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Acid Test for Treatment nancy in India. It is also the cause of the lines. The results also reveal that there is Emperor of Maladies largest estimated cancer deaths world- a small RNA, called Hsa-mir-126-5p, wide. Scientists are now investigating which directs dengue replication in hu- Cancer is one among the top ten causes biological molecules to change the cell man cell lines. This discovery suggests of morbidity and mortality in the world. processes that cause malignancy. that microRNAs might be a potential Conventional chemotherapy for cancer Now, a team of scientists from NIT, target against dengue viruses. has adverse side effects. Scientists have Rourkela and IIT, Kharagpur, India, in This research is evidence enough to been evaluating natural compounds for collaboration with the Virginia Com- support the idea that the RNA interfer- drugs which effectively control cancer monwealth University, have demon- ence machinery of the host acts as an without any side effects. One such com- strated that agglutinins – proteins that antiviral defence mechanism in human pound is boswellic acid, obtained from bind to carbohydrates – from the seeds cell lines. Since host-derived miRNAs the Indian olibanum tree, Boswellia ser- of rati, Abrus precatorius, a medicinal have antiviral activity against many viral rata. plant, is efficient against breast cancer. infections, miRNA-based therapies may Boswellia has been used in traditional The scientists found that it inhibits soon be a part of the treatment for a medicine for various ailments. The gum cancer cell multiplication by generating variety of diseases. resin of this plant (Shallaki) contains cell death proteins. It simultaneously Gene, 586(1), 7–11 boswellic acid. Boswellic acid is known triggers the generation of reactive oxy- for its anti-inflammatory action and has gen species. The protein, thus, destroys Dermal Drug Delivery been used in arthritis. the cancer cells through a two-pronged Deep rooted solution Nand Kishore Roy and his research approach. team from the IIT Guwahati, in collabo- Popping pills is a common way to con- The lectin also inhibits the formation sume medicines. The ingested drug is ration with the Cancer Research Institute of blood capillaries. This stops the can- of Singapore, did clinical trials on bos- absorbed into the bloodstream which cer cells from proliferating into tumor- transports it to the site of infection. But wellic acid to screen for its effect on ous growth. This, in turn, further inhibits symptoms developed due to cancer ther- this strategy is ineffective for deep the ability of the cells to generate new rooted skin infections. Due to low pene- apy. They administered boswellic acid capillary blood vessels. to young people diagnosed with intra- trability, it is extremely difficult to de- Scientists say that abrus agglutinins liver drugs to a site within the skin. cranial tumour. There was no side effect can selectively target human breast can- during the 9 month period of treatment. Scientists are now trying to solve this cer cells. These results would enable problem using nanoparticles that can Five children showed improvement in scientists to adopt a multidimensional their general health status. They found seep into the skin. In the last fortnight, approach for battling breast cancer. Prasad, from the University of Delhi, in that the treatment is useful in reducing Int. J. Cancer, 139(2), 457–466 the oedema associated with brain tu- collaboration with researchers in the University of Berlin, reported creation mours. Dengue Virus microRNAs of one such drug delivery model. They report that a cream containing New therapeutic arsenal boswellic acid is useful to reduce the ra- Prasad and his team made use of diation induced adverse effect on skin in The dengue virus causes widespread amphiphilic branched shells: spherical breast cancer patients. Boswellic acid haemorrhagic fever, morbidity and mor- nanoparticle shells having both hydro- application significantly reduced the tality globally. As many as 400 million phobic and hydrophilic chains. Such oedema in the skin caused by radiation. people are infected yearly. But there is shells have been coupled with a The main constraint in using boswel- no specific treatment for dengue. The branched polyglycerol core in the past to lic acid for treatment is its poor bioavail- virus has a compact genome and this solubilize water insoluble drugs. ability: it gets degraded very quickly. poses a challenge to the scientific com- Branching serves to trap greater amount They suggest two alternative approaches munity in trying to find ways to control of drug. to solve the problem: (1) delivering the the disease. The researchers synthesized two ex- drug through nanoparticles, adjuvants or Kakumani and his team from New tensively branched polymer cores by liposomes and (2) developing structural Delhi and Faridabad started exploring linking polyglycerol with different analogues of boswellic acid to enhance the role of host miRNAs in dengue rep- organic acids. They created three such bioavailability. lication and pathogenesis. The research- drug delivery systems which were tested Cancer Letters, 377(1), 74–86 ers succeeded in identifying a factor, for drug entrapment, skin penetration Glucose Regulated Protein, which is in- and toxicity. Abrus – A Hope for Breast Cancer volved in the processing of the small The core multi-shell systems are 11 RNAs. Silencing of this protein in hu- times more efficient in penetrating skin With changing lifestyles, women are be- man cell lines results in accumulation of compared to a base cream formulation coming increasingly vulnerable to breast dengue viral RNA. Thus the protein re- and exhibit negligible toxicity at a low cancer. It is the most diagnosed malig- stricts dengue replication in human cell concentration. Scientists are confident

244 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 2, 25 JULY 2016 NEWS that efficient drug entrapment and combination of chitosan, polyethylene To become more sustainable, textile minimal toxicity will make their model glycol and polyvinyl pyrrolidone gel, industries started using plant and micro- commercially viable. smeared on cotton fabric. There is bial based eco-friendly dyes to reduce doi: 10.1016/j.polymer.2016.04.074 enough evidence in the literature about pollution. Microbial based dyes are easy the use of chitosan in treating inflamma- to handle, more easily biodegradable. Ion Passage Restricted tion and obesity. Polyethylene glycol, a They are also more efficient and inex- pH gating of toxic pores water soluble polymer, has good absorp- pensive. Moreover, large-scale produc- Bacteria have an assortment of tricks for tion properties and polyvinyl pyrroli- tion of these dyes is not difficult. attacking the human body. One particu- done is a major component of butadiene. In the last fortnight, Priya and her larly interesting strategy is the release of The composite has a porous structure team from the Central Leather Research toxins that self-assemble to form pores. enabling easy air passage and could ab- Institute, Chennai, reported developing These integrate with the plasma mem- sorb water. an eco-friendly protein dye using re- brane of the target cell and disturb the The ‘wound dresser’ was tested for combinant technology. The team cloned osmotic balance leading to cell death. A drug release potential. The drug, tetracy- the genes responsible for the green fluo- group of scientists from the Indian Insti- cline, was released within 48 hours and rescent protein from a jellyfish. tute of Science, Bengaluru, headed by maintained an antibacterial action over The protein-based fluorescent pig- Maiti, has devised a strategy to block an extended period. It was effective ment of the jellyfish has biochemical these pores by introducing protonated against Staphylococcus aureus, an infec- characters similar to microbial dye. gates. tious bacteria. Wound healing properties Three adjacent amino acids are respon- Maiti’s team tested dendrimers a class were effective for 21 days with minimal sible for the green fluorescent colour. It of hyperbranched polymers, as pore scarring. Thus, the discovery may enable is also possible to alter the colour by blockers. They used molecular dynamic effective scar free wound healing and mutation. The fluorescent protein is very simulations to study the efficiency of aid cosmetic surgeries. stable to heat, extreme pH and chemical polyamido-amine dendrimers as pore Int. J. Pharmaceutics, 508(1–2), 92–101 denaturants. blockers for Cytolysin A – a toxin re- Two variants of the green fluorescent Waste Cooking Oil as Biodiesel! leased by E. coli. protein obtained from the recombinant Scientists observe that protonation Scientists from the Indian Institute of technology showed more than 85% dye- could cause extensive branching be- Technology, Kanpur and the Korea Ad- ing efficiency. Optimum level of dyeing tween the dendrimer and the negatively vanced Institute of Science and Tech- is observed in 4 hours with 5 M protein charged pore walls which retard its ap- nology, are now suggesting use of waste concentration. The intensity of dyeing, proach into the pore lumen. The posi- cooking oil as a fuel. They conducted colour difference values and characteris- tively charged protonated dendrimers experiments for a comprehensive inves- tics of leather coated with the fluores- also disturb the potassium ion gradient. tigation of the spray and combustion cent proteins show that they can be used While both non-protonated and proto- characteristics of waste oil. as an environment-friendly dye. nated dendrimers can block the passage Technically, waste oil exhibits a lar- Green fluorescent proteins will go a of water to a similar extent, protonated ger injection delay and higher injection long way in making future leather indus- dendrimers are 3 times more effective rate peak than diesel, possibly because tries cleaner and greener! J. Cleaner Production, 126, 698–706 than non-protonated dendrimers in of its higher fuel viscosity and density. blocking ion transport and can inhibit A decrease in flame intensity and visible Corrigendum more than 90% of ions from being flame was observed. In the last issue, we had reported in this transported through the pore. This strat- Reduction in harmful exhaust emis- column, about the possibility that PPRV, egy can be used to devise new therapeu- sion is evident for waste oil. Carbon a virus that infects small ruminants may tics for bacterial infections. monoxide, hydrocarbon and smoke be extending its host range to dogs. A Nanoscale, 8, 13045–13058 emissions declined. However, nitrous regrettable error was made in calling the oxide emission was higher, compared to disease rinderpest. Rinderpest, a disease Shrimp Skeleton to Treat Wounds! diesel. So, perhaps in the near future, we that infected cattle has been eliminated Most wound dressings are designed to may start using leftover of kitchen oil from the world. PPRV is a distant rela- hasten the process of healing. But cos- for driving our car. tive, but they are not the same. Fuel, 176, 20–31 metic requirements demand scar-free Reports by Sarah Iqbal, Mary Teresa healing. Thus, an ideal wound dressing Pollution-free Leather Industries Miranda, Ratna Prabha, Rekha R. should be antibacterial, skin friendly, Next generation greener dyes Warrier, Manali Datta, Mona Ke- capable of absorbing moisture and exu- dates. And it should be easily removable Leather industries discharge effluents jariwal, R. Ramasubramanian, P. without reopening the wound. containing large amounts of synthetic Thiruchenthil Nathan, Saravanan Bhuvanesh Gupta and his team, from dyes. In recent years, 30% of the leather Parameswaran and H. M. Maha- IIT Delhi and Jamia Hamdard, have industries were closed due to charges of devaswamy. synthesized a ‘wound dresser’, a environmental pollution. [email protected]

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 2, 25 JULY 2016 245 NEWS

Science Last Fortnight

Crops of the Future crops to be introduced to farming cies is found to be moderately salt sen- communities. sitive. Developing salinity tolerant Sea rise, one of the consequences of International Journal of Phyto- genotypes would help expand the area climate change, threatens farmers across remediation, 2016, 18(8), 801–811 of cultivation in non-traditional, saline the coastal lines. There is an agricul- Manish Kumar Tekam soils also. tural crisis due to frequent flooding, Plants are sensitive to salinity. It drought, soils degraded by agrochemi- Traffic Accidents! limits growth and crop productivity. cal overuse aggravated by the rising Pedestrian risk perception Since plants cannot move to escape sea engulfing coastal farmlands. But stresses, they have evolved strategies there are some plants that can tolerate Pedestrian–vehicle crash is on the rise to cope. They have acquired several higher salt concentrations: halophytes. across the world. National Crime Re- mechanisms to acclimatize to salinity, Aditya Rathore and team from the cords Bureau statistics state that India the most common abiotic stress. Plants Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Re- witnessed a death toll of around 1.41 first ‘sense’ environmental cues, be- search Institute, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, lakhs persons whereas persons who fore responding. It is now established have also proposed that halophytes act suffered injury in traffic crashes were that different plant species respond as an excellent sink of atmospheric around 4.77 lakhs in 2014. Pedestrians differentially by modulating their anti- carbon dioxide. According to them, have a sizable share of 51% among the oxidative machinery. abiotic and biotic variables work in 58% fatal accident under the non- Salinity stress generates Reactive combination, interacting in complex motorized category. Experts point out Oxygen Species, otherwise called free ways to modulate this effect. The un- that actual figures would be higher, as radicals. These are harmful by-pro- derstanding of the soil nutrient– most cases are not reported. ducts of cellular metabolism. They are halophyte relationship and biotic and Shalini Rankavat and Geetam Ti- also considered to be signalling mole- abiotic stresses can open new avenues wari, from IIT Delhi, examined the pe- cules regulating stress tolerance. in exploiting the carbon fixation poten- destrian perception of risk. Based on A team from the Directorate of tial of halophytes. data from 2006 to 2009, Delhi, they Groundnut Research, Junagadh, inves- Intertidal sea shores have plenty of analysed the degree of fatal crashes, tigated the responses of different geno- mud-flats and salt marshes due to tidal locations and built environment. And types of peanuts to varying salt stresses. oscillations. This supports the growth they administered a questionnaire to There were changes in enzyme activity of Salicornia brachiata, a halophyte. understand the relationship between detected at both the RNA and protein Their ion physiological features allow these factors and the perception of risk. levels, and non-enzymatic antioxidant them to cope with the saline substrates. When they analysed the data on risk activity at the protein levels. They con- They adapt to different physicochemi- perceptions based on age, gender and firmed the presence of free radicals cal environments and show high pro- demographic characteristics, they using spectrometry and in situ histo- ductivity in the salty ecosystem. They found higher risk perception in males chemical staining methods. Sensitive accumulate salt in their succulent struc- than in females, indicating that males genotypes of peanut succumbed to salt ture to adjust the low osmotic water po- are more cautious in high risk areas stress due to a reduction in membrane tential of the soil. Thus, it becomes a than their counterparts. stability. source of high value vegetable salt. The researchers used the logit model Results revealed that the induction Salicornia brachiata is considered a of risk perception to highlight road of all the antioxidant enzymes does not potential alternative crop of seawater features, traffic characteristics and occur simultaneously. Instead, salt agriculture, due to its economic poten- overall built environment as major fac- stress induces one or other components tial: its seeds yield special quality oil, a tors in pedestrian–vehicle crash. Built selectively. The process of detoxifica- highly polyunsaturated compound rich environment also modifies pedestrian tion occurs in phases, with specific in linoleic acid, similar to safflower oil. risk perception. Detailed approaches of enzymes acting in each phase. It is also a source of high value vege- this kind would help prioritize pedes- The co-ordinated mechanism of de- table salt. Moreover, the Salicornia spe- trian safety and provide clues for the toxification of free radicals in peanuts cies, which can tolerate nearly twice modification of cities to reduce traffic has been unraveled in this study. The the salinity of seawater, is seen to have problems. first line of action is superoxide dismu- enormous potential as a biofuel crop. Safety Science, 2016, 87, 1–7 tase. The free radicals generated by its Despite these potential benefits, salt- Bobby P. Mathew activity are broken down by peroxidase, water agriculture is still not exploited. ascorbate peroxidase and catalase. Per- For farmers, saltwater still spells crop Salt-Tolerant Peanuts oxidase and ascorbate peroxidase are failure. Sea level rise due to climate active at low concentrations of free warming and increased soil salinity Peanut is a marginal and low-resource radicals while catalase is more consti- due to irrigation, will require new demanding crop. This leguminous spe- tutive in nature.

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2016 455 NEWS

Specific components of the plant de- ing. Similarly, a transcription factor formation of free radicals in the liver, fence system thus play crucial roles. from Pseudomonas aeruginosa might thus reducing toxicity. A fat based This varies from crop to crop. So, it is play a role in infecting individuals formulation of thymoquinone was important to identify crop-specific with Werner syndrome. more effective because it is fat soluble components underlying salt tolerance. These findings may help identifying and this aids absorption. The study of salt tolerance in peanuts new therapeutic strategies. Thus, the panacea from ancient may, however, help in creating a gen- Gene, 586(2), 274–280 Egypt was shown to be therapeutic eral theory of salt tolerance in other Saravanan Parameswaran against a dreaded ailment. crops. Biochimie, 2016, 127, 205–213 Environmental and Experimental Black Panacea for Jaundice! Manali Datta Botany, 2016, 128, 79–90 Rekha Warrier Black seed oil was first found in Camphor in Cinnamon Leaves Tutankhamun’s tomb, in an Egyptian Native varieties show promise Transcription Factors in Diseases pyramid. Prophet Mohammed is re- More than DNA binding ported to have said: ‘Black cumin Cinnamon is popular in India – as a cures every disease but death itself’. condiment and flavouring material. Transcription factors are proteins that Nigella sativa, known as ‘Kala jeera’, The genus, Cinnamomum, has many regulate gene expression in living is a significant constituent in Ayurveda evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs. cells. By binding to DNA, they initiate and Siddha. These seeds contain more The aromatic oils are present in leaves the decoding of genes into proteins. than one hundred chemical constituents and bark. Some species produce cam- Angshuman Bagchi, from the Uni- and vitamins. Now, a study conducted phor also. versity of Kalyani, looked for the roles by Younis and her associates from the An endemic species, Cinnamomum of transcription factors from patho- Aligarh Muslim University and the agasthyamalayanum, was recently de- genic organisms in virulence and dis- Qassim University, indicates that the scribed from the southern Western ease. thymoquinone present in the seed may Ghats in Kerala. The species has a Transcription factors are classified aid in treating jaundice. strong camphor smell in its inner bark into families based on their DNA bind- Jaundice is manifested by the char- and leaves. A team from the SASTRA ing region or domain. Anshuman ana- acteristic buildup of bilirubin, a toxic University, Thanjavur, studied cam- lysed the variations in the amino acid digested product of hemoglobin. Spec- phor levels in two distinct populations sequences of domains within each fam- troscopic measurements in the range of of the species found in the Western ily of transcription factors. He pre- 350–550 nm indicate that thymo- Ghats. The essential oils were profiled dicted new domains based on the quinone binds to bilirubin. Bilirubin is using chromatography. And they com- structural differences in transcription optically inactive. However, when pared camphor levels in the leaves of factors. bound to thymoquinone it becomes both populations with camphor levels As expected, new domains were optically active. Fluorescent studies in cultivated species. Camphor com- found in transcription factors from 13 confirm the interaction between these prised more than 50% of the essential pathogens. These domains may be in- molecules. oil composition in the new species. So, volved in several processes ranging Free bilirubin has a tendency to bind the species has potential as a natural from platelet aggregation, assembly of red blood cells and thus becomes toxic. source of camphor! tails and replication of viruses, and Comparative binding studies show Commercial natural camphor is usu- prevention of the growth of beneficial that thymoquinone inhibits the binding ally found in the wood and roots. But bacteria in humans. These domains of bilirubin with RBCs. Thymoquinone in this species, the leaves have high may also be involved in hampering the stops cell lysis even when the bili- camphor levels. This unique trait of the immune system and DNA replication rubin concentration is as high as species will help avert the need for de- in humans. 100 mM. structive harvest for the extraction of Finally, Angshuman Bagchi as- Scientists also experimented with camphor and yet provide large enough signed new functions to the transcrip- CYP, a chemical that induces cell ly- quantities for market demand. The tion factors. Notably, transcription sis. As all other drugs, CYP is also content can perhaps be improved fur- factors from Mycobacterium leprae cleared through the liver. It can lead to ther through breeding for commercial and M. tuberculosis have a pollen severe inflammation and hemorrhage. utilization. allergen domain. This domain might The study indicated thymoquinone Industrial Crops and Products, 2016, help increase the virulence of the treatment reduced the symptoms. A 86, 259–261 pathogen through carbohydrate bind- dosage of 10 mg/kg prevented the Rekha

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Science Last Fortnight

Impact of Aerosols Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian Sea make their way into less polluted It’s big and getting bigger because of the decreased solar radia- areas. tion at the sea surface. The Government of India plans to The climate models of the past disre- Aerosols bring changes in varied prohibit these compounds by 2025. garded a few important factors in their ways. They heat some places, cool However, the present findings call for analysis. As we now know, human others, altering precipitation patterns in innovative research on containing the emissions of aerosols too, affect the unpredictable and sometimes danger- levels of these biphenyls in urban envi- climate on a global scale. The previous ous ways. Developing nations in the ronments on a more urgent basis. models took only greenhouse gases tropics and Asia are the major source Sci. Total Environ., 562, 928–934 besides natural factors, such as solar regions for black carbon aerosols. The activity and volcanic eruptions, into governments are keen to have a check Recharging Groundwater account. To draw a more accurate pic- on the situation because they are ture, Tiwari and his team at the deeply rooted in our global industrial Exploitation of the groundwater re- Indian Institute of Meteorology, Pune, infrastructure. sources increased in the late 20th cen- examined the influence of aerosols Sci. Total Environ., 562, 504–516 tury, bringing the attention of scientists over the regional climate of the Brah- to the need for recharging of ground- maputra Valley. Urban Pollution water in depleted aquifers. But imple- Aerosols are fine particles spread in Threat of polychlorinated biphenyls mentation and the effects of the present the atmosphere, emitted as dust, soot mitigation efforts take time. and ashes. They scatter sunlight; re- Polychlorinated biphenyls – chlorina- S. Roy and A. S. Sahu at the Univer- flect the energy back and thus induce a ted hydrocarbons with two or more sity of Kalyani, West Bengal, studied a global cooling effect on the climate. phenyl groups – are used in numerous small watershed, Kunur River Basin, to While some may argue that it is a good industrial applications. They are quite understand the potential for recharge, effect, it turns out they also add up to stable and do not break down easily. using a multi-disciplinary approach: the warming effect since they indi- Once they are released into the envi- identification and assessment of hy- rectly affect the clouds also. They ronment, they persist as pollutants in drogeological factors, their influence modify the size of the cloud thereby air, water and soil. And they slowly on controlling groundwater occurrence reducing the reflectivity (albedo) accumulate in the food chain. This has and movement. Geomorphology, basin which changes the Earth’s energy been a matter of environmental and morphometry, remote sensing studies budget. health concern, especially in urban along with geological, geophysical and To understand the impact of aerosols areas. Regions along the coast, particu- field data were also used to understand such as black carbon, Tiwari and his larly, the metropolitan cities, have the basin hydrogeological framework. team looked at Guwahati. They meas- higher atmospheric levels of these Based on these data, they propose a ured the aerosol concentration and biphenyls. model to derive the groundwater re- temperature of the city for a span of A team comprising researchers from charge potential index of the basin. one year. And they found that there is the SRM University, India, the Chinese They attempted a sub-basin wise and a significant cooling due to these soot Academy of Sciences, the Norwegian a grid wise approach to explore the particles. They also point out that the Institute for Air Research, the Univer- recharge potential of the Kunur River concentration of black carbon and car- sity of Oslo and the Lancaster Univer- Basin and found that a grid wise bon monoxide varies from season to sity, UK, investigated the occurrence approach is more suitable: the results season due to the burning of fuel. of biphenyls in surface soil and the dif- are correlated with the land-use pat- Biomass burning increases it and rain- fusive exchange of these chemicals tern. fall clears the air. between air and soil. They quantified This multidisciplinary approach will So much for regional climate. How- about thirty combinations of the bi- help demarcate prospective recharge ever, more is at stake. The team points phenyls in surface soil in seven metro- areas in a basin. Similar studies on out that their study can also be linked politan cities of India, on a regional as other watersheds would help to adopt with other major global climate driv- well as local scale. faster recharge methods to replenish ers. Aerosols perturb the hydrological They find that polychlorinated groundwater resources in India. cycle significantly. Black carbon can biphenyls with high molecular weight Frontiers Earth Sci., 10(2), 274–291 potentially alter the Indian summer are abundant in the urban cities. Soil monsoon. It triggers a chain of re- seems to act as a sink for the heavier Removing Nitrate sponses over the regional climate. The molecules. However, low molecular Organic resin to purify water absorption and reflection of solar ra- weight compounds get volatilized eas- diation by the aerosols induce cooling ily and act as a source of air pollution. There has been an increase in the use of sea-surface temperatures over the These atmospheric phenyls eventually of chemical fertilizers to ensure food

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 4, 25 AUGUST 2016 605 NEWS security. But this has led to a problem: ilization methods may not remove the populations in Delhi. In the model, the nitrate pollution. Most fertilizers con- viral load completely from water. mosquito ‘agent’ interacts with artifi- tain nitrates which are converted to Krupadam and his team of research- cial environments representing differ- nitrites within the body. These nitrites ers from NEERI, Nagpur, have now ent localities stored in a Geographical can oxidize the ferrous iron in haemo- designed an artificial molecular recog- Information System. The model was globin to its ferric form which dimin- nition sensor for the detection of virus. verified by entomologists to check ishes its oxygen binding capacity. The The first of its kind, the viral biosensor whether activity planning is in line health hazards of nitrate consumption is rapid and cost-effective. with available knowledge. MOMA are so drastic that nitrate pollution of The researchers coated a gold elec- simulation shows that Aedes are seden- drinking water has been recognized as trochemical electrode with polythio- tary. Maximum dispersal observed is a global issue by the World Health phene, a film which, when activated 21.35 m in all scenarios studied. The Organization. via imprinting, binds the tobacco ne- mosquito ‘agent’ adapts its behaviours Prabhakar and his colleagues from crosis virus. The binding of the virus to its needs and to the availability of the Department of Chemical Engineer- to the film generates signals capable of its targets. The mosquito’s longevity ing, SRM University, Tamil Nadu took being detected by a voltameter. They obtained from the MOMA model inspiration from the commercial poly- tested the specificity of the sensor provided a daily survival rate very meric ion exchange resins which con- using the Tobacco Mosaic Virus and close to the survival rate found in tain quaternary ammonium chloride the Tobacco Necrosis Virus. Specific literature. functional groups, to solve the prob- affinity of the sensor for the necrosis The geospatial constraints captured lem. They have synthesized an organic virus was confirmed using kinetic in the MOMA model represent the dis- anion exchange resin to remove nitrate studies. tribution of A. aegypti in Delhi. There ions from brackish water. For the resin, When a virus binds to the film, it is a significant correlation between the team selected chitosan – a biode- gives off a fluorescent emission. The urban topology, human densities, and gradable biopolymer bearing a primary lowest detection limit is about 2 ng l–1 adult mosquito flight. The model can amine in its structure. They first cross and the response time is about 12 sec- thus be used as a decision support tool linked chitosan with glutaraldehyde up onds. Thus, the sensor has high sensi- for local health providers in Delhi. The to a certain limit and then ethylated tivity and stability in solutions. same technique can also be applied to all the free amines to produce N,N,N- The nanofilm fluorescence virus other geographical locations. triethyl ammonium functionalized sensor may serve as an epic step to- Ecol. Modeling, 333, 66–78 chitosan beads. These were then evalu- wards translational research aiding in ated for nitrate removal from brackish the prevention of epidemics. Predicting Poverty water. Biosensors Bioelectronic, 82, 20–25 Overcoming lack of dependable data They tried different concentrations The goal of eliminating poverty can- Makings of a Mosquito Model of ethyl bromide for synthesizing qua- not be reached without dependable Aiding the fight against Aedes ternized chitosan beads. The use of 5% data on poverty. But in many cases – ethyl bromide yielded the most capable The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the vec- war torn countries, for example – variant. These beads swell up in 90 tor of the virus that causes dengue such data is not easily available. So minutes and could remove about 60% fever. The dissemination of A. aegypti scientists found a way to get around of nitrate in the first 15 minutes. The is limited by spatial and climatic con- the problem: measure wealth and presence of chloride and sulphate ions straints. Mosquito survival is depend- consumption. reduced nitrate ion removal only mar- ent on vegetation, human hosts, and High resolution night time satellite ginally. The resin could be regenerated breeding sites. These factors that allow data gives an indication of the use of by treatment with dilute HCl without for the breeding of A. aegypti are electric lights. And day time data affecting its ion exchange capacity, for found to correlate with the outbreaks in gives an indication of habitations. So up to 10 cycles. Given the promising Delhi. Overhead and ground level it is not difficult to get an idea about results and minimum costs involved, tanks, evaporation coolers and tires or the consumption of power, an indica- the scientists are now optimizing this pots have been reported as key con- tion of wealth. This data in conjunc- technique for field applications. tainers harbouring Aedes. This allows tion with machine learning – training Carbohydrate Polymers, 147, 525–532 for the description of the conducive a convolutional neural network using environment for A. aegypti, using geo- the limited data available – can help Virus in Drinking Water graphical information systems and re- in getting a fairly accurate measure Fluorescent film for testing mote sensing. of the level of poverty in countries Virus-contaminated drinking water is a Somsakun Maneerat, New Delhi and where the data on poverty is either major route for the transmission of Eric Daude from CNRS, France devel- missing or unreliable, claim scien- epidemics. Nearly 25% of world popu- oped a predictive model for controlling tists. Based on these parameters, lation is exposed to sewage contami- dengue transmission, using GIS. They scientists have been able to predict nated water and, thus, to water borne used this ‘Model of Mosquito Aedes’ poverty levels in five African coun- infections. Routine filtration and ster- or MOMA, to simulate the mosquito tries.

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Limited data can be overcome tion: it suppresses respiration and can Baby, It’s Hot Outside using machine learning techniques in even cause death in some cases. Aash- Songbirds tell their eggs other areas as well, where similar ish Manglik and others have come up Just before going out into the cold situations exist, say scientists. with candidate molecules for effective outside, we may ask our children to Science, 353(6301), 790–794 analgesia without the concomitant side put on a jacket. But that would be too effects. much to ask of songbirds. But they Alleviating Alzheimer’s Scientists used computational dock- too are concerned about the young Rational drug design ing studies to home in on the candidate ones. Happily, there are some devel- molecules. The -opioid receptor G- opmental modifications that help the Alzheimer’s disease is a multifactorial protein signalling is responsible for the new hatchlings withstand the weather neurodegenerative disorder, which analgesia caused by morphine whereas outside. And it appears that the Zebra usually develops in old age. The cause the -arrestin pathway is possibly finches acoustically signal high for Alzheimer’s disease is still elusive. responsible for the fatal respiratory ambient temperature before the eggs We know that the accumulation of arrest. Scientists tried out about three hatch. amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary million molecules to find molecules In a recent report in Science, sci- tangles in the brain leads to the death that can selectively cause only analge- entists provide evidence to show that of neurons. Current therapy involves sia – a feat that would have been these cues alone can change the way the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, impossible if not for computational the nestlings beg for food and thus the enzyme that breaks down acetyl- studies. The study has been published impact their growth pattern. choline. This slows down the progres- in last week’s Nature. Science, 353(63010), 812–814 sion of memory loss and enhances DOI: 10.1038/nature19112 cognition. A team of researchers from three New Source of Chitosan universities in Delhi have now synthe- Aging, Mutations and Cancer Muga silkworms are cost effective sized new molecules to inhibit acetyl- Correlations become stronger Muga silk is famous being a stain cholinesterase, based on rational drug resistant and fast-coloured fabric. The design approach. It is known that As we age, somatic mutations con- silkmoth, Antheraea assamensis, is triazolopyrimidine interacts with the tinue to accumulate. There is enough commonly found in Assam, India. In peripheral anionic site while quinoline evidence now that shows that these the process of sericulture, the cocoons interacts with the catalytic site of mutations – especially in the mito- are reeled off for silk thread and the acetylcholinesterase. They connected chondria – and aging are correlated. dead pupae inside are treated as waste. triazolopyrimidine and quinoline with The mutation load tends to double A. K. Pal and his team from IIT, Gu- piperazine. Computational studies re- every 8 years or so. wahati, now suggest that dead Muga veal that these molecules interact with The accumulation of mutations in- silkworms are a new source of raw ma- acetylcholinesterase and have drug-like creases with the cell proliferation terial for the synthesis of chitosan. properties. The molecules selectively rates of tissues. Cells of some tissues Chitosan is formed by direct deacetyla- inhibit acetylcholinesterase over another are more prone to mutations than tion reaction in chitin, the exoskeleton similar enzyme, butyrylcholinesterase. others. Thus, for example, the repro- of the pupae. Moreover, the molecule inhibits self- ductive system tends to have more The scientists used various methods induced and acetylcholinesterase- mutations. to calculate the degree of deacetylation induced amyloid aggregation. It pro- Scientists examined the mutation for the formation of chitosan. They vides a neuroprotective effect, relieves accumulation in cancer and find that, recommend proton nuclear magnetic oxidative stress and disintegrates amy- though the age related increase in resonance as the most reliable method loid plaques. Thus, the molecule shows mutations leads to the development while potentiometric titration is the promise as a multi-functional acetyl- of cancer by about a decade, which easiest and most cost effective tech- cholinesterase inhibitor for the treat- implies that the precancerous stage nique. ment of Alzheimer’s disease. Further may perhaps be detected earlier than The chitosan, obtained through these testing and trials are, of course, needed previously thought. methods, had high crystallinity index. before using the molecules in clinical Interestingly there is a close paral- Since chitosan has higher thermal sta- practice. lel between the development of bility, scientists prepared poly lactic Eur. J. Med. Chem., 119, 260–277 cancer and aging. Males tend to accumulate mutations earlier than acid-chitosan biocomposite films. This revealed that the composite has higher Morphing Morphine Activity females. This is reflected in cancer thermal stability. Discovery by docking studies development. Moreover, in both sexes, the mutations tend to taper off The scientists could obtain about Morphine, derived from opium has at late life, which again, is seen to be seven per cent chitosan from silkworms been used for pain relief for many dec- the case with cancer. on dry weight basis. Thus, this waste ades now. But it has a severe limita- Nature Commun., 7, 12157 material can be used for the extraction

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 2, 25 JULY 2016 607 NEWS of chitosan which has diverse applica- that correspond to structural integrity densation reaction between 4-(2- tions in the field of pharmaceuticals, were reduced and there was a concomi- aminoethyl) morpholine and vanillin in cosmetics and food. An important tant increase in the amount of reactive methanol. They found that there is value addition to the silk industry in sulfhydryls. When the scientists looked considerable difference in both the UV Assam. at actomyosin gels under an electron absorption spectra and fluorescence J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 133(31), 9–14 microscope, they found that the ultra- emission spectra of the Schiff base in sound treatment before gelation can the presence and absence of zinc. Meat Meets Ultrasound improve the 3-dimensional network of The scientists tested the zinc selec- Sound ways for juicier food these gels. This increases its water tivity of the compound in the presence holding capacity. of about 15 other commonly found Ultrasound treatment can change the The scientists are of the opinion that metals like sodium, potassium, magne- colour, texture and even the gelation treatment may expose charged residues sium, copper, cadmium and nickel. properties of chicken meat. Thus it has to the surface which, along with They found that, although a few metals emerged as a novel approach to alter increased availability of sulfhydryl can quench the fluorescence emission the biophysical properties of meat, groups, may contribute to a more or- intensity, zinc and cadmium give a which can find use in the food industry. dered arrangement. The scientists are characteristic green fluorescent colour Even though the macroscopic effects confident that the insights gained from when irradiated with UV light. This of low frequency ultrasonication have this study can be utilized for modifying can be used as a distinguishing feature been explored on chicken meat, there the properties of muscle protein to im- for zinc detection using the test Schiff seems to be a lacuna in our understand- prove the attributes of food products. base molecule. ing of how ultrasonication affects the Food Chem., 205, 43–51 Given its non-toxic nature and major myofibrillar proteins: actin and excellent results at physiological pH, myosin. Imaging Fluorescent Zinc the compound can be used for Ahmad and his student from the De- Sensors for zinc detection bio-imaging. Currently, scientists are partment of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim further studying the molecule to under- University, isolated and purified the Zinc is one of the most abundant micro- stand how various functional groups actomyosin complex for chicken nutrients and is intricately involved in can affect its spectral properties. It can breasts and sonicated it at 20 kHz. cellular functions. Therefore, it re- then be employed for routine biologi- When treated for 5 minutes, no dis- quires regular monitoring. However, cal imaging. cernible changes were detected in the zinc is spectroscopically silent. This J. Mol. Struct., 1118, 325–334 protein structure. However, upon in- has prompted several scientists to con- creasing the duration of treatment there struct selective zinc sensors. Recently, Reports by Manish Kumar Tekam, was significant loss in the UV absorp- Roy and his research team from the Rekha Warrier, Bobby P. Mathew, tion spectra and alpha helical content Jadavpur University, collaborated with P. Saravanan, Manali Datta, P. K. of the protein. researchers in Italy to develop one Udham, H. M. Mahadevaswamy, Parallel changes were also expressed such turn on fluorescence sensor. Mona Kejariwal and Sarah Iqbal in the enzyme activity and chemical The scientists synthesized a small nature of the protein. ATPase activities Schiff base molecule, through a con- [email protected]

608 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 4, 25 AUGUST 2016 NEWS

Science Last Fortnight

Surprise Blooms Besides the economic and ecological gen-fixing ability would further hasten in the Southern Ocean aspects, phytoplanktons have global the recovery of degraded lands. impact on climate. They absorb the Tropical Ecology, 57(3), 445–453

In the Indian Ocean sector of the CO2 from the ocean surface and trans- Southern Ocean, there is an extensive mit it into the ocean ecosystem. The Stomach and liver infections submarine topographic high: the Ker- associated food chain may transport Helicobacter identification guelen Plateau. It stands against a the CO2 deeper into the ocean and Helicobacter is causal agent in many major ocean current, the Antarctic directly affect the biogeochemical human diseases. But it is quite difficult Circumpolar Current, which flows cycle of the region. to identify different species of this genus clockwise from west to east around We now have the capability to look using conventional approaches. Among Antarctica. The mightiest ocean cur- at the southern ocean, sitting far away this genus, Helicobacter pylori is the rent on Earth! in Goa. With the launching of more most common, responsible for about The presence of the plateau allows a dedicated satellites to map ocean 50% of the infections by Helicobacter. mixing process developed through tur- wealth, we hope to unravel more oce- There are various approaches avail- bulence and eddies which can bring up anic mysteries in the times to come. able for the initial diagnosis of H. py- iron-rich water from shallow Plateau to Frontiers of Ear. Sci., 10(3), 479–486 lori infection. Urease testing is most the sea surface, fertilizing the mixed Geophys. Res. Lett., 29(23), 49.1–49 rapid and cost-effective. However, it layer. Once the mixed layer on the has limitations. The same is true for Plateau is fertilized, the waters flow Drought can’t stop us other tests, misleading the detection of eastward along with the Antarctic Nitrogen fixing species for drylands this pathogen. Circumpolar Current. Drought affects plant growth and pro- A team of researchers from Delhi These physical processes create a ductivity. The critical stages affected University analysed genes from 45 zone of upwelling nutrients in the wa- are seed germination and seedling es- species of this genus. Their goal was to ters around the Kerguelen Plateau and tablishment. Inadequate soil moisture develop a systematic method for strain its downstream sections. This leads to results in irregular seed germination. characterization with efficient accuracy. growth of phytoplanktons – microscopic This leads to asynchrony in seedling So they used different approaches, by plants in the ocean. These tiny plants emergence, resulting in poor yield. The using the internal features of 16S rRNA which feed on organic micronutrients effect is more pronounced in degraded genes, phylogenetic tree construction, are at the base of a huge food chain in lands. To restore vegetation, we need in silico restriction enzyme study, spe- the oceanic ecosystem. The surge in to know which species can tolerate cies-specific conserved motifs and as- phytoplankton population results in an harsh conditions. sessment of genetic variability. They abundance of oceanic food chains in- Kiran Bargali and S. S. Bargali from also employed another housekeeping cluding fish, whales, seals, penguins, Kumaun University, Nainital, looked gene hsp60 for result validation. albatrosses and a wealth of other spe- into the drought-withstanding ability of Phylogenetic analysis emerged as a cies of economic and ecological impor- fifteen leguminous species. They strong tool for assessing the classifica- tance. tested the germination capacity of the tion of Helicobacter despite a few Observation of biophysical parame- seeds in response to water deficit: up limitations. Analysis showed signifi- ters by ocean cruises over vast areas of to moisture levels as low as –20 bars. cant heterogeneity among the species. the southern ocean does not supply Seed germination reduced with in- 624 restriction enzymes were taken for sufficient data to analyse this phe- creasing water deficit. Some species in silico restriction enzyme study. 72 nomenon adequately. However, the data were specific in moisture requirements, of these are specific to seven species. from satellite remote sensing datasets while a few others retained their ger- Later, they identified unique motifs for are well suited to observe and quantify mination capacity at higher gradients. 6 clinically significant species. Thus the seasonal areal extent of phyto- Moisture is a key factor controlling they were able to characterize different plankton blooms in the Kerguelen Pla- germination in field conditions. It is species of Helicobacter, including H. teau ecosystem. Jena B from the the initiator of germination. Seeds of pylori. The group also identified Hsp60 National Centre for Antarctic and leguminous plants have seed coats with as an authenticate marker, a result cor- Ocean Research, Goa, therefore used low permeability to water. During roborated by the analysis of 16S rRNA the satellite datasets to analyse the favourable conditions, the seeds im- results. phytoplankton blooms. Analysis of bibe moisture and germinate. This systematic approach can help monthly oceanographic satellite data These species are easier to establish us identify prevalent Helicobacter revealed that the Kerguelen Plateau in the field as they can tolerate pro- pathogens quickly. Translational re- blooms are pronounced only during the longed dry spells in the field. They can search is needed to make this method austral spring-summer period in a year: be directly seeded on degraded sites clinically available. November to February. with low moisture content. Their nitro- Indian J. Microbiol., 56(3), 277–286

780 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 5, 10 SEPTEMBER 2016 NEWS

Escherichia coli in milk Herbicides in a fungal world lacking a classical steroid nucleus. Due LEDs throw light on decontamination Penoxsulam degrading fungi to availability of more potent variants In addition to fertilizers and pesticides, of the hormone, BPA, instead of being Milk is a nutritious food for human be- agricultural practices heavily rely on commercialized as a hormone, was ings, but it also serves as a good the use of herbicides. Of late, it has channeled into the making of plastics. medium for the growth of microorgan- been realised that certain herbicides This resulted in a massive exposure isms. The chance for contamination of can persist in soil for longer durations of humans to BPA which led to its milk is more during milking, handling which can affect the growth of other accumulation in the body. Due to its and selling and leads to the spoilage of plants and microbes. One such herbi- structural similarity to estrogen, BPA the product. Providing safe milk and cide – Penoxsulam – has recently caught acts as an endocrine disruptor. Its milk products to quality conscious the attention of scientists. Penoxsulam trademark benzene rings and hydroxyl consumers is, therefore, a challenge for is a post emergence sulphonamide reg- group backbone can sit well within the the dairy industry. istered for weed control in India. There pocket of certain membrane and Thermal pasteurization has an ad- is evidence that it is beginning to ac- nuclear receptors thereby affecting me- verse effect on taste, smell, etc. as well cumulate in the soil. To promote its tabolism and hormone function. Stud- as on the nutritional value of milk. Re- biodegradation, Shondia from the De- ies show that exposure to even minute peated boiling leads to energy con- partment of Chemistry, Directorate of quantities of BPA has adverse affects sumption. But avoiding it results in Weed research, Jabalpur, decided to on human health because it mimics the unsafe milk for consumers... isolate fungi capable of degrading function of the hormone which is re- Among micro-organisms, Esche- Penoxsulam. quired only in nano quantities. richia coli is found to be the most fre- To isolate Penoxsulam degrading Following multiple studies that out- quent in contaminated milk. This fungi, Sondhia and her team collected line the hazardous effects of BPA species is an indicator of fecal pollu- soil from farmlands where Penoxsulam accumulation on human health, the tion due to insanitary conditions. It can was in routine use. The isolated fungi chemical has been replaced by its cause several health problems such as were characterized on the basis of col- structural analogues. Masood Ahmad bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain and ony morphology and partial gene se- from the Aligarh Muslim University, fever. A. Srimagal, from NIT, Odisha, quencing. two isolates Aspergillus and his student recently reviewed T. Ramesh from the School of Food niger and Aspergillus flavus were then available literature on BPA and its ana- and Agriculture, University of Maine, probed further to understand the logues to assess the cost–benefit ratio. USA and J. K. Sahu from the Center mechanism employed for Penoxsulam All the BPA analogues also contain for Rural Development and Technol- degradation. Soil samples incubated the same benzene-hydroxyl backbone ogy, New Delhi, studied the effect of with Penoxsulam and fungi were with- and are found to possess endocrine dis- LEDs for inactivating E. coli in milk. drawn periodically and analysed rupting potential. Some of them can The scientists assessed the effect of through mass spectrometry to identify stay in the body for longer durations blue LED light of 405 to 460 nm on the herbicide degradation products. and can also act as carcinogen. the inactivation of E. coli ATCC25922 The study revealed that even though BPA analogues find use as epoxy in a food matrix like milk. They found both the species employ a similar resins that line most food cans and are significant differences between the mi- method for cleavage of the Sulfona- also a component of plastics used to crobial inactivation at different wave- mide bridge for herbicide degradation, make baby bottles which is a cause for lengths and temperatures. The best A. flavus is more efficient compared to concern. The authors thus conclude results are at 406 nm at 13.8C for A. niger. that the use of BPA analogues needs to 38 min. Milk treated this way shows The insights from this study suggest be put under scientific scrutiny. ‘In- maximum degradation of microbes and that either A. flavus and A. niger or en- stead of introducing new endocrine doubled shelf life under refrigerated riched mixed fungal consortium could disruptors into the environment we storage without affecting the innate be used to promote Penoxsulam degra- need to find safer alternatives’ says the qualities of milk. dation in soil. Since fungi accounts for lead author of the paper. As LEDs consume less energy and 75% of microbial biomass, researchers Chemosphere, 158, 131–142 are confident that this would be a new are highly durable, the LED treatments Reports by G. Manoj Praveen, Ratna may be a better opportunity for the low cost method to control herbicide contamination and soil detoxification. Prabha, Rekha R. Warrier, P. Viji- dairy industry to produce hygienic sha and Sarah Iqbal products without losing benefits within Applied Soil Ecology, 105, 196–206 a minimum treatment time and expense. ACKNOWLEDGMENT. We are grate- Perhaps one day such milk decontami- Shape Matters ful to the Science Media Centre, IISER nators may even be a common kitchen Structure–function of BPA analogues Pune for providing access to databases gadget. Bisphenol A (BPA) is the first chemi- and journals. LWT-Food Sci. Technol., 71, 378–385 cally synthesized variant of estrogen [email protected]

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Science Last Fortnight

Viral Outbreak the study bears further investigation, One Good Fuel Supports Another Haematopoietic necrosis in goldfish they added. It is better to take precau- Pongamia and Calophyllum biodiesel tions rather than be sorry later. The introduction of alien fishes into Acta Tropica, 161, 8–17 Alternative sources of fuel have always local aquatic systems as part of aqua- attracted researchers. Biodiesel, one culture trade and ornamental fish cul- Methane from Landfills such alternative, has caught the eye of ture has often alarmed scientists, Tapping trash many. This has the potential to replace indicating the threat posed by exotic fossil fuels. But high viscosity and species to native fishes. Many scien- India’s cities are rapidly growing in density impedes its use as sole fuel. tific studies have been done on the im- population. Per capita income is in- However, in combination with fossil pact of exotic ornamental species on creasing, as is per capita consumption fuels, its efficiency improves. native aqua diversity. Along with the of resources, which in turn, leads to Combustion, gaseous emissions and domination of exotic species in local generation of waste. We are often oxidation stability are important fac- water bodies, experts are also con- greeted by the sight of scattered open tors contributing to the efficiency of cerned over the possibility of parasites dumps in cities. Most municipalities biodiesel. These depend on the proper- and pathogens getting introduced into take these to landfills, the dump yards ties of the fuel and, subsequently, the native environment. But, no studies for solid waste. In the landfill, organic engine performance. have reported any parasitic outbreak or waste is anaerobically decomposed. Ramalingam and team from Tamil the presence of any pathogens in The microbes consume the organic Nadu tested the efficiency of calophyl- Indian water bodies. matter and produce methane, a gas that lum biodiesel using plant extracts as For the first time, in India, P. K. Sa- has significant global warming impact, additive and emission suppressants. hoo and a group of experts, report on a second only to carbon dioxide. They tested a 20% blend of calophyl- recent viral disease outbreak in fresh- Last fortnight, a team of researchers, lum biodiesel on a Kirloskar SV1 four- water aquaculture, in Serampore, West headed by Sunil Kumar, from the stroke engine. Varying concentrations Bengal. The virus, called goldfish National Environmental Engineering of ethanol extracts of pongamia were haematopoietic necrosis herpes virus Research Institute, Nagpur developed a used as fuel additive. Addition of leaf (cyprinid herpes virus-2), was detected model framework to measure methane extract increased the oxidation stability in association with multidrug resistant emissions. The team monitored emis- of the biodiesel. Aeromonas hydrophila infection in sions at Shillong, Kolkata and Jaipur. The scientists assessed the perform- goldfish, Carassius auratus. They utilized LandGEM, a commonly ance, combustion and emission charac- The virus causes destruction of cells used model for projecting methane teristics of the blends. CO and of blood forming organs (haematopoi- emission. They modified the model for hydrocarbon emission of the blends etic necrosis) in goldfish and it is diag- Indian climatic conditions and formu- was lower than that of pure diesel. nosed by large scale haemorrhages on lated correction factors. They report Smoke emission reduced with increase the body, fins and gills, lepidorthosis, that the methane concentration shows a in additive in the fuel. necrosed gills, protruded anus and correlation with the temperature fluc- Smoke emission increases with shrunken eyes. White nodular necrotic tuations. increase in load on the engine. The foci in spleen and kidneys were also When methane emissions rise, the highest reduction in smoke was at 80% noticed along with necrosis and fusion concentration of the pollutant ozone, in load. The presence of 15% leaf extract the troposphere, also rises. It is well of gill lamellae. additive reduced the NOx emission by Transmission electron microscopy known that methane does not yield its about 20%. revealed the presence of mature virus secrets easily. Its residence time in the Currently, synthetic fuel is added to particles. And it was confirmed using atmosphere is short. Thus, a reduction blend biodiesel for use in diesel polymerase chain reaction. of methane will be an effective solu- engines. The team’s efforts to explore Scientists isolated a bacterium from tion in reducing its impact. Waste the possibility of using plant-based the internal organs of the affected fish minimization and recycling are the antioxidants are a welcome move, as which they found to be Aeromonas hy- way to go. these increase the stability of biodiesel Waste management must translate drophila. According to the scientists, and reduce NOx emissions. One more this could be a secondary infection. into resource management. Trapping step towards an eco-friendly future... The primary etiological agent respon- the methane from landfills for energy Fuel, 180, 263–269 sible for this outbreak is cyprinid her- needs is the next step. We need to de- pes virus-2 itself. velop robust systems to do this. With Eco-friendly Concrete Experimental infection trials failed these new insights, we can explore Using waste ferrochrome ash to reproduce the disease in co-cultured alternative approaches to dealing with rohu and koi carp. Since it is the first waste. Demand for concrete is increasing in virus outbreak report in Indian waters, Bioresource Technology, 216, 981–987 India. Concrete is a composite material

972 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 6, 25 SEPTEMBER 2016 NEWS composed of coarse to fine aggregates Going Zero Waste Ashes and Plastic joined together by a cementing mate- Recycling Sunflower By-products New recipe for shaping plastics rial. Lime powder was used as a cementing material in many historical Sunflower is one of the most cultivated Plastics can be molded into any shape monuments. Now-a-days, ordinary crops around the world. While sun- upon heating. To improve the effi- portland cement is widely used in gen- flower seeds represent the fourth major ciency of this process, fillers are fre- eral concrete construction. Limestone source of vegetable oil in the world, quently added to molten plastic which and clay are the major raw materials in the heads, stalks, and leaves remain help shaping it. Scientists are now producing portland cement. unused. After harvesting the seeds, studying different additives for their In the recent years, industrial wastes they are burnt, usually, under not well- shape changing ability. Among the and by-products such as fly ash and controlled conditions. This produces available fillers, fly ash is an attractive ground granulated slag are used as a atmospheric pollution. About 5 tonnes option since it is inexpensive and read- supplementary cementitious material in of dry matter waste residue is produced ily available. But it requires surface making concrete. This reduces the use from every hectare of sunflower fields. treatment before incorporating in poly- of portland cement and is also an ef- Thus, the attention of the scientific propylene. Besides, not much is known fective way to make use of the indus- community is now oriented to the re- about polypropylene–fly ash compo- trial waste. valorization of wastes after sunflower sites. Researchers from the KIIT and the harvesting. A research team from the Last fortnight, Mahanwar from the VSS University of Technology in Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala Institute of Chemical Technology, Odisha are now suggesting the use of joined hands with scientists in Italy Mumbai, reported success in improv- ferrochrome ash as a supplementary and Spain to propose that sunflower ing the properties of plastic using co- cementitious material for concrete. stalks could be an economical source conut treated fly ash. Ferrochrome ash is a dust generated as for cellulosic materials. Coconut water has been used to gen- a waste material from the gas cleaning Cellulose nanofibrils are extracted erate nanoparticles in the past. In their plant of ferro alloy industries. The re- from sunflower waste by steam explo- study scientists used it to reduce the searchers experimented with a nominal sion. And cellulose nanocrystals are size of the filler. Fly ash was soaked in mix proportion of 1 part portland extracted by hydrolysis. The nanocrys- coconut water for 24 hours before it cement, 2 parts of fine aggregates and tals, 150–200 nm in length and 10 nm was compounded with different quanti- 4 parts of coarse aggregates, with a in diameter, could be extracted with a ties of polypropylene at high tempera- water to cementitious materials ratio of high yield of 21%. Chemical charac- ture. Both treated and untreated fly ash 0.45. Cement part was substituted with terization revealed that cellulose nano- was used to form pellets which were ferrochrome ash ranging from 0% to crystals had a cellulose II structure and characterized by spectrometry and 40% and 7% lime, partially replacing nanofibrils were cellulose I. X-ray diffraction to examine any struc- the portland cement up to 47%. They Scientists made gluten nanocompo- tural changes. also checked the mechanical properties site films with the nanofibrils and crys- The scientists then studied the melt and durability of cement mixtures with tals by solvent casting. Investigations properties of the pellets – the viscosity varying proportion of ferrochrome ash highlighted that gluten based bio- of samples was determined over a wide for periods ranging from one month to nanocomposites showed a homogenous range of shear rates and angular fre- three months. morphology. The different morphology quencies. These were compared with The mechanical properties and dura- and consequent dispersion of the cellu- polypropylene composites containing bility of the samples improved with in- losic materials into the gluten matrix titanium nanoparticles. creasing ferrochrome ash compared to also affected the barrier properties of Results reveal that coconut water control concrete sample. Microscopic the composite. treatment is able to generate fly ash examination of concrete samples fur- The presence of carbon nanocrystals particles of the order of 2 M that ther substantiated these findings. was more efficient in reducing the could be easily dispensed in the poly- The researchers also tested the effect permeability to gases, due to their mer matrix. The coconut water treated of possible groundwater pollution on ability to increase the path of gas variant demonstrated abrupt change in these mixtures since the ash materials molecules. But the presence of some complex viscosities even as the un- were likely to contain large quantities nanofibril agglomerates, as shown treated fly ash composite displayed of chromium and other toxic materials. by optical microscopic images of gradual rise in viscosity. Results show the contaminant levels Gluten-CNF based systems, negatively The study suggests that surface are much lower than prescribed limit affected the barrier properties of treatment of fly ash promotes better and will have no adverse impact on these formulations, especially with coupling between the filler and the environment. oxygen. polymer which can effectively reduce Thus concrete made with this mix- The study proposes recycling sun- the melt temperature. This would re- ture and lime can be a good alternative flower waste since sunflower stalks duce costs involved in molding plastics to reduce the dependence on portland exhibit encouraging potential as nano- and also make the process more effi- cement while using up industrial waste. fillers for polymer matrices. cient. J. Cleaner Production V, 131, 237–246 Carbohydrate Polymers, 149, 357–368 J. Applied Polymer Sci., 133(36), 43900

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 6, 25 SEPTEMBER 2016 973 NEWS

In Search of Cysteine There are various factors that influ- use and its tendency to persist in the ence the extraction processes. The pro- environment. Most methods used for Thiols are sulfhydryl-containing mole- cedure of addressing one factor at a its detection are cumbersome and not cules which participate in several envi- time, is time consuming. The interac- suitable for field applications. Deep ronmental and biological processes. tions between the factors often go un- from Central Scientific Instruments Selective detection of thiols is vital in noticed. Organisation, India partnered with the basic research and diagnosis of dis- Tarun Belwal and colleagues from Hanyang University, Korea, to develop eases. Cysteine, for example, is a thiol- G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Envi- a cost efficient method for on-site containing amino acid. It takes part in ronment and Development tested detection of this insecticide. essential metabolic pathways in bio- designs to optimize the extraction of Deep and his team made use of logical systems and serves as a precur- phenolics of Berberis asiatica fruits. screen printed electrodes as starting sor for many biological molecules. They adopted a design termed material for their sensor. They coated Most importantly, it plays a special Response Surface Methodology to the electrode with graphene sheets role in maintaining the structure and achieve optimization. This method which were later functionalized with 2- function of proteins. It is no wonder uses different experimental parameters amino benzyl amine to introduce free then that cysteine is associated with to maximize responses. It defines amine groups. These free amine chains several cardiovascular diseases, neuro- effects of independent variables, and were used to link the insecticide spe- logical disorders and so on. also the interaction effects. cific antibody to the sensor. The design Abraham John along with Kirthika They selected varying temperature, is such that the fixed component of an- Rani from Gandhigram Rural Institute, time, solvent ratio, pH and solvent tibody is used for linking while the Tamil Nadu synthesized a fluorescent dilution as variables and analysed the variable portion is free to interact with probe for the selective and sensitive concentrations of compounds under the insecticide. detection of cysteine over other bio- different conditions. The scientists After the electrode was thus modi- thiols. The probe is based on a pyrene then fitted the results into linear, qua- fied, it was used to detect parathion in molecule containing ,-unsaturated dratic and interaction models. test samples over a wide concentration carbonyl moiety. The fluorescent probe They find that the quadratic model range. To check for interference from exhibited optimal absorption at 374 nm fitted well for all the responses. Tem- other biomolecules, the scientists and emission at 467 nm. Adding 2.5 nM perature, solvent ratio and solvent dilu- spiked fruits and vegetables with para- of cysteine enhanced the emission tion affect the responses. The optimal thion and used the sensor to detect its intensity. conditions for obtaining high yield of presence in their blended supernatants. The fluorescent probe was able to phenolics are a solvent ratio of 1 : 50; All results were validated through gas detect cysteine in the presence of a pH 3.0; 80% methanol heated at 80C chromatography to check the quantifi- 250,000-fold higher concentration of for 30 minutes. The predicted values cation efficiency. other common interferents. The mini- matched the experimental results! The study shows that the sensor can mal cysteine required for detection is This methodology thus has im- detect extremely small quantities of 10 pM/L (S/N = 3) with response time proved accuracy in predicting models parathion. It can also maintain speci- less than 1 minute. and optimizing extraction conditions ficity for the target even in the pres- The study is carried out under for phenolics. It adopts a strategy of ence of other common insecticides. physiological conditions for diagnostic simultaneous maximization of many Since the sensor is cheap and easy to applications. The probe detected parameters to minimize loss of mate- use it can serve as a vital tool for regu- cysteine in blood serum samples. Cell rial. An increase in yield during extrac- lating the use of parathion in agricul- permeability and selectivity of the tion is the goal for large-scale ture. Scientists are confident that a probe are confirmed in HeLa cells. industrial applications. This could find similar strategy could also be extended Biosensors and Bioelectronics, use especially in Traditional Systems for the detection of other toxicants for 83, 237–242 of Medicine which heavily rely on ex- field applications. traction of compounds from medicinal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Designs for Phenolics Extraction plants. 83, 339–346 Extraction of secondary metabolites J. Food Chem., 207, 115–124 Recovering Gold from Electronics Extraction, quantification and isolation Sensor for Pesticide Detection of compounds of interest are major Antibodies for parathion Gold is an inert metal with high elec- processes in pharmaceutical industries. trical conductivity which makes it an Inefficient extractions lead to large Parathion – a commonly used insecti- important component of electronic cir- quantities of waste. This issue de- cide – is toxic to humans. At high con- cuits. The large build-up of electronic mands attention in today’s context, centrations, it can meddle with the wastes can, therefore, serve as a sec- where raw material availability is often nervous system and cause headaches, ondary source for this precious metal. a limiting factor. Smarter resource nausea, muscle twitching and shortness However, methods for gold extraction management would enable efficient of breath. Such instances are becoming are non-selective and can cause leach- use of the available stock. more common due to its unregulated ing of other metals. Even partial

974 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 6, 25 SEPTEMBER 2016 NEWS separation of gold from the leachate though the initial concentration of gold They administered a web-based ques- requires cost intensive techniques. does not influence the ion exchange, tionnaire to elicit data on demographic Recently Chhavi Aggarwal, a res- the process could be made more effi- information, environmental sustain- earcher from the Bhabha Atomic cient by increasing the salt concentra- ability awareness, environmentally Research Centre, has devised a way to tion up to 0.5 M. sustainable practices and any interrup- separate gold from this mixture by The process was unhindered even in tions in sustainable ICT practices. using ion exchange membranes. the presence of 500 fold copper, sug- They find that respondents aged 35 The scientists used a method called gesting that the method is highly selec- or more are conscious about renewable Donan exchange which involves the tive. This method can serve as a low energy and had a greater understanding use of salt for ionic separation. But in- cost technique for the recovery of gold about e-waste. They are more con- stead of using commercially available from electronic wastes. cerned about their liability towards en- ion exchange membranes, the re- J. Membrane Sci., 514, 210–216 vironmental issues. Organizations with searchers constructed pore-filled mem- more than 1000 employees are more branes to promote the transfer of target Digital Technology aware and acquainted with environ- ions. For this, the researchers grafted Environmentally sustainable practices mental sustainability practices rather monomers onto a micro-porous host than smaller ones. Female profession- membrane which was tested for selec- Environmental sustainability of indus- als possess more knowledge on issues tive transport of gold ions between two tries has been in the limelight for some- like greenhouse gas emissions, renew- compartments – one housing ionic gold time now. In the past few years, deve- able energy and e-waste. solution and the other containing so- lopments in the ICT sector have harm- Improving awareness about sustain- dium chloride. Once the experiment ful effects on the environment. ICT able information and communication was set up, the scientists drew liquid industries are involved in environ- technology practices can assist orga- from each compartment at regular in- mental problems like natural resource nizations implement different policies. tervals to quantify the amount of gold depletion, greenhouse gas emissions This will lead to an increase in effi- present in each chamber. The ion and global warming. But are the people cient environmentally sustainable work transport was studied both as a func- working in this sector aware of the environments. tion of time and concentration across issues? J. Cleaner Production, 131, 435–446 the membrane. To assess the efficiency A team of researchers led by Chugh of this method the researchers exam- from Central Queensland University, Reports by: Rekha R. Warrier, ined ion transport in the presence of Australia studied the awareness level Ratna Prabha, P. Saravanan, K. T. copper and also by using actual metal among Indian Information and Com- Mufeeda, Bobby P. Mathew, H. M. solutions of electronic boards. munication Technology professionals Mahadevaswamy, Manish Kumar As much as 96% of the total gold about environmentally sustainable Tekam and Sarah Iqbal. ions present in the feed could be practices and measures employed by recovered through this method. Even their organizations. [email protected]

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 6, 25 SEPTEMBER 2016 975 NEWS

Science Last Fortnight

Exploring Gold nents leading to the mineral deposits Now Shraddha and team report that Prospecting using modelling can be used to predict the prospectivity the uptake potential of the plant is of known deposits without considering higher in hydroponics (66.2% in 30 The African continent is known for its the spatial distribution of known gold days), but limited in soil. Addition of mineral resources which constitute deposits. chelating agents like citric acid and around 30% of the Earth’s remaining Ore Geology Reviews, 78, 692–711 diethylene triamine pentaacetic Acid mineral resources. The 21st century (DTPA) into the growing medium in- witnessed large scale exploration for Plutonium Trapped creases the uptake in soil too. these resources in this region. Some of Using the vetiver plant As a chelating agent, DTPA was the world’s largest gold deposits are found more effective than citric acid. localized around the Birimian Super- Radioactive isotopes vary in their half- The Pu-239 – chelating agent complex group of West Africa. However, explo- lives. Some survive for mere seconds, raised the translocation index by 8 ration activities around the Kumsai while some others have half lives of times and 6 times in water and soil re- Basin are limited: Lack of geological hundreds or millions of years. Pluto- spectively. understanding of the area and late dis- nium-239 is one such isotope having a The findings provide a remedial covery of these deposits in the 1990s half life of 24,100 years. It is a hazard- mechanism for a highly toxic contami- had deterred detailed exploration for ous radionuclide having carcinogenic nant found in our surroundings, with gold in this area. and toxic properties. It poses a serious little cost, and high efficiency. Plants Recent exploration activities in this environmental challenge and threat to possess a natural ability to eliminate, area have provided geological under- biological systems. detoxify or immobilize environmental standing and identification of prospec- Besides naturally occurring radioac- contaminants by means of various bio- tive areas. And what is even more tive isotopes in the soil, air and water, logical processes. In addition, plants important, it has provided insights nuclear weapon testing, discharge from help improve soil quality and soil car- about the factors controlling gold min- nuclear installations, occasional nu- bon sequestration. For cleaning a large eralization. This, in turn, has helped clear accidents like Chernobyl and stretch of contaminated area, it is a develop a conceptual model for deter- Fukushima, also add to the woes. Dis- suitable method. mining the prospectivity of gold re- posal of nuclear waste is a challenge Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety, sources. even with given technologies. 132, 140–144 A team led by researchers from IIT Last fortnight, Shraddha Singh and others from the Bhabha Atomic Re- Bombay, in collaboration with an Aus- Bowled by Nano-Gold search Centre, Mumbai, reported a tralian research group, carried out a de- Endotoxin detection tailed study on the prospectivity of phytoremediation method for Pu-239 orogenic gold mineral systems in the radionuclide using Vetiveria zizano- Consumption of food contaminated Kumsai Basin. They developed a ides, commonly known as the vetiver with bacteria often leads to food poi- knowledge-driven model based on a plant or khus khus. Vetiver is a sub- soning. This is due to the presence of Fuzzy Inference System to identify the tropical grass having large biomass an endotoxin released by bacterial process of mineralization. Fuzzy Infer- and a dense root system which makes cells. A heightened reaction to en- ence System based models were gener- it favourable for phytoremediation. dotoxins can lead to life threatening ated by identifying the key components According to them, this is the first systemic septic shock in some cases. of the mineral systems and integrating demonstration of the uptake potential There are, of course, methods for these individual outputs to generate a of vetiver plants for the remediation of regular monitoring of food samples. continuous scale prospective map. This Pu-239 in hydroponic and in various However, most methods used for en- map reclassified high, moderate and soil conditions. dotoxin detection are either expensive low prospectivity areas. In 2000, a group of American scien- or lack precision. In the last fortnight, The model was tested on known and tists demonstrated the ability of Indian Mukherjee and his team from the Vel- unknown gold prospective areas to mustard (Brassica juncea) and the sun- lore Institute of Technology, Vellore, evaluate the capture efficiency of the flower plant (Helianthus annuus) to collaborated with the Indian Institute model. The high and moderate prospec- remove Pu-239 from hydroponic con- of Science, Bengaluru, to improvize an tivity areas show strong spatial correla- ditions. Another study in 2014 by endotoxin detection method using gold tion with elongated features indicating Sunita Sharma and team recorded the nanoparticles. a strong structural control on gold remediation capacity of vetiver plants Previously, antibodies and aptamers mineralization in the study area. in radionuclides like Cs-137 and Sr-90 have been coupled with gold nanopar- This knowledge-driven model re- and heavy metals namely As, Cd, Cr, ticles for the colorimetric detection of flects the main mineralized trend effec- Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn. But pluto- endotoxin. In this study, the scientists tively. This demonstrates that reliable nium uptake by vetiver has not been attached different sizes of gold nano- input data on processes and compo- recorded earlier. particles with cetyltrimethylammonium

1136 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 7, 10 OCTOBER 2016 NEWS bromide (CTAB). The premise is sim- of interest is marked and differences in drug in cells using fluorescence micro- ple: endotoxin contains a negatively wavelet domains identified. The dis- scopy, highlighting the property of QD charged region that will interact with criminatory wavelets identified are complex as ‘nanoprobes’. High con- positive charge supplied, in this case, subjected to statistical features. centrations of nanoprobes were found by CTAB. Interaction between the The Support Vector Machine classi- to be biocompatible, compared to other moieties would increase the size of the fier tool, distinguished untreated currently available bioimaging mole- nanoparticle sphere, often causing grapes and pesticide-treated grapes. cules. aggregation, leading to changes in its The tool revealed that diagonal coeffi- Ease of synthesis and the promising photometric properties. cients discriminated between samples. results given by GQDs generated from To refine this approach, the res- A lab analysis of the pesticide residues milk make it an attractive alternative earchers synthesized CTAB coupled in the selected samples confirmed the as opposed to the toxic therapies cur- gold nanoparticles of three different results. rently available. Additionally, such an sizes: 15, 30 and 40 nm and tested Image processing as a non- amalgamated approach as chemothera- them for endotoxin detection. The size destructive analytical tool can go a peutic and bioimager opens up a new of functionalized gold nanospheres in- long way in assessing food quality. It avenue for a chemistry based synthesis creased, by almost 6 fold, in the pres- finds application in the food industry, of cancer therapeutics. ence of endotoxin. This altered the especially perishable commodities, Material Science & Engineering C, intrinsic fluorescence of the nanoparti- where regular checks are mandatory. 16(67), 467–477 cles which could then be detected The process is cost effective and effi- through fluorometry. Sensitivity of the cient and can develop as a real time Eggshell Membrane Magic detection was highest for nanoparticles application. The benefits of eggshell membranes of the order of 15 nm with lower limit LWT-Food Science and Technology, Eggs are a powerhouse of nutrients of detection around 0.5 nM. 72, 368–376 such as proteins, vitamins and miner- Fats and proteins interfere with the als. On an average, a person consumes Holy Cow Provides Elixir detection. The CTAB capped gold 150–200 eggs annually. That’s over a Milk as chemotherapeutic! nanoparticles could assess the presence trillion eggs worldwide! And the shells of endotoxin with great precision once The goodness of milk has been elabo- are usually thrown away. these were removed. Researchers be- rated in Indian scriptures, as a ‘youth Eggshell is an inexpensive, natural lieve that given the ease of detection, elixir’. Now, researchers have discov- source of calcium. And the membrane CTAB capped gold nanoparticles can ered a method of using cow milk along attached to the shell is rich in fibrous be employed for routine monitoring of with a herbal drug which is capable of proteins. Many of its components are endotoxin in the food industry. curing and curbing cancer. known to offer benefits. J. Luminescence, 178, 106–114 A group of scientists from the D. Y. The membrane is used as a natural Patil University, N. S. N. Research source of collagen, glucosamine, Are these Grapes Safe? Centre, and Walchand College of Arts chondroitin and hyaluronic acid, a The picture tells it all... and Science, Maharashtra, synthesized potential biomaterial for tissue engi- Grapes have been in existence for a therapeutic graphene quantum dot neering applications, particularly for thousands of years. Referred to as the (GQD) using milk. A quantum dot is a connective tissue repair. Fruit of the Gods, they are popular and tiny 2–4 nm sized semiconducting par- In the last fortnight, Mahesh Kumar cultivated both for the fruit and for ticle which is capable of emitting light. Sah and Subha Narayan Rath, from IIT making wine. The crop is highly sus- The researchers pasteurized milk by Hyderabad reviewed the role of egg- ceptible to fungal attacks. Uncon- heating it in a microwave oven and shell membranes in tissue engineering trolled application of fungicides has processed it for 5 hours to generate and regenerative medicine. They spell resulted in the presence of pesticide re- GQDs. Formation of GQDs was moni- out a wide variety of uses of the mem- sidues. When grapes are consumed tored by a fluorescent emission at brane. without pre-treatments, they become 375 nm. GQDs were then loaded with The semi-permeable behaviour of the fruits of the gods of death and dis- berberine, an anticancer drug. To ob- membrane could be used for develop- ease. serve the size, shape and loading of the ing dialysis and filtration units. Solu- Malay Kishore Dutta and team, dis- drug on GQDs various spectroscopic ble eggshell membrane protein can be tributed in institutions in the National techniques were used. cross-linked with another collagen to Capital Region and Maharashtra, de- Cancerous cells create an acidic en- form new and improved fibres with veloped a simple method to identify vironment due to a faster metabolic higher stability and antibacterial prop- pesticide contamination at field level. rate. The berberine-GQD complex re- erties. The approach could be utilized Imaging methods using different wave- leases the drug only in the vicinity of to fabricate novel biocompatible fibres let domains distinguish the treated and acidic cancerous cells. An acidic pH of that support osteo-regeneration, i.e. untreated lots. Images of the pesticide 5.8 ensured the drug was released over remodelling membrane after process- treated and untreated samples are con- a period of 72 hours. The scientists ing through soluble eggshell protein verted to gray scale images. The region could monitor the localization of the membrane. The affinity and utility of

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 7, 10 OCTOBER 2016 1137 NEWS membrane for Cu and Mg metal ions these studies focused mainly on parti- determine end points of roasting, for play a vital role in bone tissue engi- cle size and the sensory attributes of quality control purposes. A research neering application and cancer therapy. the black pepper powder; they paid lit- team, led by Ricardo N. M. J. Páscoa The processing of membrane/soluble tle attention to other powder character- from Portugal, has now come up with a eggshell protein into hydrogels/orga- istics required for particle engineering. one step method to determine sugar nogels and composites will make it Now, in the last fortnight, Bhupen- content and roast colour in coffee useful in various tissue engineering dra M. Ghodki and T. K. Goswami blends. and biomaterial applications. The hydro/ from IIT Kharagpur have reported a The scientists made use of near in- organogel forms appear promising design of a cryo-grinding technology frared scanning method for determin- enough to open up the development of to obtain high quality pepper powder. ing two parameters that can greatly effective drug delivery for targeted They considered numerous other vari- influence coffee flavour among differ- therapy. The soluble eggshell protein, ables that influence powder character- ent batches: the sugar content and the with further modification, could be istics: intrinsic variables like moisture colour of the roast. The researchers utilized as bio-ink with promising content, shape and size and extrinsic placed a simple infrared probe outside regenerative impact. variables like rotor speed and speed a coffee roaster that allows direct visu- Eggshell membrane is an easily rate. They also addressed environ- alization of the roasting drum through available, biocompatible, contaminant mental variables such as relative hu- a glass window. They roasted coffee free, eco-friendly material that can be midity, and temperature of surrounding beans from Brazil, Uganda and India in used as such or after modification. atmosphere which influence intrinsic separate batches at different speeds Based on the composition, the soluble variables. and scanned the contents with near in- eggshell membrane, with ease of proc- As the grinding temperatures in- frared after short intervals throughout essing, may have a great potential in creased from –120 to –80, –40, 0 and the process. And they compared the scan clinical practice. The problem that re- 40 degrees on the Celsius scale, flow- results with established industry para- mains to be conquered, for industrial ability, crucial to prevent problems meters for colour and sugar content. scale utilization of this massive and like agglomeration and sticking, also The sugar content decreases rapidly valuable resource, is collection of the increased. The remaining variables in fast roasts. Scientists found that the shells that are thrown away. were negatively correlated. Availabil- changes in spectra are consistent with Material Science & Engineering C, ity of mineral composition of the pow- this. The researchers noticed that the 67, 807–821 der also significantly increased with industrially defined parameter for col- the reduction in the grinding tempera- our change – luminosity – was greatly Temperature Matters ture. affected by the roasting temperature. Cryo-grinding of black pepper This quantitative investigation and For the same value of luminosity, the Black pepper, the king of spices, is in- comprehensive theoretical understand- sugar content of the different roasts digenous to India, and, more specifi- ing of the powder properties of black could be partially controlled by tweak- cally, to the Western Ghats. Aroma, pepper in terms of flowability, particle ing the roast process, especially for pungency and colour make it a favour- size, morphology, moisture, water ac- light roasts, thus producing sucrose- ite at dining tables. Apart from fla- tivity, etc. will aid in cost reduction, enhanced natural coffee. vouring and preserving food materials, capacity and process optimization of The near infrared scanning tech- black pepper is used in pharmaceuti- transportation, storage and grinding nique and multivariate methods used cals, insecticides and in cosmetics. operations. Moreover, the findings can are quite rugged and these can be eas- Like many other spices, pepper is be immensely useful for the design of ily employed for continuous monitor- available in powdered form in the equipment for feeding, conveying, ing of coffee roasting in industrial market. Grinding makes it easy to processing, handling, mixing, packag- facilities for quality control. transport, store and to mix with other ing, storing and transporting, say the Food Chemistry, 208, 103–110 ingredients; the increased surface area scientists. From Forest Waste to Biofuel improves the availability of flavouring Powder Technology, 299, 168–177 Babool seeds to produce oil components and nutrients. But if grind- Coffee to Pass Infrared Test ing is not done with care, the powder Agricultural biomass contains com- Inline monitoring of roasting loses its characteristic qualities. pounds that directly serve as fuel and Many studies have effectively dem- Coffee comes in a variety of colours yield energy when burnt. But extract- onstrated how cryogenic grinding – and blends. Each region boasts of its ing fuel in the form of oil or gas from grinding at low temperature with the unique taste which is largely deter- biomass is cost intensive. Different aid of liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon mined by the sugar content and the crops give different yields of oil. Se- dioxide – improves retention of vola- process of roasting. Even though cof- lectively growing plants for biofuel tile oil content, an important active fee roasting is carefully controlled and production can encroach upon agricul- flavouring component, colour, particle sugar content is dedicatedly deter- tural lands. This raises several issues size, and total surface area and that the mined in each batch, there is a lack of with respect to deforestation and the energy costs are worth incurring. But a method for continuous monitoring to sustainability of the process.

1138 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 7, 10 OCTOBER 2016 NEWS

Scientists have now come up with a raised the demand for omega-3 fatty 40–50% of protein. Recent investiga- solution to the problem. In the last acid containing health foods. tions show that enzyme and fermenta- fortnight, Neeru Anand and her col- Among omega-3 fatty acids, doco- tion based techniques can help in leagues from the Guru Gobind Singh sahexaenoic acid, or DHA, is consid- recovery and utilization of commer- Indraprastha University, Delhi, repor- ered the most important. DHA is easily cially important products from waste ted a new source – Babool seeds – for oxidizable which makes it unstable and animal fleshing. large scale cost efficient production of sensitive to environmental stresses. Recently, researchers from the bio-oil. This poses the problem of degradation Sathyabama University, Chennai, and Babool seeds are a forestry waste during transportation and storage. In the Central Leather Research Institute, produced to the tune of 60,000 tonnes fact, bioavailability of DHA is poor Chennai, collaborated with scientists in annually. The researchers determined due to degradation even after con- Seoul and Hong Kong to study prote- the fuel yield from this source at dif- sumption. ase production from animal fleshing ferent temperatures using a pyrolysis Karthik and Anandharamakrishnan, using a newly isolated bacterial spe- chamber. The seeds collected from the researchers from CSIR-CFTRI, My- cies – Clostridium limosum. outskirts of Delhi were washed, suru, utilized nanotechnology based Proteases have multiple uses, par- crushed and separated into three dif- emulsions to protect the DHA from ticularly in pharmaceutical, leather and ferent fractions based on size. This was oxidation. Nanoemulsion based deliv- textile industries. C. limosum can pro- done to study the effect of particle size ery of omega-3 fatty acids is becoming duce such enzymes by utilizing animal on fuel yield. increasingly popular because of its fleshing as a substrate. To identify the Each group of varying particle size ease of preparation, small particle size, optimum conditions for protease pro- was then fed into a pyrolysis reactor relatively high stability and high duction, the researchers incubated and heated at temperatures ranging bioavailability. Despite these advan- animal fleshing with C. limosum in an from 400C to 700C. The vapours tages, selection of nanoemulsions must anaerobic atmosphere for 120 hours at were collected and condensed in a be carefully considered to ensure good different pH and temperatures. After separate chamber allowing the scien- physical and chemical stability and every 24 hours, a small quantity of tists to isolate the bio-oil. The re- high bioavailability. media was drawn to estimate the searchers analysed the liquid yield, gas The scientists tested different types amount of protease produced. The re- yield and oil yield for each group at of nanoemulsions such as Tween-40 searchers found that the protease yield different temperatures. (T-40), sodium caseinate and soya leci- was highest at 40 degrees and mildly They found that smaller particle thin to stabilize the DHA. The highest acidic pH of 6. The enzyme was then sizes of the order of 0.4 mm tend to be physical stability and least oxidation of isolated through column chromatogra- more efficient for both oil and gas pro- DHA were observed with T-40 nano- phy and assessed for purity using gel duction. The process was most effi- emulsion. Moreover, it also ensures electrophoresis and high pressure liq- cient at 500C – with a liquid oil yield gradual delivery and increased digesti- uid chromatography. The isolated en- of 49% and a transport grade bio-oil bility of biologically active and func- zyme was inhibited by metal chelators yield of 38.4%. This is comparable to tional omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore, and stimulated by zinc and magnesium the oil yield of Jatropha – the primary omega-3 fatty acids can be protected salts, indicating that it is a metallopro- biofuel crop in India. Given that the and stabilized better with T-40 nano- teinase. By manipulating purification method used for fuel extraction – pyro- emulsion. strategies, the researchers could purify lysis – is inexpensive, and that huge Many national and international the enzyme 58 fold. amounts of babool seeds are wasted health organizations recommend that The present approach not only stabi- every year, there is an economic feasi- consumption of 250 mg DHA per day lizes leather waste but makes it more bilty to using this new source for bio- improves human health. Therefore, prone to microbial degradation by oil production. nanoemulsion based delivery of decreasing organic content. It also cre- Renewable Energy, 96, omega-3 fatty acids can be employed ates value addition by facilitating the 167–171 to meet the recommendations to im- production of a commercially impor- prove human health. tant product. Scientists say that such Stabilizing Omega-3 Fatty Acids J. Food Engineering, 187, 92–105 useful waste disposal strategies can Improving human health help in the cost-efficient management Leather for Enzyme of industrial wastes. Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsatu- Waste utilization meets value addition Bioresource Technology, 217, 150–156 rated fats which have many positive effects on our health. The World The leather industry produces large Reports by: Bobby P. Mathew, Manali Health Organization estimates that quantities of degradation-resistant 80% of cardiovascular diseases are wastes and this poses a problem of Datta, K. T. Mufeeda, G. Sharath avoidable by following a healthier diet. waste disposal. A major proportion of Chandra, H. M. Mahadeva Swamy, Rekha R. Warrier and Sarah Iqbal Increased health awareness and higher pre-tanning leather waste comprises incidence of cardiovascular disease has animal fleshing that contains about [email protected]

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 7, 10 OCTOBER 2016 1139 NEWS

Science Last Fortnight

Arjuna Tree Bark Extract No doubt the Arjuna tree has an linking is the same method that hardens Relief for heart failure patients? inherent medicinal and therapeutic bene- rubber; the more bonds a plastic has, the fit. This makes it worthy of investigation more its strength and durability. Presently, one in 1000 people suffers under specific subgroups of patients. The new method uses easy-to-get, heart failure. Its prevalence is growing at Perhaps, positive outcomes from anti- eco-friendly and water soluble citric acid 10% every year. Subir Maulik from oxidative reserves could be a better tar- as the cross-linker for agarose. The re- AIIMS, New Delhi, has now tested a get for future research. search team has filed a patent to claim well known Ayurvedic remedy using the Phytomedicine, 23, 1211–1219 exclusive rights for using and selling the methods of modern medicine to reduce method because it is new and useful. congestive heart failure. Weeds to Weed out Bacteria Carbohydrate Polymers, 151, 60–67 Terminalia arjuna, is well known for its ability to enhance muscle contraction, A wonder drug of its time, Penicillin, Uranium Remedies in Jaduguda anti-oxidative, anti-ischemic, antihyper- was accidentally discovered by Alexan- tensive and anti-hypertrophic properties. der Fleming in 1928 from a mould that People in uranium mining areas like This plant is widely used in folk medi- killed bacteria. It soon became popular Jaduguda, Jharkhand are exposed to ra- cine for the treatment of heart diseases as it cured deadly infections. But in a diations from radioactive uranium. This in humans. But there has been no con- few decades, it became ineffective as causes genetic mutations and diseases. certed effort to scientifically validate its bacteria became drug resistant. Finding Removing minor amounts of uranium use. new antibiotics has become a continuous from soil is not economically feasible Maulik’s team utilized aqueous ex- challenge for scientists. with the available physico-chemical tracts from the dried stem bark of Arjuna Researchers in the Cochin University methods. with water. After clearance from the of Science and Technology have now Uranium accumulation has been re- ethical committee, the extracts were isolated new antimicrobials from six corded in terrestrial and aquatic plants. It tested on 100 heart failure patients. Ex- species of seaweeds from the coasts of is usually fixed in the roots of plants perimental setup of double-blind and Kerala, as crude water-soluble extracts. grown in older mining areas. Although it randomized methods under clinical trials They found that these antimicrobials are is naturally present in plants in small were executed with a placebo as control. phycosugars (phyco: seaweed or algae). quantities, uranium has no known func- They also considered the patient’s his- Phycosugars are different from common tional role in plant nutrition. The absorp- tory of the left ventricular region, gen- sugars in being sulphated. Phycosugars tion of uranium by plants is dependent der, age, physical fitness and so on. kill a wide variety of bacteria and have upon the degree of contamination in the Different tests were conducted to moni- antioxidant properties. Scientists found soil and water, pH, temperature, soil tor the tolerance of patients to the ex- that they were as effective as Tetracy- ions and organic matter content. tract. The treatment had twice a day cline and Chloramphenicol, but less Scientists at the Periyar University, regime and continued for twelve weeks. toxic and more cost effective. Salem, Tamil Nadu and the Calcutta The scientists found that the quality of For over eighty years, scientists University in collaboration with scien- life of the patients improved slightly. across the globe have been struggling to tists in other countries, explored aquatic Antioxidant activity increased as evi- find new antimicrobials. With seaweeds as well as terrestrial plant species sys- denced by the increase in enzymes like to our rescue, it could now be reality. tematically using fluorometry. They RBC-superoxide dismutase, catalase, Carbohydrate Polymers, 151, 584–592 found significant variation in absorption glutathione, plasma cytokines and other and accumulation of uranium between Better Plastics oxidative stress markers. different plant species and also between There was some symptomatic relief We have been using plastics for more different organs of the same species. related to heart attack indicators. These than 100 years now. They seem to be ir- The maximum accumulation was in outcomes acted as a proxy to the ex- replaceable because of long shelf life roots followed by leaves, stem, flowers pected performance in the ventricular and high durability. Sadly, plastics pol- and fruits. They found the concentration region. However, in the long term, this lute the environment because most plas- to be greater in terrestrial plants like In- was not significant. There was not tics are non-biodegradable and cannot be tegrifolia than in aquatic species such as enough evidence to support the long managed by recycling. Riccia fluitans and Lemna minor. Ter- survival of patients undergoing the A ban on plastics could be a short restrial plants have much longer root treatment. Thus, the study challenges the term solution but bioplastics will per- systems with fibrous adventitious roots well-entrenched claim about the efficacy haps be a longer term solution. How- covered with root hair. This creates of Terminalia arjuna to prevent conges- ever, bioplastics are costly, have lower more surface area and leads to higher tive heart failure. However, survival strength and higher water absorption. accumulation of trace elements in roots. benefits and functional capacity of the Researchers at IIT Kanpur have This study opens up the possibility of heart and survival period need further improved bioplastics by changing a using such terrestrial plants to clean up well-planned and detailed monitoring. method of cross linking them. Cross uranium from the soil. However, the

1300 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2016 NEWS plant biomass would now contain exces- missible levels before discharging it into Laminar burning velocity is related to sive uranium, caution the scientists. water bodies. This could prevent ground- the different layers of liquids. How they Methods for safe disposal of the ura- water contamination to some extent. glide over each other. This velocity is an nium so accumulated by plants need to Recently, BARC has developed a intrinsic property of any combustible be explored further. toolkit for onsite determination of mixture. If they glide smoothly, combus- Sci. Total Environ., 568, 350–368 hexavalent chromium in drinking water tion is better, but, under high pressure, and groundwater. These two findings liquids do not glide in a linear fashion. Controlling Chromium could, perhaps, go hand in hand to solve Some eddy currents are formed which PANI: a ray of hope for Odisha major contamination problems in chro- lead to imperfect combustion of fuels. mite mining areas. These unburnt gases have their own ve- Rub a comb on your dry hair: it can now J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 133(39), 44002 locity. This difference between the ve- pick up bits and pieces of paper. Using locity of burnt and unburnt gases gives this simple principle of electrostatic at- Polyol from Tobacco Stems birth to eddy currents. Scientists are fac- traction, scientists from the Harisingh New source for polyurethane ing the problem of controlling these Gour University, have prepared a nano- Polyol is a raw material to make poly- eddy currents. polymer which can separate lethal hexa- urethane, an inevitable plastic in this This experiment provides a solution to valent chromium from drinking water. age. It is used in the production of flexi- this problem. If combustible liquids are Chromium primarily exists as triva- ble and rigid foams, coatings, sealants, burnt under specific ratios of pressure lent chromium which is not dangerous elastomers and adhesives. The polyure- and with varying external temperature, and does not contaminate water. On the thane industry is presently dependent on there are less unburnt gases. This tech- other hand, hexavalent chromium is the petroleum industry which provides nology is also effective in the case of highly toxic. Drinking water containing two major feedstocks – polyols and iso- liquid propelled rockets. Because of the hexavalent chromium above the permis- cyanates. The polyurethane industry is high pressure of liquids the same prob- sible limit of 0.05 ppm, lead to skin irri- unstable because of depleting petroleum lem occurs in burning. Laminar burning tation, lung cancer, stomach ulcers, and resources and increasing costs of petro- velocity is determined using mass bal- kidney, liver and gastrointestinal tract leum processing. This is forcing the ance between the channel inlet and damage. About 85% of deaths were industry to explore the possibility of flame stabilization location for the pla- caused by chromite-related diseases. production of polyurethane from renew- nar flames appearing at certain condi- We often find silica gel in shoes and able sources. tions of mixture flow rate and electronics boxes. Here the silica gel Now, M. P. Chirag and others from equivalence ratio. acts as a drying agent that adsorbs mois- the Sardar Patel University, Gujarat, The scientists optimized the ratio be- ture. Likewise, scientists prepared a have new source of polyol: tobacco tween the fluid pressure and the nozzle nanopolymer composite of polyaniline stems, a waste material that is usually to reduce eddy currents. They used (PANI) and graphene on the surface of burned. They liquefied tobacco stalk quartz material channels because they magnetic nanoparticles. They demon- using crude polyhydric alcohol, an have high heat resistance. And it is easy strated that the combined effect of elec- organic solvent. Then they used castor to create narrower inlets with quartz. trostatic interaction and electro-reduct- oil in the presence of lithium hydroxide The diverging portion of the channel ion of this polymer could adsorb to get polyol. It was further tailored to was externally heated using a sintered hexavalent chromium effectively from the required –OH value for improved metal burner to generate a steady line- water. The new composite could also mechanical and chemical properties by arly varying temperature gradient in dis- convert most of the hexavalent chro- adding natural oil or synthetic diols. crete mixture flows. The initial result of mium to trivalent chromium. Through They then synthesized polyurethane this experiment has given hope for fu- this method, they removed 86% of foam from these bioderived polyols. The ture clean burning. chromium from contaminated water, in characteristics and physical properties The burning of fossil fuels is a promi- just 20 minutes. matched the marketed foams. The ther- nent issue all over the world. Now scien- The method is easy. The polymer mal conductivity, thermal stability and tists are working on technologies to could be produced in bulk and stored in morphology were also similar to mar- address this issue, to reduce pollution. a powder form. After removal of the keted foams. contaminant, the polymer powder could The study marks the beginning of Fuel, 182, 57–63 be easily removed from the water. The high quality rigid polyurethane foams Reports by S. Puspanjali, Pavithra user-friendly and cost-effective nature of derived from renewable, comparatively Nayak, Maneesh Shukla, Pandurang this technique makes it special as com- less expensive materials. Kakatkar, Bhavya Khullar and P. pared to sophisticated water treatment J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 133(38), 43974 Vijisha processes. In chromite mining areas like Sukinda Gaseous Fuel Efficiency ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We are grateful in Odisha, 60% of the drinking water Reducing vortices to IISER Thiruvananthapuram and Vigyan contains hexavalent chromium. Efflu- IIT scientists in a study funded by ISRO Prasar for facilitating the production of these news items. ents can now be treated with this method are experimenting with the laminar to reduce the levels of chromium to per- burning velocity of methanol with air. [email protected]

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2016 1301 NEWS

Science Last Fortnight

Nano-Cauliflower to Detect Arsenic Beat the Weeds Last fortnight, researchers from the Cheaper, faster technique Cross resistance sparks old methods Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tamil Nadu, came up with a sugges- Even with improved agronomic prac- West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar tion: an ayurvedic medicinal plant as tices, farmers may still need to use Pradesh, Assam and Manipur have anti-vector drug2. age-old practices to fight weeds. That’s reported arsenic contamination in Andrographis paniculata, known as the lesson to be drawn from the latest groundwater. Above permissible levels kalmegh or mahatiktha in India, is development of resistance to the weed of arsenic contamination – 0.01 mg/l used as traditional medicine for the fighting herbicides applied to wheat as per WHO – are found in the Ganga treatment of sore throat, common cold, fields. A weed, locally known as and Brahmaputra rivers which flow respiratory tract infections and as anti- gehunsa (Phalaris minor) is not much through these states. Arsenic toxicity dote against snake or insect venom. to look at. But the farmers in Haryana causes many serious health issues such The plant extracts have shown have a hard time controlling it. as cancer, hypertension, dermatitis, anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral, anti- Having evolved the ability to with- kidney and lung diseases. inflammatory and antimicrobial prop- stand Clodinafop, a major herbicide, it Detection of arsenic in water is the erties. But the efficacy of the plant to has developed genetic defenses to sur- first step to tackling the problem. Ana- control the vector had not previously vive herbicides. Even increasing the lytical methods like high-performance been evaluated. dosage could not control the weed. Ac- liquid chromatography, atomic absorp- The research team extracted a com- cording to a team, led by Dharam Bir tion spectroscopy, and spectrofluori- pound, ‘andrographolide’, known for Yadav, a scientist at the Haryana Agri- metry are used to detect arsenic levels its pharmacological effects, from the cultural University, Karnal, their resis- in water. The difficulties in sample leaves of the plant. They tested it tance is metabolic in nature. The more preparation, time taken to detect arse- against the dengue vector, Aedes they are exposed to herbicides over the nic and the cost involved are major de- aegypti. seasons, the more resistant they be- terrents to using these techniques in In adult females, the drug reduced come. The team warns that herbicide field conditions. the number of eggs laid and the hatcha- resistances can lead to total crop fail- A group of researchers, from the bility of the eggs. The survival rate, in ure from unchecked growth of the SASTRA University, Tamil Nadu, has the first four larval stages, showed that weed. now developed a cheaper, rapid detec- mortality rates are directly propor- Yadav notes that it is difficult to tion sensor for detecting arsenic levels. tional to andrographolide concentra- identify a specific tolerance trait. The The sensor has a cauliflower morpho- tion. Within 24 hours, the growth of weed population has high molecular logy which facilitates high diffusion mosquito larvae and pupae is inhibited diversity. So a multipronged strategy and mass transport of reactants. This by up to 90%. Histological and has to be adopted. Cultural methods enhances the detection capacity of the morphological observations reveal a like crop rotations, along with manual/ sensor. But preparing such a sensor is a breakdown in the mid-gut section of mechanical weed management are still great challenge. the larval intestine. effective. He suggests that the weed The researchers developed fluorine This research offers a clue for de- should be attacked using a combination doped cadmium oxide sensing elec- veloping harmless larvicides. Trans- (sequential or tank-mix) of weedicides. trodes by spraying a cadmium acetate forming this bioactive compound into a This reduces the chances of develop- dehydrate precursor along with ammo- cost-effective product, however, re- ment of weed resistance strains. How- nium fluoride onto the pre-heated glass mains a challenge. ever, there still remains a pressing substrate. This process produced a thin 1Nature, 2013, 496, 504 need to develop new herbicide mole- nanolayered cauliflower shaped non- 2Acta Tropica, 2016, 163, 167–178 toxic fluorine doped cadmium oxide cules for managing the weed. sensor. This sensor can detect arsenic Crop Protection, 89, 239–247 rapidly and is more sensitive than cur- Bacteria for Better Soils Solution inherent in the problem rently available sensors. Bitter Pill Kills Arsenic contamination in drinking Destroying the dengue vector In 1971, Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty water threatens more than 150 million engineered a new strain of bacteria that people globally. It is urgent to detect A study1 in 2013 reported that India could degrade crude oil and aid biore- even low quantities of arsenic in drink- contributes to 34% of global dengue mediation of oil spills, saving millions ing water. And these nano-cauliflowers infections. The mosquito-borne viral of dollars and precious marine life. A may form the basis of technology that infection may cause mild asympto- lobby of scientists argued that it was can be produced cheaply on a large matic illness or develop into a lethal genetically modified, and that its long- scale to detect arsenic in water effi- haemorrhagic fever. There is no spe- term environmental impact is unknown. ciently and rapidly. cific treatment. So the only option is to Scientists across the globe have ever Sensors and Actuators B, 234, 426–434 control the vector. since been searching for naturally

1444 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 9, 10 NOVEMBER 2016 NEWS occurring microbes and organisms that and efficient method of exhausting Thus, this flocculant works both as a can degrade pollutants. cotton fiber that uses 100% of the dye. method to generate cattle feed and as Heavy metals and polycyclic aro- Nothing is leached out in the waste- source of biofuel. matic hydrocarbons are increasingly water. In this method, the fabric is first Carbohydrate Polymers, 152, 459–467 polluting our soils. Released by burn- treated with an alkali, followed by ing fossil fuels, industrial wastes, coal CHPTAC, a cationic etherification Video Coding for Internet Security and tar processing, these pollutants agent, in a mole ratio of 1 : 2. Steganography: blow to hackers settle down in the soil. Are there Apart from utilizing the complete A team led by Ramakrishna Hegde, at microorganisms that can tackle this dye, this deviation from tradition con- the SDM Institute of Technology, Kar- pollution? This is the question that re- sumes 20% less time and saves almost nataka, found a new way to convey se- searchers at the Krishnadevaraya Uni- 30% water. And what’s more, the new cret data by concealing its existence versity, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, method of dyeing cotton fabrics is salt- using multimedia as a carrier. asked themselves. free! The secret data is encrypted using They collaborated with universities The great success of industrial trials Elliptic Curve Cryptography. This is from Australia and South Korea to iso- of the method needs to be brought to convenient as it reduces storage and late bacteria that were present in pol- the attention of knit processing indus- transmission requirements, enhancing luted soil samples from various sites. tries in India for immediate implemen- processing speed. They identified these organisms by tation. The encrypted cipher is again em- pyrosequencing: a next generation se- Carbohydrate Polymers, 152, 1–11 bedded in the H.264 video format. The quencing technique. Using the data of pixels in the video are optimized by Better Brooms for Algal Mess 16S ribosomal RNA, the researchers using an optimization algorithm called, classified them into 16 different phyla Water bodies are often covered with Artificial Bee Colony, to reduce the using bioinformatics tools. algal blooms. They exploit the nutri- distortion of the encrypted data. They found that about 80% of Pro- ents and oxygen in water and suffocate The digital media acts as cover teobacteria and Actinobacteria are tol- aquatic life. This algal mass can be media or host for transferring highly erant to metal toxicity and capable of clumped by flocculation using chemi- confidential data with minimum cogni- degrading polycyclic aromatic hydro- cals which makes it easy to remove. zable degradation. The digital medium carbons. But this is not popular because the can be a text, audio, video or image, Mass producing these naturally chemicals used are expensive and end depending upon the size of the mes- occurring bacteria and using them for up polluting water. sage to be transferred. The secret mes- soil bioremediation can be an envi- Dharani and Balasubramanian from sage is invisible and inaudible. ronmental-friendly and sustainable so- the University of Madras, Tamil Nadu, This technique proved its robustness lution, enabling the transformation of now report a novel flocculant that is when implemented on Matlab and polluted areas into cultivable land. inexpensive, eco-friendly, easy-to- MPEG video files. Steganography, us- J. Hazardous Materials, 317, 169–179 make and highly efficient. The highly ing video format, brings a revolution in water-soluble flocculent is a copoly- terms of security levels, carrier capa- Pollution-free Cotton Dyeing mer of two monomers: DMC and city and embedding efficiency of the Dyeing of cotton is done in two steps. MACPPC. The polymer is grafted on a classified data. It is a challenge to in- First, the fibre is ‘exhausted’ using modified acryloyl chitosan moiety. The ternet hackers. dyes. This requires a large amount of resulting flocculent is named AC-g-P Computer Standards & Interfaces, salts like sodium chloride. Secondly, (DMC-MACPPAC). 48, 173–182 the dye has to be fixed using alkalies The researchers tested it on a com- like sodium hydroxide. If the exhaust- mon species of microalgae, Chlorella ing step is inefficient, the leftover dye vulgaris. The material is found to be Reports by: Pavithra P. Nayak, Bhavya leaches into the waste. This leads to highly efficient: it can flocculate ap- Khullar, G. Sharath Chandra, Manish water pollution, a serious challenge in proximately 73% of algae when used at Kumar Tekam and S. Puspanjali tertiary effluent treatment processes. concentrations as low as 20 parts per

Another problem is salt leaching into million. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Science Media groundwater making it saline and unfit This gives us an effective agent that Centre, IISER Pune for access to databases. for consumption. can be used for algal biomass isolation Researchers at the Anna University, at a mass scale. The properties of the Tamil Nadu, have now devised a novel isolated biomass remain unchanged. [email protected]

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 9, 10 NOVEMBER 2016 1445 NEWS

Science Last Fortnight

Soil Quality in the Deccan Plateau management practices for better agri- alternative to the existing membranes cultural productivity in this semi-arid for drinking water. Perhaps, the public The Deccan Plateau is large, forming region. They hope that the study will health problem in the north, east and most of the southern part of India. A pave the way for reformulating agricul- north-east of India, caused by arsenic diversity of dryland crops, including tural strategies in the Deccan Plateau. toxicity, could be solved with this new cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables Geoderma, 282, 70–79 method. such as beans, gourds, onions and 1 commercial crops such as ginger, tur- J. Trace Elem. Med. Biol., 38, 33–45 3D-Imprinted Membranes 2 meric and chillies, sustain the agricul- Chem. Engineering J., 304, 259–270 Removing arsenic from water ture sector in the semi-arid regions of Nano Alarms for CO Sensing the plateau. However, the growing Parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, conditions on the Deccan plateau are Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Carbon monoxide (CO) is formed as a poor. The soil is low in organic carbon. Assam and Manipur are facing high ar- result of the incomplete burning of fu- It has low nitrogen content and phos- senic levels in ground water1. This has els such as gas, oil, coal or wood. The phorus fixation capacity. Hence it has led to adverse public health issues in gas is commonly found in our houses poor response to fertilizer application these states. The permissible limit of in central heating systems, boilers, and is, thus, low in productivity. So it arsenic in water should be below water heaters, and next to open fire requires the implementation of scien- 10 ppb or 0.01 mg/litre. But, in these chimneys. Breathing increased levels tific farming strategies to produce regions, the level, in water used for of CO can cause poisoning. CO binds enough food throughout the year. human consumption, exceeds the to haemoglobin in the blood forming Scientists from Maharashtra, Assam WHO and BIS guidelines. carboxyHb that restricts the supply of and Tamil Nadu have now come up Last fortnight, researchers from the oxygen to the tissues of the body, lead- with a tool – Soil Quality Index – to Indian School of Mines, Jharkhand, re- ing to nausea, dizziness, stomach pain, evaluate crop productivity in the semi- ported a new filtration method. They shortness of breath and even death. arid Deccan plateau. They collected used integrated molecular level arsenic The human body cannot sense CO soil and subsoil samples from various adsorption: membrane technology because it is odourless, tasteless and is localities. They evaluated the soil qual- molecularly imprinted for a specific non-irritating. Hence, we need CO sen- ity using parameters such as hydraulic target molecule2. sors in our homes and industries to conductivity, degree of modifications They synthesised the membranes prevent CO poisoning. of soil properties due to pedogenic pro- using cysteine@ZnS : TiO2 nanoparti- Researchers at the Institute of cesses and weathering, pH and CaCO3 cles and tested the efficiency of these Chemical Technology, North Maha- content. They then related the crop membranes with water samples col- rashtra University, in collaboration productivity of the study area to these lected from arsenic-affected areas. with the University of Mumbai, Maha- parameters. They found that 96% of arsenic could be rashtra, have developed a nanocompo- The study shows that the large varia- easily removed through this method. site sensor for CO by grafting the tion in soil quality in this region is due This membrane exhibits high ad- nanoparticles of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) to soil heterogeneity and soil degrada- sorption capacity and selectivity for in a polyaniline matrix (PANI), an in- tion caused by subsoil sodicity. The arsenic removal in comparison to cur- trinsically conducting polymer known soils of the Chegunta series are of better rently available conventional mem- for its modifiable electrical conductiv- quality. The soil quality of the Gum- branes. It is also stable, reusable and ity, low cost and ease of synthesis. magonda series is very poor and is not highly resistant to breakage. What is The method of synthesizing cobalt suitable for deep rooted crops like cot- more, it is antibacterial. oxide (Co3O4) nanoparticles is easy. ton and pigeon pea because these soils Membrane-based methods have been NaOH is added to cobalt chloride are very shallow, poor in organic mat- used for water purification for decades. (CoCl2) drop by drop under ultrasound. ter content and water holding capacity. However, recently, a combination of The cobalt hydroxide thus formed is The soils of Koduparthy are also low membranes with metal nanoparticles sonicated, centrifuged, washed with in productivity. But this is due to the has become popular due to better per- water and rinsed with acetone. And leaching of nutrients in the sandy lay- formance, improved permeability, you get 23 nm wide Co3O4 nanoparti- ers along with percolating water. Lack fouling resistivity and selectivity. cles. These are then grafted in PANI of root anchorage impairs the capacity Moreover, these are commercially and doped with hydrochloric acid to to support optimum plant growth. viable because of the low-cost in- form the resulting nanocomposite, Crop productivity in Nerelapally and volved in production. PANI/HC/Co3O4. Avancha is low because the soils here This new filtration system has the The researchers found that the bio- are sodic with a pH of 8.5. potential to be the next-generation sensor efficiently senses carbon mon- Based on these results, scientists technique for removal of arsenic from oxide with a short response time of recommend adoption of suitable soil water. It is an economical and effective 40–45 seconds. Scientists say that the

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 10, 25 NOVEMBER 2016 1579 NEWS sensor’s response reduces under high spp. family. The other members of this reduced strength and risk of repair rup- humidity and they are trying to im- family are used in Unani and Ayurveda ture. prove its performance under different medicines. In addition to their peculiar Jayakumar and his team of scientists field conditions. Despite this short- flavours, members of the family have from the Amrita Centre for Nano- coming, the biosensor can be used for antimicrobial, aphrodisiac, memory sciences and Molecular Medicine, Am- homes and factories to prevent acci- enhancer, psychotropic, hepatoprotec- rita University, Kochi, have designed dents and death due to carbon mon- tive, anticancer, anxiogenic, and anti- an innovative scaffold that may pro- oxide leakage. depressant properties. Screening and vide a solution. They used poly (lactic J. Applied Polymer Sci., 133(42), 1–8 isolating the bioactive components acid) fibres, collagen and chitosan, a from these plants may therefore lead to derivative of insect exoskeleton, in a Biosensor Identifies Suspect: the discovery of useful drugs. hydrogel form to design a substitute of Bacteria that poison food Researchers at the Central Drug tendon and coated it with calcium Research Institute, Lucknow, and the alginate to prevent peritendinous adhe- Food poisoning due to Salmonella Academy of Scientific and Innovative sion. Tissue thus engineered was bio- typhimurium infection accounts for the Research, New Delhi, in collaboration compatible, cost-effective and suitable maximum number of deaths from con- with the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical for cell immobilization and encapsula- taminated water and food. S. typhi- Botanic Garden and Research Institute, tion. murium is a category-B bioterrorism Kerala, screened 21 compounds from Spectroscopic studies indicated that agent because the infection is rapid Myristica beddomeii and M. fatua. the scaffold so formed contained a and, if untreated, fatal. They were successful in identifying blend of chitosan and collagen. Micro- Researchers at the CSIR Institute of five bioactive components. scopic studies confirmed porosity of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, Using Sulphorhodamine B assay the construct required for cell and nu- have identified and purified a surface which detects cell density and toxicity trient infiltration. The mechanical antigen protein, OmpD, specific to the based on the response of a fluorescent strength of the construct increases with S. typhimurium species. They immu- dye, they tested the active compounds the layers of poly (lactic acid) fibres. nised rabbits with purified OmpD pro- in five human cancer cell lines from The adsorption pattern indicated algi- tein and extracted the antibodies lung, colorectal, prostate, pharynx and nate coating on the scaffold prevented specific and non cross-reactive to other breast tissues. The results show that protein adhesion on the surface. High species of Salmonella. They then de- these compounds have anti-prolife- DNA retention on the scaffold con- veloped a biosensor by conjugating the rative activity. Hence, they can be used firmed progressive increase in cell con- OmpD-specific antibodies to a matrix to treat cancer – unregulated cell centration. Confocal microscopy showed that was composed of reduced gra- growth and division. cell passage through the scaffold layers, phene oxide on a screen-printed carbon These compounds are natural and enabling efficient regeneration. Alamar electrode. nontoxic and, thus, better alternatives blue was used to test cyto-compatibility They tested the biosensor on con- to conventional cancer treatments and no toxicity was found. taminated litchi and orange fruit juice such as chemotherapy. A series of Biodegradability rate was 50% after and found that it could detect S. typhi- animal testing and clinical trials is, of 21 days – ample time for the natural murium as low as 10 CFU per ml of course, needed. So for the moment, we regeneration process. Thus, this tissue bacteria. might have to depend on the jaiphal therapeutic may play an important The biosensor can be used for mak- and jaivatri plant family merely as role in regenerative and rehabilitation ing clinical kits to detect Salmonella neutraceuticals. medicine. typhimurium contamination in food Food Chemistry, 211, 483–493 Carbohydrate Polymer, 153, 492–500 and water. It can also detect infection in patient samples with high specificity and sensitivity. Healing Human Tendons Insect exo-skeleton to rescue ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Science Media Biosensors & Bioelectronics, Centre, IISER Pune for access to databases 85, 707–713 and journals. Injuries to tendons, tissues connecting Spices to Combat Cancer muscles and bones, result in joint pain and, in severe cases, permanent loss of Reports by Pavithra P. Nayak, P. Two of the most popular ingredients of function. The present treatments do not Vijisha, Manali Datta and Bhavya spicy Indian curries – nutmeg and restore the tissue completely. This Khullar mace – are members of the Myristica results in complications: joint stiffness, [email protected]

1580 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 10, 25 NOVEMBER 2016 NEWS

Science Last Fortnight

Bacterial Hydrogen Production Furniture to the Rescue Enzymes for Water Purification Deodar wood shavings for biofuel Extending the life of membrane filters Hydrogen is an alternative fuel for the future. It releases three times more en- In the recent past, several studies have Most modern water purifiers use mem- ergy than gasoline and does not pro- reported encouraging levels of fuel brane ultrafilters to keep water pure duce any greenhouse gases upon production from the barks of various and free from particles. But many burning, only water. But the current trees. But biofuel yield is sensitive to common substances present in water methods for producing hydrogen are pyrolysis conditions. Hence, in the last can get embedded in the filter matrix unreliable and cost intensive. To opti- fortnight, researchers from the Indian and cause fouling. This compromises mize hydrogen production, scientists Institute of Petroleum, Delhi, studied the quality of the membrane and sub- are now looking at biological pathways the pyrolysis of Deodar wood under sequently water purification. which require less energy input. In the different ambient conditions. A team of researchers led by Vaya- last fortnight, a team of scientists from The scientists determined the fuel lam P. Venugopalan has used enzymes the R&D Centre of the Indian Oil production under hydrogen and nitro- to solve this problem. In this multi- Corporation examined whey waste as a gen atmospheres at different tempera- institute study, scientists from the potential feedstock for hydrogen pro- tures and pressures. Results show that Bhabha Atomic Research Center, duction. under a hydrogen atmosphere, wood Tamil Nadu, and the Homi Bhabha Biological hydrogen production suf- produces the greatest amount of bio- National Institute, Mumbai, partnered fers from low yield, incomplete sub- fuel at 400 degrees but in a nitrogen with scientists at the National Institute strate conversion and its partial atmosphere, the most efficient fuel of Ocean Technology. Instead of re- conversion into organic acids. Thus in- production was recorded at 350 de- sorting to chemical means that hamper dustrial effluents containing low quan- grees. Further rise in temperature re- membrane life in the long run, the tities of reducing sugar are found to be sulted in a rise in biogas production scientists decided to target an impor- attractive sources for commercial hy- while the quantity of biofuel and bio- tant pollutant – alginate – which causes drogen production. One such source is char reduced. membrane fouling. Cheese whey. It is abundantly avail- The scientists also examined the bio- The model consists of a dead end able and does not require complex pre- fuel and biochar obtained at each tem- cell fitted with cellulose acetate mem- treatment like other agricultural waste. perature–pressure combination. In the brane which is susceptible to fouling The scientists examined hydrogen pro- presence of hydrogen, cleavage within and disintegration. The membrane is duction from cheese whey upon fer- the macromolecular structure of the crosslinked with an enzyme – Alginate mentation using Clostridium sp. biomass was found to be systematic lyase – that decomposes alginate. IODB-O3 – an in-house bacterial strain while in the presence of nitrogen, it Water containing alginate was isolated from sewage. Results show was random. passed through the membrane and it that whey fermentation produced a The scientists believe that the differ- was left to foul for 3 hours. Then they greater volume of hydrogen than mix- ences in the composition of products washed the membrane with pure water tures containing either only lactose or are mainly due to differences in the re- and examined the effluent for residual glucose – the main sugars involved in action mechanism. Bio-oils obtained alginate. The performance of the mem- fermentation, suggesting that cheese under the nitrogen atmosphere mostly brane was evaluated after each cycle. whey is rich in components that favour comprised phenolic compounds while Results show that even as raw mem- hydrogen production. The researchers those obtained under a hydrogen branes lost 20% of the flux flow after also compared the hydrogen output in atmosphere mainly consisted of pheno- each fouling cycle, the membranes batches containing only the Clostrid- lics and alcohol ethers. An increase in crosslinked with Alginate lyase were ium strain and those containing normal pressure increased saturation among less susceptible to fouling. The activity flora along with the Clostridium spe- the products. was enhanced after successive back- cies. Clostridium strain IODB-O3 was Deodar trees are an important part of washing after fouling. Membrane in- found to be superior to other strains forest cover. The wood sourced from tegrity, studied through microscopy, present in whey for hydrogen produc- these trees is heavily used for manu- confirms the formation of cake or de- tion. Finally, carbon distribution stud- facturing furniture. As such, using bris over raw membranes. The effect ies carried out by the scientists suggest sawmill shavings as feedstock will also was less pronounced in enzyme-linked new paths for the conversion of whey resolve the food versus fuel debates membranes. The debris could easily be metabolites into hydrogen. The time, it surrounding biofuel production. The removed by washing with Millipore seems, is ripe to start developing a new findings of this study will help design water. industrial process for hydrogen pro- sustainable solutions for biofuel pro- This method is energy efficient and duction along with cheese. duction. reduces the need for chemical treat- Renewable Energy, 98, 221–225 Renewable Energy, 98, 238–244 ment of membranes that could, in turn,

1736 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 11, 10 DECEMBER 2016 NEWS improve the life and performance of Cinammoum verum from Mizoram Jayant Jagtap and Manish Kokare, the membranes in the long run. It is Is essential oil healthy? from the Shri Guru Govind Singhji In- expected that membrane technology stitute of Engineering and Technology, Cinnamon bark is a widely used spice. for water purification will see other Nanded, Maharashtra, have found an It is used in the preparation of choco- similar advances by assimilating en- improved method for determining age. lates, sweet dishes, rices, savory non- zyme technology. They used facial skin ageing features vegitarian dishes. A number of species Chemosphere, 165, 144–151 and Artificial Neural Networks to do such as Ceylon cinnamon, Indonesian this. cinnamon, Vietnamese cinnamon, Chi- Effective Ocular Delivery Facial skin ageing features are ex- nese cinnamon and Indian cinnamon tracted from face images using Local Bacterial eye infections lead to low are being used worldwide. Ceylon cin- Gabor Binary Pattern Histogram, a vision and blindness. According to the namon – Cinnamomum verum, is the WHO, twenty million Asians are blind. most important source of cinnamon non-statistical approach for face mod- There are treatments to prevent or de- bark and leaf oil in the world trade. elling, where histograms of all the lo- lay vision loss. But drug delivery to India also produces C. verum, espe- cal regions are linked to model the face the eye is a challenging task. Topical cially in Kerala, Karnataka and Mi- as a sequence. These are more efficient eye drops are the most convenient and zoram. Lydia Malsawmtluangi from than conventional binary features. patient compliant route of drug ad- Mizoram collaborated with scientists in Then they used wrinkle analysis. ministration. However, the absorption Garhwal and Italy to study the essential Wrinkles are a good indicator of loos- of drugs in the eye is severely limited oil composition of Cinammoum verum ening of the skin, which shows the because of the anatomy, physiology of Mizoram and they found variations ageing process. and biochemistry of the eye. in essential oil composition of the trees Artificial Neural Networks help the A group of researchers from the growing naturally in Mizoram. Ceylon machine mimic brain activity and Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, and cinnamon has negligible amounts of learn. Artificial Neural Network, in the Sam Higginbottom Institute of coumarin. But compounds like bor- this case, is designed as a two layer Agriculture, Allahabad, developed a neol, a terpene which easily oxidized feedforward back propagation neural gelatin nanoparticle loaded with to ketone, and styrene, a hydrocarbon, network. In the feedforward network, moxifloxacin, a fourth-generation anti- are two toxic chemicals found in stem, the information travels from the input bacterial agent, effective in curing bac- bark and leaf oil of C. verum from nodes to the output nodes. In the back- terial infections of the eye. The Mizoram. propagation algorithm, the output is scientists used a simple two-step proc- Scientists also found that C. verum calculated against the desired result. If ess. First, acetone was mixed with from Mizoram is rich in methyl cinna- the result is not satisfactory, then the moxifloxacin. Then, glutaraldehyde mate and eugenol derivatives. These connections between layers are modi- was added to crosslink the nanoparti- are important for cosmetics and can be fied and the process is repeated to cles. used as flavouring and food additives. minimize the error. They checked the biocompatibility Scientists suggest more studies on eu- The scientists tested the system with and safety of this formulation on the genol and cinnamaldehyde content and 120 male face images and 240 female corneal surface using ocular irritation the effect of plant age on their concen- face images from the face database of test and assessed drug release on the tration. This will help in assessing the the Park Ageing Mind Laboratory. The cornea layer in vivo, using rabbits. commercial viability of harvesting system showed an accuracy of 94.17% The results show that drug loaded essential oil constituents from C. ve- for male and 93.75% for female – a nano-formulation is non-irritant to the rum of Mizoram. significant improvement over the exist- ocular tissues. It is safe and biocom- J. Essential Oil Res., 28(6), 551–556 ing method. patible. Moreover, the formulation Human age classification has poten- facilitates sustained release of the drug Predicting Facial Features tial application in Age Specific Human and shows enhanced antibacterial ac- Computer Interaction, Intelligent Inten- tivity against Staphylococcus aureus Facial features change slowly as we sive Care Unit as well as in Electronic compared to commercially available age. These features are also reflected in Customer Relationship Management. drug delivery products. the images of those faces. This infor- Cognitive Systems Res., 40, 116–128 Compared to conventional topical mation can be extracted using computer drops, this gelatin-based nanoformula- algorithms. But there are constraints. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Science Media tion surpasses ocular barriers and asso- Calculating the age from images is a Centre, IISER Pune for access to databases ciated side effects. Moreover, the challenge because ageing varies from and journals. formulation is easy to prepare. Further person to person depending upon ge- clinical trials are necessary to bring the netics, gender, life style, consumption Reports by Sarah Iqbal, P. Vijisha, formulation to the market. habits and even external conditions G. Sharath Chandra, S. Pushpanjali J. Colloid Interface Sci., 483, 132–138 such as weather and climate. [email protected]

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 11, 10 DECEMBER 2016 1737 NEWS

Science Last Fortnight

Crude Oil Spill vanced Studies, Coimbatore, reported a related enzymes, biosynthesis of jas- A delicacy for bacteria new technique to remove arsenic: monic acid and lignification. Yet there magnetic bio-nanocomposite. existed no in vitro studies to provide Fossil fuel ignited human progress. But The researchers developed a nano- evidence for chitosan’s ability to facili- this progress comes at a cost. All fossil composite using iron oxide yeast cells. tate and reinforce the natural defense fuels are obtained from crude oil. Dur- They functionalized the surface of the mechanisms in finger millet crop. ing crude oil extraction and transport, iron oxide nanoparticles with diethyl- The research team treated finger there are often accidental oil spills. Oil amine and cross-linked them with the millet seeds with chitosan nanoparti- spills endanger marine life and pollute yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. cles. They performed an antifungal as- soils. The As (V) removal studies were say and found that the treated plants Sunita Varjani from the Indian Insti- done using contact time, adsorbent do- had reduced incidence of disease on tute for Advanced Research and Vivek sage, adsorbate concentration, and pH leaves and increased yield in compari- N. Upasani from the M.G. Science Insti- as variables. The efficiency of arsenate son with untreated control. tute, Gujarat, devised a way to tackle the adsorption was determined based on Chitosan-nanoparticles inhibit the issue. Bacteria need a carbon source for batch mode experiments. growth of P. grisea. The leaves of survival. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is The researchers found that magnetite treated plants showed accumulation of known to feed on a variety of carbon nanoparticles cross-linked with yeast reactive oxygen species and peroxi- sources, including the hydrocarbons. have 99% arsenate removal efficiency. dase. This bacterium is often found near oil Diethylamine functionalized iron oxide Using Western blot analysis, the sci- refineries and soils polluted with crude. nanoparticles have only 83.33% arse- entists found three new isoforms of The scientists isolated P. aeruginosa nate removal efficiency. Pure yeast has peroxidase polypeptide which peaked from soil samples collected near the Oil only 15%. Combining them offers the on day 50. Symptoms of blast on fin- and Natural Gas Corporation’s central intrinsic advantage of removing a ger millet leaves were delayed for 25 tank farm, Ankleshwar asset, Gujarat. higher concentration of the metalloid. days in contrast to 15 days in control The bacterium was cultured in their Researchers found that yeast cross- plants. But the symptoms reappeared laboratories. They introduced the bacte- linked Fe3O4 nanoparticles have the after this period. However, the treat- rial culture into a mixture of water and highest arsenate removal efficiency in ment with chitosan nanoparticles 500 ml of crude oil from ONGC oil a shorter duration. showed 64% protection from fungal fields. Crude oil degradation was moni- The study provides scope for the de- invasion. These results imply the util- tored, using gas chromatography and velopment of low cost, microorganism- ity of chitosan nanoparticles for the re- colorimetry. The researchers found that based, arsenic nanofiltration units. tardation of blast symptoms on finger about 60% of the total crude oil was de- Other heavy metals of social concern millet plants. graded in 60 days. might also be tackled using similar This low cost chitosan nanoparticle Current methods to tackle oil spills strategies. technology provides hope to farmers. involve surfactants that speed up natural J. Colloid Interface Sci., 484, 183–195 The same technology might also offer degradation. However, surfactants pose help with other vulnerable crops, such a threat to marine life. Now we have an Chitosan-Nanoparticle as rice. innovative, cheap and benign alternative Fortifying finger millets Carbohydrate Polymer, 154, 241–246 to tackle the issue. Using genetic modi- Finger millet, popularly known as ragi fication to strengthen the natural propen- A Covert Affair in India, is an important cereal crop in sity of P. aeruginosa to consume Bacteria boosts phytoremediation hydrocarbons, we might even be able developing countries. However, the create a faster, more economical and crop is prone to infection by Pyricu- Smooth stem turnip is known for its ecological way to clean oil spills. laria grisea. The resulting blast dis- heavy metal absorbing prowess that Bioresource Technology, 222, 195–201 ease reduces biomass and yield. Last can restore soil fertility. But, in some fortnight, researchers from the Bhara- cases, the plant succumbs to metal and Going Down the Drain thidasan University, Tamil Nadu, came drought stress. Scientists from the Cen- Yeast-based arsenic nanofiltration up with a solution: chitosan nanoparti- tral University of Tamil Nadu collabo- cles to induce plant resistance. rated with scientists in Portugal and Arsenic contamination in water is a Chitosan is a hydrophilic biopoly- China, to improve the phytoremedia- problem, worldwide. Long-term expo- mer. It is biodegradable, biocompati- tion potential of this crop. sure to arsenic in drinking water in- ble, antimicrobial and non-toxic. It is Certain bacteria are known to colo- creases the risk of cancer and other also found to elicit plant defense. It nize the roots of various crops and public health problems. Last fortnight, induces changes in membrane perme- boost their survival in adverse soil a research team at the Bharathiar Uni- ability. It increases the production of conditions. The scientists reasoned that versity and the PSG Institute of Ad- reactive oxygen species, defense- bacteria capable of surviving in the

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 12, 25 DECEMBER 2016 1895 NEWS improve the growth of smooth stem Ahmedabad University, reported a new its self-cleaning activity and non-toxic turnip under stress. To test their hy- and easy method for the determi- nature. pothesis, they isolated bacteria from nation of time since death. They used The research team first checked the the roots of Boehmer’s cat’s tail and silver-nanoparticle based sensors for use of chitosan as a stabilizing agent for white clover – both of which are capa- the quantification of cysteine in vitre- the stable dispersion of Titania nanopar- ble of growth in extreme soil condi- ous humor, a fluid found behind the ticles in water. They evaluated the dis- tions. eye lens. The amount of cysteine, an persion stability of TiO2 nanoparticles, The bacterial species isolated from amino acid, goes up in vitreous humor of various particle sizes and zeta poten- these plants were grown in the pres- after death, in a time dependent man- tial, for long-term storage. They also ence of heavy metals (copper and ner. The researchers used this idea to looked into the effect of the molecular zinc), extreme temperatures, high sa- estimate the time of death. weight, chitosan concentrations, and the linity and low moisture to select the Cysteine changes from yellow to use of non-ionic polymers – polyvinyl most resistant variety. The scientists pinkish red when silver nanoparticles alcohol and polyethylene glycol – as co- then incubated the selected bacterial are added. This can be measured accu- dispersants. The long-term storage sta- varieties with turnip seeds. The seeds rately using a spectrophotometer. In a bility and dispersion of the nanoparticles were sown in soil containing heavy bold move, the researchers used a improved with increasing concentration metals and subjected to drought stress. smartphone-based approach. They used and molecular weight of chitosan. The At the end of the growth period, the the built-in camera of iPhone 5S as de- scientists used 100% cotton, plain scientists compared the health of the tector. And processed the images using weave, scoured and bleached fabric as bacteria-inoculated plants with those Adobe Photoshop CS6. testing material. They tested TiO2– that were sown without bacterial inter- They found that using this approach, chitosan coatings on cotton fabric for action. Plants incubated with bacteria cysteine levels as low as 0.007 g/ml self-cleaning, ultraviolet protection and exhibited an increase in photosynthetic can be detected. The level of cysteine antimicrobial activity. efficiency and heavy metal accumula- increases in vitreous humor till about They noticed that photocatalytic self- tion. They even displayed reduced 96 hours after death, and it correlates cleaning activity is not affected by the markers of stress. with time since death. The addition of chitosan in Titania nanopar- Further investigation revealed that smartphone-based approach has limita- ticle dispersion. They could achieve the bacterial variants used could pro- tions but can be used to accurately de- 89% self-cleaning activity with chitosan mote the production of plant growth termine time of death for 24 hours on TiO2 after 8 hours of UV exposure, in products and foster resistance in turnip satisfactorily. comparison to 96% without chitosan. crop. The exact mechanism still re- Biosensors Bioelectronics, 86, 115–121 The treated cotton fabric has a moder- mains elusive. Scientists are, however, ate value of ultraviolet protection: factor confident that the bio-inoculation of Titania and Chitosan ratings of 30–40. Antimicrobial acti- the bacterial species with seeds can For multifunctional cotton fabrics vities were significant at 65%, even serve as an economical way to improve For nearly a decade, the incorporation of without UV exposure. the phytoremediation potential of nanomaterials in textiles for new func- Their relatively low cost makes these smooth stem turnips. tionalities has gained traction. It has nanoparticles a potential choice for J. Hazardous Materials, 320, 36–44 been used to overcome traditional prob- reducing environmental impact. With lems in textiles to reduce microbial antibacterial, UV-blocking, and self- Determination of Time of Death growth, and flammability and for UV cleaning properties, TiO2–chitosan A smartphone-based approach protection. Last fortnight, researchers nanoparticles might contribute to reduc- One of the most important tasks of a from the University of Delhi and IIT ing public health issues. Further research forensic specialist is the determination Delhi, reported the use of chitosan in on alternative combinations of nano- of time since death. An accurate esti- combination with Titania nanoparticles particles with biopolymers can help us mate of the time since death is im- to produce multifunctional cotton fabric. produce multifunctional cotton fabrics portant for police investigations. There Chitosan is a polysaccharide with an for even higher performance. has been extensive research on this amine group. It develops positive charge Carbohydrate Polymers, 154, 167–175 question. However, estimating time of in an acidic environment. The study Reports by: Sarah Iqbal, Chinmay He- death with accuracy remains a chal- found that this property of chitosan is mant Joshi, Amit Narendra Landge, lenge. It gets harder as period of time useful in cationic dispersion and stabili- H. M. Mahadeva Swamy and Pavithra after death increases. zation of the Titania nanoparticle in P. Nayak Last fortnight, Niha Ansari and aqueous media. This improves its dura- Shobhana K. Menon from the Gujarat bility on cotton textiles. The utility of

University along with Anand Lodha of the TiO2 nanoparticle is enhanced due to [email protected]

1896 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 12, 25 DECEMBER 2016