Hunting Strategies of Parasitoid Wasps
15 Dec 2023 under Features
Saskya van Nouhuys and her team delve into the lives of insect parasites inside insect parasites that invade butterfly larvae The incredible interconnectedness of living beings that hinges on the survival of each of them is what Saskya van Nouhuys likes to explore. Saskya, Associate Professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences at IISc, has […]
Small Chemical Change to Boost Bioavailability of Drug Molecules
14 Oct 2023 under Focus
The effectiveness of any drug molecule depends on how well it interacts with the internal environment inside our body. Its pharmacokinetic (PK) properties determine how successfully it escapes degrading enzymes as it travels through the digestive system or the bloodstream, crosses biological barriers like the cell membrane, and reaches the desired target. In a study […]
Our Languages, Our Data
15 Sep 2023 under Features
New initiatives aim to get AI to understand Indian languages and accents Many businesses today employ Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based customer services. These use automated messages that ask customers to verbalise their problem (“Please state your query”). But the user often finds this a frustrating experience, since it takes multiple attempts for the machine or computer […]
Fluorogenic Probe to Detect Enzyme Linked to Early Stage of Alzheimer’s
12 Jul 2023 under Focus
Alzheimer’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder, results in memory loss and compromises cognitive abilities in many people beyond the age of 60. Currently used techniques to detect manifestations of the disease (MRI, PET, and CT scans) are complex, expensive, and often produce inconclusive results. “Our goal was to find a reliable, cost-effective solution,” says Debasis Das, Assistant […]
Radio Tracking Reveals Greater Predation Risk for Female Bushcrickets
18 May 2023 under Focus
Just like humans, animals move about to find food, shelter, and mates. Movement in the wild, however, comes with increased risk, as it can be tracked by predators. To understand how katydids (bushcrickets) are hunted by their predator – the lesser false vampire bat – a group of researchers led by Rohini Balakrishnan, Professor at […]
Breaking Down Bacterial Barriers
12 Jan 2023 under Focus
In two recent studies, researchers at IISc and Unilever have collaborated to develop computational models of bacterial cell walls that can speed up the screening of antimicrobials – molecules which can kill disease-causing bacteria. Each bacterial cell is enveloped by a cell membrane, which is in turn surrounded by a cell wall. Some bacteria like Escherichia […]
Harnessing the Ability of Nanoparticles to Modulate Immune Cell Activity
02 Jan 2023 under Highlights
Our bodies are continually exposed to foreign particles, many of them harmful to us. The job of removing these particles falls to specialised immune cells that phagocytose – literally eat these particles, and attempt to destroy them inside their cellular compartments. In this day of modern medicine, our bodies also come in contact with engineered […]
Where There’s Traffic, There’s a Way
25 Apr 2022 under Features
Abdul Rawoof Pinjari, a civil engineer, studies human behaviour patterns for solutions to the city’s congestion Bangalore is infamous for its congested roads. But it wasn’t always like this. Even now, not all roads are congested, and not at all hours. But travelling to certain parts of the city during certain times of the day […]