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CCMB turns 34; Science and music come together for celebrations
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CCMB released its Annual Report 2020-21 on the occasion of its 34th Foundation Day - the day when it moved into its present day campus. The day was celebrated with talks by PhD students on their work. The Foundation Day lecture was delivered by Dr Shekhar Mande, Director-General, CSIR. He spoke of big data analytics and its untapped potential in life sciences. The day ended with a flute recital and a discussion session with Pt Ronu Majumdar.
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New coronavirus variant - what does that mean for us?
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Viruses evolve, and our actions can stop them from turning into newer variants.
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Coronavirus genome surveillance centres in remote India
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With a grant from SBI Foundation, Mumbai in August 2021 CCMB set up a "CoE on Genomics guided Pandemic Prevention". The project involves setting up of two Satellite centres/labs at Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh & at Pasteur Institute, Shillong, Meghalaya. The intention is capacity building in these states through creation of Genomics Sequencing lab infrastructure and generation of expert technical personnel for working in genomics. Although the focus of the labs presently would be SARS-COV-2, the vision encompasses addressing health and disease aspects of humans, animals, plants, environment- aligning with the One Health Concept.
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Anti-coronavirus fabric? How do they work?
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The latest study from Kiran Bokara and collaborators from IIT-Dhanbad demonstrated the antiviral (COVID-19) and antimicrobial nature of the photo-deposited silver nanoparticles (AgNP) on cloth surface. The most likely antiviral nature of the AgNP is due to its direct binding to viral glycoprotein spike heads. Additionally, the virus membrane can also be damaged through Ag0/Ag+ interaction with the protein of the virus's outer membrane. This interaction alters the membrane morphology and permeability of the virus. As a result of changed membrane permeability and damaged cell wall, the cellular content (proteins, enzymes, DNA, ions, etc.) leak through the membrane and cell wall, leading to virus death.
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Connecting genetic diversity with evolution - in centipedes
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Bharti Dharapuram and Jahnavi Joshi and other researchers, studied diversity and endemism in centipedes, a group of ancient predatory soil arthropods, across the biodiversity hotspot of Western Ghats (WG), India. What did they find?
They found that phylogenetic diversity decreases at higher latitudes, with several evolutionarily distant species occurring in the southern WG. This may be due to variation in environment or past climatic stability along the mountain range.
The team also identified two hotspots of phylogenetic endemism – areas that harbour evolutionarily unique species with restricted distributions.
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This may be due to the existence of a past rainforest refuge in the southern WG and adaptations to unique habitats in the northern WG.
This study is important because documenting the patterns of diversity and distribution is key in understanding evolution, and can help us identify regions of conservation importance. However, these patterns remain poorly studied in soil arthropod communities globally.
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Easier storage of wildlife samples without cold storage
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Storage and preservation of wildlife samples is often very challenging in remote areas due to non-availability of cold storage. In this study, G Umapathy and his team have standardized and validated a field method for storage and preservation of urine samples of frogs and toads using Whatman filter papers.
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AdVetCon - to discuss advances in reproductive technologies for wildlife
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LaCONES-CCMB brought together experts across the globe to discuss the cutting-edge reproductive technologies for wildlife in AdVetCon 2021. If you missed the live talks,
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Expeditions to look for microbes - what are these like?
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How can scientists find out microbes that can grow in extreme conditions? Join us in the explorations with Dr S Shivaji and his team to look for microbes in the icy cold polar regions and in thin air.
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IndiaAsksWhy - A podcast series to address questions often unanswered
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Shweata Hegde and Ruchi Manglunia with Megha Kumar bring to you a fun podcast series to address questions that were often not resolved by science textbooks and classes.
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CSIR Jigyasa Virtual Labs - A common place to find interesting educational resources
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Welcome to the CSIR Jigyasa Virtual Lab platform to find comics, games, videos, simulations - loads of interactive and fun educational material for middle and high school students across disciplines. from 37 CSIR labs. Enjoy!
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Celebrating the superheroes fighting against antibiotic resistance in India
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As a part of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021, we with Superheroes against Superbugs bring you stories and thoughts from the many superheroes of India. They are fighting against antimicrobial resistance in multiple ways - from building evidence to developing better diagnostics and therapeutics to changing policies.
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Priyadarshan for the eLife Ben Barres Spotlight Award 2021. The award celebrates applicants with greatest potential to unlock new opportunities for their research and career, adjudged on their research proposals.
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Parijat Sarkar for the NASI-Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award 2021 in the field of Bio-medical, Molecular Biology and Bio-technology.
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If you have enjoyed reading the CCMB Daak, do subscribe and share it with your friends and colleagues!
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Please send us your feedback at socialmedia[at]csirccmb[dot]org. Looking forward to them.
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