TECH
The PIVOT tool was developed on the basis of a machine learning model, which divides genes as tumour oncogenes, suppressor genes, or neutral genes.
It successfully predicted the oncogenes as well as tumour-suppressor genes such as TP53, and PIK3CA.
It successfully predicted the oncogenes as well as tumour-suppressor genes such as TP53, and PIK3CA.
PIVOT is a machine learning tool. It uses different data, including mutation & gene expression, to foresee the cancer-causing genes.
These genes are called driver genes. It helps in formulating personalised cancer treatment strategies. firstly, it uses supervised model learns (ML) algorithms from known driver genes in patient.
Patient data and corresponding personalised driver genes are unknown. Secondly, this tool makes use of models on multiple data types, considering the expression data, mutation data, and combination of all types of data.
Immune Imprinting
Immune imprinting is a phenomenon occurring in the human body. Scientists recently found that this phenomenon may make the COVID boosters less effective.
Bivalent, Mono Valent, boosters, and variant-specific boosters are to go powerless due to the immune imprinting phenomenon. Immune imprinting is the human body replicating its immune system.
Bivalent, Mono Valent, boosters, and variant-specific boosters are to go powerless due to the immune imprinting phenomenon. Immune imprinting is the human body replicating its immune system.
Scientists say that immune imprinting is to become a hinder to the performance of Booster doses of COVID
Scientists Freeze Great Barrier Reef Coral
The newly developed “cryomesh” technology enables the storage of the coral larvae at -196°C (-320.8°F).
It was developed by a team of scientists from the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering.
This novel mech technology can be manufactured at lower cost. This is significant since the preceding methods require cutting-edge equipment, including lasers.
It is lightweight and ensures better preservation of corals.
The technology was initially tested with smaller and larger varieties of Hawaiian corals. The larger varieties of corals failed in the trials.
The Great Barrier Reef had experienced 4 bleaching events in the last seven years, including the first-ever bleach during a La Nina phenomenon, which generally brings cooler atmospheric temperatures.
The cyromesh paves the path towards a future where coral reefs can be restored in the wild, enabling assistance to some of the aquaculture and restoration interventions.
Genome editing is the process of adding, removing, or altering the genetic material at specific locations in the genome. Gene editing can be used to add desirable properties to plants not native to them. CRISPR-Cas9 is the popular genome editing approach
Transgenic technology involves introducing a gene from a different species into a plant. Bt cotton is a transgenic crop where a gene from a soil bacterium is introduced into the cotton plant to protect it from pest attack.
The main concern with this technology is that these genes may spread to other plants and give rise to unintended consequences.
Bt-cotton is the only GM crop allowed for cultivation in India.
Powassan Virus
Powassan virus is a Flavivirus, which is transmitted by ticks. This virus is found in North America and Russian Far East.
It is named after the town of Powassan, Ontario. In Powassan town, this virus was first identified in 1958, for the first time.
found in the warm climate across Eurasia. In Eurasia, it is a part of tick-borne encephalitis virus-complex. In Russian Far East, it appears to be introduced there 70 years ago.
Powassan virus is an RNA virus, that split into two separate lineages .Two types of Powassan virus are found in North America viz., lineage 1 and lineage 2.
Lineage I– It is labelled as “prototype” lineage; and
Lineage II– It is labelled as deer tick virus (DTV) lineage
Lineage II has the most genetic variation. It is most likely the ancestral lineage, splitting due to positive natural selection. DTV is very closely related to Powassan virus.
Many people infected with the virus have no symptoms. Some shows mild symptoms like- Fever, Headache, Weakness, Vomiting, Encephalitis, Seizures, and Meningitis. Long-term neurologic symptoms include headaches and memory problems. Death is possible but it is rare.
Recently, a woman died in United States due to infection of tick-borne Powassan virus. She was in her 90s. She is the second person to test positive for Powassan virus in 2022.
Anocovax: India’s first COVID-19 vaccine for animals
Vaccine has been developed with the aim of protecting endangered animals like lions and tigers. India reported some 9 Covid infections in Asiatic lions in Chennai-zoo in 2021.
Killed vaccine for wild animals is better, as compared to live-attenuated vaccine, in which weakened live virus is used. Live vaccine is avoided in wild animals because live vaccine might have been suitable for particular species, but it can cause disease in another.
For instance, a rabies vaccine was developed for dogs around 15 or 20 years back, and was given to wolves in Africa. Unfortunately, they died.
Vaccine has been developed by Hisar-based National Research Centre on Equines.
It can protect animals against Delta and Omicron variants of coronavirus.
The vaccine can be used in dogs, leopards, mice, lions, and rabbits.
It is an inactivated vaccine, that has been developed using an infectious part of the Delta variant.
Apart from that, the vaccine uses Alhydrogel as an adjuvant to boost immune response.
This is the first Covid-19 vaccine developed in India, for animals.
Thiomargarita magnifica Bacteria
Scientists have discovered a giant white bacterium named “Thiomargarita magnifica Bacteria” on rotting leaves in saline waters of red mangrove swamp in Guadeloupe in Lesser Antilles.
The average bacterium is usually between ~0.4 and 3 μm3 in volume. Thus, it is only visible with powerful compound microscope, that use multiple objective lenses.
These lenses can be switched between for increasing the magnification levels. Until the latest discovery, bacteria were considered microbial or microscopic organisms.
Discovery of Thiomargarita Magnifica, defies all the stereotypical definitions by being visible to the naked eye.
World’s previous biggest bacterium is Thiomargarita namibiensis. It was found in the sediments below waters of Skeleton Coast in Namibia.
It had the diameter 100 times bigger than average bacterium. This bacterium was called to be big because 98 per cent of its volume was used as storage space of nitrate under its thin layer of cytoplasm.
Features
It is 1 cm in length. This discovery will help in solving the puzzle of which factors determine size of a cell.
Previously discovered giant bacteria are made of hundreds of thousands of cells. But Thiomargarita Magnifica is composed of single bacterial cell. It is roughly equal to the size of a human eyelash.
It is the largest bacteria, discovered so far.
It is around 5,000 times larger than most bacteria.
It has been named Thiomargarita Magnifica, because of its size and the presence of pearl-like beads of sulphur inside the cell.
CoVarScan rapid COVID-19 test
Other tests for Covid-19 generally either detect a fragment of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material or small molecules which are found on virus’ surface. They don’t provide information on identify of the variant. They aren’t accurate in detecting some coronavirus variants or they could miss future strains.
The CoVarScan Test has sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 99%, as compared to whole-genome sequencing.
The CoVarScan test can identify and differentiate Delta, Lambda, Mu, and Omicron variants of Covid-19. It can also detect BA.2 version of Omicron.
BA.2 version was once known as “stealth Omicron” as it did not show up on some tests designed for detecting Omicron strain.
The CoVarScan test detects the signatures of eight hotspots on SARS-CoV-2 virus.
It was tested on over 4,000 patients’ samples.
This test is as accurate as other methods, available for diagnosing Covid.
It can successfully differentiate between all the variants of SARS-CoV-2.
This test can be used to determine what variants are in community and if any new variant is emerging, quickly.
India’s first intra-nasal Corona vaccine
ChAd36-SARS-CoV-S COVID-19 (Chimpanzee Adenovirus Vectored) Recombinant Nasal Vaccine for COVID-19 by Bharat Biotech is the first of its kind needle-free vaccine.
The heterologous booster infers that, third or subsequent dose of the vaccine is not similar to its primary dose.
Usually, primary doses include two shots.
According to Bharat Biotech, BBV154 is stable at 2-8 degrees Celsius. It is safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic under controlled clinical trials.
Bharat Biotech recently launched an intranasal vaccine to treat COVID-19. It is called iNCOVACC. Intra-nasal means the vaccine is administered through nose. India has approved the vaccine and it is to be administered as a booster dose.
WHO fungal priority pathogens list (WHO FPPL)
The WHO FPPL is the first-ever list of fungi that are recognized as “priority pathogens”. It contains a catalog of 19 fungi that are considered to be the greatest public health threat.
The FPPL is the first global effort to systematically prioritize fungal pathogens, with consideration to the unmet research and development requirements and the perceived global public health importance
It aims to boost research and policy interventions to strengthen the international response to fungal infection and antifungal resistance.
The WHO FPPL list is divided into three categories-critical, high, and medium priority
The fungal pathogens in each priority category are ranked based on their impact on public health and/or emerging antifungal resistance risk.
This list must be interpreted and contextualized since some of these fungi’s threats differ based on regional or local contexts.
Fungal pathogens are increasingly becoming a threat to public health as they are becoming more common and highly resistant to treatment
Currently, only four classes of antifungal medicines are available, and very few new ones are currently being tested.
Rapid and sensitive diagnostic tools are absent for most of the fungal pathogens.
Invasive forms of fungal pathogens are severely affecting immunocompromised people like patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic respiratory disease, and post-primary tuberculosis infection and organ transplant
Currently, incidences and geographical range of fungal diseases are expanding because of global warming and the rapid growth of international travel and trade.
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the instances of fungal infection because of the increase in hospitalization.
Along with these challenges, there is an increase in cases of antifungal resistance.
“viral spillover risks”
Viral spillover occurs when viruses overcome several barriers to infect new host from reservoir host (in which it usually resides)
The researchers from the University of Ottawa sought to study the possibility of a viral spillover by collecting sediments and soil samples from Lake Hazen in Canada – the world’s largest High Arctic lake by volume
High Arctic was chosen for this study since it is warming faster than the rest of the world.
The researchers sequenced the RNA and DNA to reconstruct the lake area’s virus composition and estimated the viral spillover risks.
The study found that the chances of viruses successfully infecting new host increases with the runoff from glacier melt.
With global warming increasing the instances of glacier melting, there is a high possibility of previously ice-trapped viruses and bacteria finding new hosts and increasing spillover risks.
Spillover risks are also increased due to changes in global distribution and dynamics of the viruses, their reservoirs and vectors.
However, this does not guarantee a higher possibility of pandemic occurring in the future.
This is because viral spillover depends on three main categories – pathogen pressure, human and vector behaviors and attributes of the host.
All these phases are fraught with several natural challenges that the virus must overcome to successfully reach the new host.
Coronaviruses successfully overcame these barriers since they are RNA viruses capable of evolving more quickly than other virus families because of their ability to recombine and acquire point mutations.
Other pathogens that have successfully spilled over to humans are Influenza A and Ebola.
Study on Veterinary Antimicrobial use
The Indian Journal of Medical Research that India is developing the highest resistance to anti-microbial drugs in the rest of the world.
In India, antimicrobial resistance is increasing in food, animals, and humans as well. In 2020, the AMU of India was 43% more than the global average. By 2030, this is to increase by 40%.
The World Health Organization defines AMR as the drug resistance gained by bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms. The microorganisms that become resistant to the antimicrobial, are referred to as Superbugs.
Steps taken
National Action Plan for AMR was launched
ICMR’s Antibiotic Stewardship program
Strict ban on drugs increasing AMR by DGCI now and then as required
IMPACT ON INDIA
The resistance level is increasing at the rate of 5% to 10% every year. Today 70,000 Indian citizens are gaining resistance to AMR per year. The number is expected to increase to ten million by 2050.
The AMR will affect economic growth. GDP will fall by 2% to 3.5%
Livestock revenues will reduce by 3% to 8%
India is the largest producer of milk in the world and also has huge potential in poultry and animal husbandry. The AMR will affect India’s growth in these areas.
Small Portion of Prokaryoplankton Consume Most of the Oxygen in the Ocean
It examined marine organisms called prokaryoplankton – a large group of bacteria and archaea that account for 90 per cent of the cells in the ocean.
Prokaryoplanktons make use of organic matter to generate energy through the process called cellular respiration. The process of cellular respiration involves consuming oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.
The researchers found that less than 3 per cent of prokaryoplankton cells accounted for up to a third of all oxygen consumed by these microorganisms.
This conclusion has major implications for the understanding of how the carbon cycle in the ocean work since this process is dominated by a very small fraction of microbes.
New Artificial Photosynthetic System to Capture Solar Energy
Researchers from IISER-Thiruvananthapuram and IIT-Indore have jointly developed an artificial light-harvesting system that will help capture solar energy.
Scientists have a novel artificial light-capturing system that imitates the process of photosynthesis to effectively capture light to conserve power. This technology addresses various challenges faced while replicating the complex process of photosynthesis as well as the problems associated with light absorbers and transmitters.
The new artificial photosynthetic system makes use of clusters of silver with a nanometer dimension, which is a hundred thousand times smaller than the width of human hair. These silver nanoclusters have complicated and exotic photophysical properties. The researchers were able to stabilize them with bulky ligands and entrap the entire ensemble inside another larger molecule called cyclodextrin. This is the first time that an atom-precise nanoclusters were used for this application.
The new technology paves the way for designing of new light-harvesting materials that can improve the efficiency of solar cells and minimize the energy loss. Such technologies will help countries achieve their net zero carbon emissions and meet future energy needs through renewable energy sources.
Langya
New zoonotic virus in China
Another zoonotic virus, Langya, was recently discovered in China, after deadly coronavirus was detected in 2019
t is a type of Henipavirus, and is also called as Langya Henipavirus or LayV.
Henipaviruses are categorised as biosafety level 4 (BSL4) pathogens. It is responsible for serious illness in animals and humans.
Prior to Langya virus, other viruses in Henipavirus category include- Hendra, Cedar, Nipah, Mojiang and Ghanaian bat virus.
CERVAVAC: Cervical Cancer Vaccine
A vaccine to cure cervical cancer was recently launched by the Serum Institute of India. The name of the vaccine is CERVAVAC.Department of Biotechnology assisted SII in developing the vaccine
This is the first time India is producing a vaccine for cervical cancer. The vaccine was launched during National Girl Child Day. India celebrates National Girl Child Day on January 24.
The cervix is the lowermost part of the uterus. Tumour in the cervix is generally referred to as cervical cance
According to the International Classification of Diseases WHO, more than 65,978 Indian women suffered from cervical cancer in 2015. The number increased to 75,209 in 2017. In 2025, it is expected to touch 85,241
Almost, one–fourth of cancer deaths occur due to cervical cancer. Cancer among women commonly occurs in the lungs, rectum, breast, and cervix. Of all cancer in women, breast cancer is the most common followed by lung cancer in the second position. Colorectal cancer is the third most popular cancer in the world. And cervical cancer is the fourth most common.
More than 1.25 lakh women suffer from cervical cancer all over the world
More than 75,000 Indian women die due to the disease
India used the HPV vaccine so far to cure cervical vaccines. It was imported and the vaccine is very expensive. One dose of the HPV vaccine costs Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000. With the low-cost indigenously developed CERVAVAC, India can reduce the intensity of the disease to a great extent.
First Drug to Delay Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic medical condition in which the pancreas produces little to no insulin. It was formerly known as insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes. While it generally appears in children, teens, and young adults, it is known to occur at any age. It is rarer than the occurrence of type 2 diabetes. Preventive measures for this chronic condition are unknown. Symptoms include maintaining blood sugar level through regular monitoring, insulin therapy, diet and exercise.
Tzield is a monoclonal antibody injection that is capable of preventing the body’s immune system from mistakenly attacking cells in the pancreas that make insulin. It was developed by drugmakers Sanofi and Provention Bio. The common side effects of this drug are decreased levels of certain white blood cells, rashes and headache. It can be administered to people aging 8 and older, who have early symptoms of type 1 diabetes
The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved Tzield – the first drug to delay the onset of Type 1 diabetes.
DIABETES
Types of diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes:
In this type, the body produces very little or no insulin. Therefore, a daily injection of insulin is required for the body to maintain blood glucose levels under control. It can develop at any age but mostly it affects children and adolescents.
GESTESTIONAL Diabetes
A condition in which women develop diabetes (high blood sugar) during pregnancy. Initially, it may not cause any symptoms. Excessive thirst, sweating and frequent urination may be noticed as it progresses.
Type 2 Diabetes:
In this type, the body is not able to use the insulin that it produces. The remedy for this is a healthy lifestyle, increase physical activity, and a healthy diet. Some people with time may take oral drugs or insulin to keep their blood glucose levels under control. It is more common in adults and 90% mostly cases of Diabetes are Type 2 only.
World Diabetes Day is observed on 14th November every year since 2006.
Insulin at 100--Insulin was discovered in 1921 by orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Frederick Banting and medical student Charles Best, from the University of Toronto. Dr. Banting later won the Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1923 along with Professor McLeod who was a Professor of Carbohydrate Metabolism.
If the pancreas gland is not able to produce enough insulin it causes hypoglycemia and if it is not used effectively then glucose levels in the blood are raised leading to hyperglycemia. If glucose levels increase in the long-term then it can also damage the body and failure of various organs and tissues.
Diabetes mellitus vs Diabetes insipidus
Diabetes mellitus is what most people mean by diabetes. It’s when your pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin to control the amount of glucose, or sugar, in your blood.
Diabetes insipidus is a rare condition that has nothing to do with the insulin produced by the pancreas. If a person has diabetes insipidus, his kidneys produce a lot of extra urine. The loss of fluid makes the patient suffering from diabetes insipidus really thirsty. There are 4 types of diabetes insipidus – central, nephrogenic, dipsogenic, and gestational.
Allmenia multiflora
Allmenia multiflora is a new species belonging to the genus Allmania.
It is only the second species of the Allmania genus found in the world.
The new species was discovered 188 years after the genus and the first species Allmania nodiflora were described.
The discovery of the new species was made during the ongoing study of Amaranthaceae – a plant family to which the genus Allmania belongs to.
Before the new species was identified, Allmania nodiflora was believed to be the only lone species of the genus Allmania.
Allmania nodiflora was published under the genus Celosia as Celosia nodiflora in 1753. It was later described as Allmania nodiflora in 1834. Its native range span from the Indian subcontinent to China and western and central Malesia.
Icaria: new catfish species
The new species of catfish belongs to the genus Pangasius.
It was found in Mettur Dam in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, by the ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBFGR).
Through this study, they found that Pangasius specimens from the river Cauvery are different from other species of the genus Pangasius.
The newly discovered species has been christened Icaria after the ICAR-NBFGR’s parent organization ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research).
The newly species is edible and the locals call it aie keluthi in Tamil.
The holotype of this species is registered at the National Fish Museum and Repository of ICAR-NBFGR in Lucknow.
The name of this species is registered in ZooBank – the online registration system of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
The new species is different from other species of catfish by its small rounded vomerine and palatine tooth plates, longer maxillary and mandibular barbels, more vertebrae and smaller caudal peduncle depth.
Catfish has high commercial value in aquaculture and wild capture fisheries.
The Mettur Dam is the largest dam in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. It is situated across the Cauvery River. It was built in 1934.
World’s First Cloned Arctic Wolf
ABOUT
A Beijing-based gene firm had succeeded in cloning the Arctic Wolf to prevent the endangered species from going extinct.
The newly cloned wolf was named Maya, which means good health.
The donor cell of the wolf came from a skin sample of a wild female Arctic Wolf. Its oocyte was obtained from a dog.
The cloning process involved the construction of 137 new embryos from enucleated (process of removing nucleus from the cell) oocytes and somatic cells.
85 embryos were transferred to the uteri of seven beagles.
The beagle was chosen as the surrogate mother since this dog breed is found to share genetic ancestry with ancient wolf.
Arctic Wolf
he Arctic Wolf is also known as white wolf or polar wolf. It is native to the High Arctic tundra of Canada’s Queen Elizabeth Islands. It is a subspecies of the grey wolf.
This medium-sized wolf is smaller than the Alaskan timber wolf. Since the 1930s, there has been a significant decline in the size of the Arctic wolf’s skull because of the wolf-dog hybridization.
Cloning
Artificially, the first animal to be cloned was a sheep named Dolly. It was created in 1996 by a Scottish scientist using an udder cell from an adult sheep. Recently, in July 2022, Japanese scientists have succeeded in producing cloned mice using freeze-dried skin cells.
This new breakthrough makes it possible to practice bio-banking, which involves saving animal cells and creating clones from them.
Cloning is the process of producing living organisms, including cells, tissues etc., with identical genetic materials ether through natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction.
Confuciusornis shifan
The fossil remains of a 119 million-year-old beaked bird were recently discovered in China.
It is different from other Mesozoic birds due to the presence of an additional cushion-like bone in the first digit of the wing. This feature is significant as it may have helped the bird meet the functional demand of flight at a stage when the skeletal growth was still incomplete.
It belonged to the Confuciusornithidae family of the genus Confuciusornis, a groups of crow-sized beaked birds.
The fossil of Confuciusornis shifan’s skeleton was preserved on a single slab in the Jiufotang Formation, which was found close to the Xiaotaizi village in the Chinese province of Liaoning.
The Confuciusornithidae is a group of Early Cretaceous pygostylian birds that were found in the Jehol Biota of East Asia. This group represents the earliest known toothless, beaked birds.
Garrarnawun Bush Tomato
The Garrarnawun bush tomato (Solanum scalarium) is currently found only in one site in world i.e., the Judbarra/Gregory National Park in the Australia’s Northern Territory.
It is a perennial pale green shrub that is around 30 cm tall.
This species belongs to the taxonomically challenging group called Kimberley dioecious clade in Australia. It is distinguished from other members of this group by its spreading decumbent habit and conspicuously prickly male floral rachis.
Its common name recognizes the lookout point in the Judbarra/Gregory National Park. This point is the traditional meeting place of the Wardaman and Nungali-Ngaliwurru peoples, whose lands intersect in this region.
This species is currently known from a single population of around 50 to 100 individuals. Hence, scientists are proposing to include in the “data deficit” category of the IUCN Red List.
It is found on skeletal pink soil, dissected rocks and exposed sandstone pavements.
It is expected to be found in more locations due to the prevalence of a similar and less accessible outcrops in the immediate region.
genus Solanum
The species belonging to this genus are found in all continents except Antarctica. It is the most species-rich genus in the Solanaceae family and is among the largest in the angiosperms (flowering plants).
The genus includes 3 food crops having high economic value. These are the potato, tomato and eggplant (brinjal).
Much of the species belonging to the Solanum are concentrated in circum-Amazonian tropical South America. However, its hotspots are also found in Africa and Australia.
Honeybees capable of parity categorization
Parity classification is the categorization of numbers as either odd or even.
It is used when dealing with real-world objects that can be paired. If an element cannot be paired in a group, then the number of objects are odd.
Previous studies have shown that honeybees are capable of learning the order of quantities, performing simple addition and subtraction, matching symbols with quantities and relate size and number concepts.
A new research has found that they were also capable of parity classification.
Till date, only humans were found to be capable of this task.
IISER Ionic organic material to remove pollutants
iVOFm material
The size and number of the macropores, as well as the strong electrostatic interaction of the material, allow for the swift capture of a variety of toxic pollutants.
To create the material, the researchers employed a “make-and-break” strategy, using a charged porous organic polymer (POP) as a sponge-like framework on silica nanoparticles.
The iVOFm material combines ion-exchange with nanometer-sized macropores and specific binding sites to target and remove pollutants from water.
The silica nanoparticles were then removed, resulting in an ordered, hierarchical, interconnected macro/microporous structure.
The iVOFm material has an inherent cationic nature and large macropores, allowing for fast diffusion of pollutants.
It was particularly effective at removing the sulfadimethoxine antibiotic. In addition to its efficiency, the material can also be reused multiple times to clean contaminated water.
have developed a unique molecular sponge-like material that can effectively clean polluted water.
The material, called a macro/microporous ionic organic framework, is able to absorb and remove a wide range of toxic contaminants, including organic dyes, antibiotics, pesticides, iodides, and oxo-pollutants such as perrhenate.
The material, called a macro/microporous ionic organic framework, is able to absorb and remove a wide range of toxic contaminants, including organic dyes, antibiotics, pesticides, iodides, and oxo-pollutants such as perrhenate.
New Technology to filter micro-plastics from Water
Scientists from South Korea have developed a new water purification system that can effectively remove microplastics from water in just 10 seconds
The system uses a polymer that is relatively inexpensive and has excellent adsorption performance and good photothermal properties
The breakthrough technology requires lower levels of energy, making it suitable for solar-based use, particularly in developing countries where power supply is unreliable.
The new water purification system has several benefits over traditional carbon-based filters. In addition to being more efficient at removing microplastics, the system also requires lower levels of energy and is relatively inexpensive.