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TRANSCRIPT
Science Reporter, OCTOBER 2016 10
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AMONG the star fi sh groups, the red-knobbed starfi sh is fascina ng and also the dominant species in the marine ecosystem.
In the early part of this year, in March 2016, the red-knobbed star fi sh Protoreaster linckii was collected from catch landings at Tharuvaikulam coast, Tu corin district, Tamil Nadu. Of the 85 specimens collected, two specimens were
AMAMMMONONONONGGG ttthhhehe ssttatarr fifififi hhshsh ggroroupupss ttthhhehe rr deded-
STRANGE STAR FISHfound to be abnormally developed – they had four and six arms.
The abnormal four-armed star fi sh had a length of 130 mm and weight of 143 g, while the six-armed one had a length of 145 mm and weight of 165 g. The normal star fi sh length ranges between 120 mm to 124 mm and weight between 173 g to 175 g.
A WORLDWORLD WITH WITH THREE SUNSTHREE SUNS
THE discovery of a planet orbi ng a
triple star system has been reported in a
recent issue of Science (July 2016). The
team of researchers led by astronomers
of the University of Arizona (US)
have discovered the planet by using
sophis cated imaging equipments on
the European Southern Laboratory’s
Very Large Telescope in Chile. According to its lead author, Kevin
Wagner, the direct imaging technique
used by them is one of the most
challenging in modern astronomy. It
allows to correct the image distor on
introduced by the Earth’s atmosphere
and also blacks out most of the sunlight
so that even the faintest planet can
be seen. On the other hand, most of
the exoplanets discovered earlier have
been iden fi ed by the periodic dips in
star light as those pass between us and
their stars. Named HD 131399 Ab, the recently
reported exoplanet is only 320 light
years away from us, and present in the
constella on Centauri, which contains
our second nearest star the Proxima
Centauri and so can be considered our
astronomical neighbour. It is about four
mes as massive as the Jupiter, the
largest planet of the solar family. In its
longest orbit, which is about two mes
that of the Pluto, it takes almost 550
Earth-years to complete one revolu on
around the biggest star of the system,
called Super-sun by the astronomers,
because of its super size. The other two
smaller stars orbit one another and as a
pair orbit their stellar big brother. With three suns, the planet sees
diff erent wired combina ons of sunrises
and sunsets. As it orbits, some mes all
three stars become visible at a me and
three sunrise and sunsets occur one
a er the other. On the other hand, for
about one-fourth of its year, equivalent
to about 100 to 140 Earth years, there
is con nuous day light on its surface
because the rising of the big sun
follows the se ng of the smaller two
and vice versa. According to Dr. Wagner, the
discovery of HD131399 Ab with its
three stellar systems has widened our
knowledge about exoplanets and their
confi gura ons. It may also throw new
light on the process of forma on of
planetary systems including ours and
may even help us to explore some of
the hitherto unexplored virgin areas of
astronomy.
Contributed by Dr. Ramesh Chandra Parida,
Retired Professor of Chemistry, Orissa
University of Agriculture & Technology.
Address: Usha Nivas, 124/2445, Khandagiri
Vihar Bhubaneswar-751030 (Odisha); Email:
Science Reporter, OCTOBER 201611
SPECTRUM
The reason for this abnormality may be due to the change that occurs during larval matura on or could be caused by abnormal regenera on. Some researchers suggest that devia ons from pentamerism are not a heritable character but are a consequence of
STUDY ON CARTILAGE
AND BONE FORMATION
SHOWS PROMISING
RESULTSFor pa ents of bone-related ailments,
good news might be in the offi ng.
Research undertaken by Professor
Amitabha Bandyopadhyay at Indian
Ins tute of Technology, Kanpur studying
the mechanisms of car lage and bone
forma on in fetuses and the maintenance
of joint car lage and bone in adults
could have ground-breaking applica ons
in the treatment of osteoarthri s and
osteoporosis. In early fetuses the elements of
hand and leg skeleton are made of pure
unsegmented car lage. As the fetus
grows, this car lage element is branched
and segmented, during which the
majority of the car lage gets converted to
bone. Thus, only a thin layer of car lage
remains, capping the bones at joint sites.
When this joint car lage is affl icted in
adults, it is called osteoarthri s.
Going against the exis ng dogma,
Prof. Bandyopadhyay has shown through
his work on mice and chicken embryos,
that both permanent and transient
car lage (which later turns into the
bone) are formed from the same cell,
infl uenced by diff erent genes. He
further demonstrated in mice and chick
embryos that permanent car lage can
be turned into transient car lage under
the infl uence of the same gene that is
responsible for the forma on of bones in
an embryo. Bandyopadhyay and his team
propose that osteoarthri s is nothing
but conversion of permanent car lage
to transient car lage to bone in adults.
He is now trying to study whether the
gene that promotes forma on of bones
in fetuses can lead to development
of osteoarthri s in adults. If true, he
hopes to fi nd means to block this gene
which will be a huge leap forward in
an -osteoarthri s drug development
research.His research also shows a way
forward in osteoporosis treatments.
Osteoporosis is a result of failure to
maintain bone mass in adults and post-
menopausal women are par cularly
suscep ble to this condi on. Un l very
recently, its treatment was exclusively
focused on preven ng deteriora on of
bones post diagnosis but it is only in the
last few years that drugs helping in bone
regenera on have been used as treatments,
though there are adverse eff ects related to
them as well. Bandyopadhyay’s group, in
collabora on with scien sts of the CSIR-
Central Drug Research Ins tute (Lucknow),
is trying to understand the mechanism
of ac on of this bone regenera ng drug,
Teripara de, which is currently obscure.
They have developed special patented cell
lines which they plan to use for tes ng
drugs with possible bone regenera on
ac vity, paving way for be er next
genera on bone regenera ng
drugs for treatment of osteoporosis.
environmental perturba ons on the metamorphosis of larvae and/or abnormal
regenera on of arms (ML Maheswaran, R Narendran, M Yosuva, B Gunalan (2015). Occurrence of Abnormal Starfi sh from Olaikuda in Rameswaram Islands, South East Coast of India, Interna onal Journal of Fisheries and Aqua c Studies, 3(1): 415-418
Contributed by Dr. G. Chelladurai, Department of Zoology, Kamaraj College, Tuticorin-628003, Tamil Nadu; Email: [email protected]
The normal star fi sh length ranges between 120 mm to 124 mm and weight between 173 g to 175 g.
Science Reporter, OCTOBER 2016 12
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120TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF JC BARDHAN
THE country reme-mbers Prof. J. C. Bardhan on his 120th birth anniversary. Prof. Bardhan, a great synthe c organic chemist, was well-known for his
pioneering research in phenanthrene deriva ves and terpenoid chemistry. Bardhan is familiar to organic chemistry students for his ‘Bardhan Sengupta synthesis’ of phenanthrene.
Prof. Jogendra Chandra Bardhan, who ini ated the journey of modern organic chemistry in India, was born on 15 October 1896 at Vikrampur, Dacca (now in Bangladesh). A er his early educa on in Jalpaiguri, he moved to Presidency College and then Calcu a University for higher studies. A er a D.Sc. in 1924, he moved to Imperial College, London with the ‘Palit Travelling Fellowship’ of Calcu a University to work with Prof. Jocelyn Field Thorpe. He got his D.Sc. in 1928 for his outstanding contribu on in the synthesis of γ-ketonic acids closely allied to Balbiano’s acid.
A thick co on twine thread was used in earlier
days to fl y kites. This thread was o en for fi ed
with a paste made of glue, glass powder and fl our
(manja) making it sharp enough to snap other kites.
This thread has now been replaced by readymade
fi ghter threads namely Bareilly, Panda and Chinese
thread. These threads have a coa ng of fi ne glass
powder, gum, colour and abrasives but diff er in quality, power, strength and cost. Chinese thread is a plas c (nylon) thread coated with
colour and glass pieces and considered the most eff ec ve and also cheaper. It has the highest strength, quality and is resistant to water.
It can be used for fl ying any type of kite and even while raining.
Bareilly thread was introduced as readymade manja thread. The manja thread is a threat to humans, birds and animals. In view of
this Chile has prohibited the use of manja threads for fl ying kites except for use in compe ons by professional fl yers in safe grounds.
This year the Independence Day was celebrated peacefully. But in two separate incidents two kids lost their lives as their throats
were slit by the manja. Such threads pose great threat to society and should be taken up as a challenge by the scien fi c community to
come up with eco-friendly and harmless kite-fl ying threads.
Contributed by Dr. Sumathi S., Deputy Director, Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium, 5th Floor, NCUI Auditorium Building, Siri Institutional Area,
Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016; Email: [email protected]
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FLYING KITES – FLYING SWORDS?
Illustr
ation
by M
anind
er S
ingh
On his return to India Prof. Bardhan was appointed as a ‘P.C. Ray Fellow’ at Calcu a University in the year 1930. In 1955 he went to Utrecht, Holland and worked with 1939 Nobel Laureate Prof. Leopold Ruzicka in the fi eld of terpenoid synthesis. Bardhan worked with Suresh Chandra Sengupta to work out a new route to phenanthrene synthesis, which became popularly known as the ‘Bardhan Sengupta synthesis’.
Along with the highly illumina ng research achievements, Prof. Bardhan had excellent teaching capability. R.N. Chakravarty, a student of Prof. Bardhan, writes, “Dr. Bardhan, while I was working in his laboratory, was having only Rs. 250 a year as research grant from the university. In those days nothing was available from the Govt. However, he was connected with Lister An sep cs & Dressings Co. (1928) Ltd. (known as LADCO) in advisory capacity and they provided him with a substan al amount as research grant. As the amount thus received was deposited in my personal bank account, it is easy for anybody to understand that he never touched, for his personal purpose, even a farthing from
them. On the other hand, from his salary he used to maintain a research assistant (some mes even two), a laboratory assistant and a laboratory bearer. As regards class lectures, Bardhan was most popular. He used to come well-prepared and put everything in detail on the blackboard. He used to teach most complex items like sesquiterpenes, steroids, chlorophyll, etc. and of course, syntheses of alicyclic rings including the very large carbon rings using the atomic models. Even a er the class he was ready to explain those to anyone in his laboratory.”
Prof. Bardhan was awarded the Mouat medal by the Calcu a University, he was a member of Scien fi c and Technical Terminological Commission, Ministry of Educa on, Government of India and elected as fellow by the Na onal Ins tute of Sciences of India (presently Indian Na onal Science Academy) in 1942.
This stalwart of Indian science passed away on 23 December 1964.
Contributed by Dr. Rajarshi Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan-713 104; Email: [email protected]
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Science Reporter, OCTOBER 201613
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THE chameleon has an extremely long
tongue, nearly three-fourth the length of
its body. It can launch its tongue out, up to
two body lengths away to catch its prey. It
fl icks its tongue and can snap its prey in
1/25th of a second. This is faster than the
fl ickering of our eyes. The tongue is capable of gripping
anything larger than its own body size.
Its s ckiness is due to the presence of
mucus, the viscosity of which is roughly
400 mes more than human saliva. The
tongue latches itself on to its vic m with
suc on. The muscle beneath the p of its
tongue forms a fl at pad at rest, but turns
into a conical depression when in fl ight,
ac ng like a suc on cup. The way the chameleon feeds has
also been the subject of scien fi c a en on
for centuries. According to Christopher
a second. For each measurement, a cricket
hung off a small dangling mesh to tempt
the chameleon. This way he could measure
the distance the tongue went, the elapsed
me and the speed and the accelera on at
any given me. He concluded that smaller
sized chameleon’s tongue reached faster
than larger sized ones.
Contributed by Dr. K. Venkataraman, A-T-2 Porkudam Apartments, Bypass Road,
Madurai-16
LONGEST AND FASTEST TONGUE ALIVE
Anderson of the Brown University, USA,
the secret of the chameleon’s success is
the special elas c ssue in their tongues
which they keep folded like an accordion.
Just as the release of the bow string can
propel an arrow forward with deadly speed
and accuracy, the chameleon releases its
tongue muscles, which allow its tongue to
spring forward and snare its prey.
Christopher Anderson gathered
twenty species of widely varying sizes of
chameleon and perched them one by one in
front of a camera that shoots 3000 frames
THE eff ect of gut microbiome, or the reservoir of variety of microbes, on human health has been extensively explored since recent past.
Several studies have thrown light on the role of colonic microorganisms in human health. Researchers have found that they off er a symbio c environment by deriving energy from residual diet and secre ng metabolites which in turn are implicated in various human metabolic pathways. Altera on of microbial profi les results in the transforma on of host-microbiome homeostasis which could lead to the development of diseases like diabetes, colon cancer, psoriasis, obesity, IBD, cardiovascular diseases, etc.
There are ample researches showing how microbes are crucial in sustaining our healthy status. One example is obesity. To know how gut microbes related with obesity, an experiment was conducted by Backhed et al. in mice. The result showed that the changes trigger a surprising metabolic mechanism by promo ng the absorp on of monosaccharides from the gut lumen, which results in the induc on of hepa c lipogenesis (Backhed et al., 2004).
The gut microbiota also appears to aff ect the central nervous system. A study done in mice showed that the gut microbiota aff ects the behavioral and physiological abnormali es which correlate with neurodevelopmental disorders (Na Fei and Liping Zhao, 2013). Study has also demonstrated that the leakiness of the intes ne was found to be important in Parkinson’s disease development in which also gut microbiota has a major eff ect (Bailey et al. 2011).
According to a study published in the 6 November, 2014 issue of Cell journal, genes of a person can aff ect the composi on of the types of microbes that reside in the human gut which is independent of the person’s environment. The study includes more than 1,000 fecal samples from 416 sets of twins.
So, who is superior? Does the gene regulate gut microbes or gut microbes regulate the gene? Hopefully, further researches will solve the mystery of who rules inside us: our own genome or our second genome (our microbiome)?
Contributed by Priyanka Sarkar, PhD student under Dr. M.R. Khan, Molecular and Microbial Biotechnology Lab, Life Science Division, Institute of Advanced Studies in Science and Technology, Boragaon West, Guwahati-35; Email: [email protected]
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GUT MICROBES VS GENES: A CONUNDRUM