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GS Paper: GS3-17.Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

  • What causes Rainbow Clouds (Cloud Iridescence)?

    Last week, pictures of an unusually-shaped rainbow cloud that appeared over China were widely shared on social media.

    What is the news?

    • The cloud in question resembles a pileus cloud.
    • Such phenomenon of bright colours appearing on a cloud is called cloud iridescence.

    What is a Pileus Cloud?

    • A pileus cloud is usually formed over a cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud.
    • It is formed when the base cloud pushes a moist current of air upwards and the water vapour from the current condenses to somewhat resemble wave-like crests, or umbrellas.
    • In popular western culture, it is called as an “accessory cloud” that is “rather like a cloud haircut”.
    • A pileus cloud is transient in nature and lasts barely for a few minutes, making it difficult, and at the same time, exciting, to spot.

    What is cloud iridescence?

    • Cloud iridescence or Irisation is an optical phenomenon that mostly occurs in wave-like clouds, including pileus and Altocumulus lenticularis.
    • Iridescence in clouds means the appearance of colours on clouds, which can either be in the form of parallel bands like in a rainbow, or mingled in patches.
    • In ancient Greek mythology, Iris is the goddess of rainbow. “Irisation”, the phenomenon of rainbow-like colours in clouds, is derived from her name.

    What is a photometeor?

    • Iridescence of clouds is a photometeor.
    • It is an optical phenomenon produced by the reflection, refraction, diffraction or interference of sunlight.

    What causes cloud iridescence?

    • In pileus clouds, small water droplets or ice crystals, usually of a similar size, diffract the sunlight falling on them.
    • The thinness of the cloud ensures more exposure to sunlight for each water droplet or ice crystal.
    • To ensure its wave crest-like appearance, water droplets or ice crystals in these clouds are always moving – droplets form at one side of the cloud and evaporate from the other end – and hence these clouds remain small and thin since the droplets have no way of combining and growing in size.
    • In its International Cloud Atlas, the World Meteorological Organisation says that iridescence or Irisation is caused by diffraction within 10 degrees from the sun.
    • Beyond ten degrees and up till about 40 degrees, interference of light is the main cause of iridescence.

     

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  • Edible coating to prolong shelf life of fruits and vegetables

    A team of researchers at the IIT — Guwahati has developed an edible coating using marine alga that coated on vegetables and fruits, substantially extends their shelf-life.

    Dunaliella tertiolecta: The Edible coating

    • The team used a mix of an extract of a marine microalga called Dunaliella tertiolecta and polysaccharides to produce it.
    • The microalga is known for its antioxidant properties and has various bioactive compounds such as carotenoids and proteins.
    • It is also used to produce algal oil, a non-animal source of omega-3 fatty acid and is considered a good source of biofuel.
    • After the oil is extracted, the residue is usually discarded.
    • The researchers used extracts from this residue in formulating their film, in combination with chitosan, which is a carbohydrate.
    • It also has antimicrobial and antifungal properties and can be made into an edible film.

    Benefits of this Edible coating

    • The films displayed superior antioxidant activity, thermal stability, mechanical strength, total phenolic content and water vapour barrier property.
    • They also had excellent UV-Vis light-blocking properties.
    • The researchers also tested the biosafety of these coatings.

    Why is it viable?

    • The new coatings can be mass-produced.
    • They are very stable to light, heat, and temperature up to 40C, edible, and can be safely eaten as part of the product formulation and do not add unfavourable properties to it.
    • They retain texture, colour, appearance, flavour and nutritional value.
    • The material can be either directly coated on the vegetables and fruits or made into a vegetable storage pouch.
    • In both cases, the shelf-life of the vegetables can be extended.
    • It is a simple dip coating technique with no significant cost added to the post-harvest processing.

    Economic significance of Edible coating

    • According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, between 4.6 and 15.9 per cent of fruits and vegetables go waste post-harvest, partly due to poor storage conditions.
    • In fact, post-harvest loss in certain produce items like potato, onion, and tomato could even be as high as 19%, which results in high prices for this highly consumed commodity.

     

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  • Solar energy & India

     

    Context

    • Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that civilisation will be mostly solar-powered in the future, a world without Sun will turn into a dark ice ball as the Earth gets all of its energy from it.

    Definition of solar energy

    • Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy, and solar architecture.

    India’s solar target.

    • Target: India is targeting about 500 GW by 2030, of renewable energy deployment, out of which ~280 GW is expected from solar PV. This necessitates the deployment of nearly 30 GW of solar capacity every year until 2030.
    • Commitment: Solar power is a major prong of India’s commitment to address global warming according to the terms of the Paris Agreement, as well as achieving net zero, or no net carbon emissions, by 2070.

    International solar alliance and India’s pledge

    • Climate action commitment: It symbolizes about the sincerity of the developing nations towards their concern about climate change and to switch to a low-carbon growth path.
    • Clean energy: India’s pledge to the Paris summit offered to bring 40% of its electricity generation capacity from non-fossil sources (renewable, large hydro, and nuclear) by 2030.
    • Global electrification: India has pledged to let solar energy reach to the most unconnected villages and communities and also towards creating a clean planet.
    • Global cooperation: It is based on world cooperation irrespective of global boundaries.
    • India’s Soft power: For India, possible additional benefits from the alliance can be a strengthening of ties with the major African countries and increasing goodwill for India among them.

    Some Interesting facts

    Solar power is the most abundant energy source on earth.

    Solar is the cheapest source of energy in the world.

    Solar electricity has been around since 1839.

    Solar panels can produce power without direct sunlight.

    Challenges before solar future

    • High Imports: Indian solar deployment or installation companies depend heavily on imports. It currently imports 100% of silicon wafers and around 80% of cells even at the current deployment levels.
    • Field deployment: Also, out of the 15 GW of module manufacturing capacity, only 3-4 GW of modules are technologically competitive and worthy of deployment in grid-based projects.
    • Land issue: Land, the most expensive part of solar projects, is scarce in India — and Indian industry has no choice but to move towards newer and superior technologies as part of expansion plans.
    • Lack of investment: India has hardly invested in this sector which can help the industry to try and test the technologies in a cost-effective manner.

    Way forward

    • Supportive policies and innovative technological approaches are needed for the sector to achieve its potential.
    • Indian policymakers need to plan for rooftop solar plus storage, rather than rooftop solar alone with the grid as storage (net / gross metering).
    • The declining cost of storage solutions, along with that of rooftop solar solutions, is likely to change the future of the Indian power sector.

    Conclusion

    • In the foreseeable future, one can witness a just and equitable energy order if solar energy, along with other forms of renewable energy, can be harnessed more positively.

    Mains question

    Q. Fossil fuels have a 60% share in India’s total energy mix in this context discuss solar future for India with challenges for the same.

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  • What is Artemis 1 Mission?

    NASA’s Artemis 1 mission has sought unexpected delay due to fuel leakages issue.

    What is the Artemis I Mission?

    • NASA’s Artemis mission is touted as the next generation of lunar exploration, and is named after the twin sister of Apollo from Greek mythology.
    • Artemis is also the goddess of the moon.
    • Artemis I is the first of NASA’s deep space exploration systems.
    • It is an uncrewed space mission where the spacecraft will launch on SLS — the most powerful rocket in the world — and travel 2,80,000 miles from the earth for over four to six weeks during the course of the mission.
    • The Orion spacecraft is going to remain in space without docking to a space station, longer than any ship for astronauts has ever done before.
    • The SLS rocket has been designed for space missions beyond the low-earth orbit and can carry crew or cargo to the moon and beyond.

    Key objectives of the mission

    • With the Artemis Mission, NASA aims to land humans on the moon by 2024, and it also plans to land the first woman and first person of colour on the moon.
    • With this mission, NASA aims to contribute to scientific discovery and economic benefits and inspire a new generation of explorers.
    • NASA will establish an Artemis Base Camp on the surface and a gateway in the lunar orbit to aid exploration by robots and astronauts.
    • The gateway is a critical component of NASA’s sustainable lunar operations and will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the moon.

    Other agencies involved

    • Other space agencies are also involved in the Artemis programme.
    • The Canadian Space Agency has committed to providing advanced robotics for the gateway.
    • The European Space Agency will provide the International Habitat and the ESPRIT module, which will deliver additional communications capabilities among other things.
    • The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to contribute habitation components and logistics resupply.

     

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  • In news: James Webb Space Telescope

    The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s latest and most powerful telescope, has captured new images of our solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter, presenting it in a never before seen light.

    What is so special about snapping Jupiter?

    • The photographs have captured a new view of the planet, presenting in detail its massive storms, colourful auroras, faint rings and two small moons — Amalthea and Adrastea.
    • While most of us are familiar with the yellow and reddish-brown gas giant.
    • The JSWT’s Near-Infrared Camera, with its specialized infrared filters, has shown Jupiter encompassed in blue, green, white, yellow and orange hues.
    • Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot, a storm so big that it could swallow Earth, appeared bright white in the image, since it was reflecting a lot of sunlight.
    • The brightness here indicates high altitude — so the Great Red Spot has high-altitude hazes, as does the equatorial region.
    • The numerous bright white ‘spots’ and ‘streaks’ are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms.

    About James Webb Space Telescope

    • JWST is a space telescope jointly developed by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
    • It is planned to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA’s flagship astrophysics mission.
    • It will conduct a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including:
    1. Observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe such as the formation of the first galaxies
    2. Detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets

    How is it different from other telescopes?

    • JWST is much more powerful and has the ability to look in the infrared spectrum, which will allow it to peer through much deeper into the universe, and see through obstructions such as gas clouds.
    • As electromagnetic waves travel for long distances, they lose energy, resulting in an increase in their wavelength.
    • An ultraviolet wave, for example, can slowly move into the visible light spectrum and the infrared spectrum, and further weaken to microwaves or radio waves, as it loses energy.
    • Hubble was designed to look mainly into the ultraviolet and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
    • JWST is primarily an infrared telescope, the first of its kind.

    Special features of JWST

    (1) Time machine in space

    • Powerful space telescopes, like JWST or the Hubble Telescope, are often called time machines because of their ability to view very faraway objects.
    • The light coming from those objects, stars or galaxies, which is captured by these telescopes, began its journey millions of years earlier.
    • Essentially, what these telescopes see are images of these stars or galaxies as they were millions of years ago.
    • The more distant the planet or star, the farther back in time are the telescopes able to see.

    (2) Farthest from Earth

    • JWST will also be positioned much deeper into space, about a million miles from Earth, at a spot known as L2.
    • It is one of the five points, known as Lagrange’s points, in any revolving two-body system like Earth and Sun, where the gravitational forces of the two large bodies cancel each other out.
    • Objects placed at these positions are relatively stable and require minimal external energy to keep them there. L2 is a position directly behind Earth in the line joining the Sun and the Earth.
    • It would be shielded from the Sun by the Earth as it goes around the Sun, in sync with the Earth.

    (3) Engineering marvel

    • JWST has one large mirror, with a diameter of 21 feet (the height of a typical two-storey building), that will capture the infra-red light coming in from the deep universe while facing away from the Sun.
    • It will be shielded by a five-layer, tennis court-sized, kite-shaped sunscreen that is designed to block the heat from Sun and ensure the extremely cool temperatures that the instruments are built to operate at.
    • Temperatures on the sun-facing side can get as high as 110°C, while the other side would be maintained at –200° to –230°C.
    • The extremely cold temperatures are needed to detect the extremely faint heat signals from distant galaxies.
    • The mirror as well as the sunscreen is so large they could not have fit into any rocket. They have been built as foldable items and would be unravelled in space.

     

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  • Tomato Flu cases found in India

    With cases of tomato flu reported from at least four states — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Odisha — the Union Health Ministry has issued a set of guidelines on prevention, testing, and treatment of the infection.

    Researchers believe that it is a different clinical presentation of hand-foot-and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by a group of enteroviruses (viruses transmitted through the intestine).

    What is Tomato Flu?

    • Tomato flu or tomato fever is characterized by fever, joint pain, and red, tomato-like rashes usually seen in children below the age of five years.
    • This is accompanied by other symptoms of viral fevers such as diarrhoea, dehydration, nausea and vomiting, and fatigue.
    • This was thought to be an aftereffect of dengue and chikungunya that is commonly seen in Kerala.
    • However, researchers now believe that it is HFMD caused by enteroviruses like Coxsackievirus A-6 and A-16.

    Is it very uncommon?

    • Tomato flu could be an after-effect of chikungunya or dengue fever in children rather than a viral infection.
    • It could also be a new variant of the viral hand, foot, and mouth disease, a common infectious disease targeting mostly children aged 1–5 years and immunocompromised adults.
    • HFMD is not a new infection, we have read about it in our textbooks. It is reported from time to time across the country, but it is not very common.

    Why is the infection spreading now?

    • There actually are more cases or because we are more vigilant about viral infections and testing after Covid-19.
    • Since the disease is self-limiting, doctors do not usually test for it.
    • There are so many viral infections in children, but we cannot — and there is no need to — test for each and every one of it.

    Which pathogen is causing it now? And how is the clinical presentation different?

    • The current HFMD cases are mainly caused by Coxsackievirus A-6 and A-16.
    • Another pathogen — Enterovirus71 — that also causes the disease is not very prevalent now, according to her.
    • This is good because the pathogen was known to lead to severe neurologic symptoms, including fatal encephalitis (brain inflammation).
    • In almost all cases, say 99.9% cases, the disease is self-limiting.
    • But, in a small number of cases it can lead to CNS (central nervous system) complications.

    Is there a treatment for the infection?

    • There is no specific treatment or vaccine available for the disease.
    • Those with the infection are treated symptomatically, such as prescription of paracetamol for fever.

    How can the infection be prevented?

    • As it happens mainly in children, the Centre’s advisory focuses on preventions in these age groups.
    • As per the advisory, anyone suspected to have the infection should remain in isolation for five to seven days after the onset of the symptoms.
    • It states that children must be educated about the infection and asked not to hug or touch other children with fever or rashes.
    • The children should be encouraged to maintain hygiene, stop thumb or finger sucking, and use a handkerchief for a running nose, the advisory states.

     

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  • Punjab bans use of 10 insecticides

    Amid reports that several samples of basmati rice contained the residue of certain pesticides above the maximum residue level (MRL), the Punjab government has decided to ban the use of 10 formulations.

    Which are the chemicals banned?

    • The State government believed that the sale, stock distribution, and use of Acephate, Buprofezin, Chloropyriphos, Methamidophos, Propiconazole, Thiamethoxam, Profenofos, Isoprothiolane, Carbendazim, and Tricyclazole was not in the interest of basmati rice growers.
    • It is said that there is a risk of breaching the MRL fixed by the competent authority for basmati rice.

    What is the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL)?

    • MRL is the highest level of pesticide residue that is legally tolerated in or on food or feed when pesticides are applied correctly in accordance with Good Agricultural Practice promulgated by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
    • The MRL is usually determined by repeated (on the order of 10) field trials at an appropriate pre-harvest interval or withholding period has elapsed.
    • For many pesticides, this is set at the Limit of determination (LOD) – since only major pesticides have been evaluated and understanding of acceptable daily intake (ADI) is incomplete.

     

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  • What is Langya Virus?

    A new virus, Langya henipavirus, is suspected to have caused infections in 35 people in China’s Shandong and Henan provinces over roughly a two-year period to 2021.

    Langya Virus

    • It’s related to Hendra and Nipah viruses, which cause disease in humans.
    • However, there’s much we don’t know about the new virus – known as LayV for short – including whether it spreads from human to human.

    How sick are people getting?

    • Symptoms reported appeared to be mostly mild – fever, fatigue, cough, loss of appetite, muscle aches, nausea and headache – although we don’t know how long the patients were unwell.
    • A smaller proportion had potentially more serious complications, including pneumonia, and abnormalities in liver and kidney function.
    • However, the severity of these abnormalities, the need for hospitalization, and whether any cases were fatal were not reported.

    Where did this virus come from?

    • The authors also investigated whether domestic or wild animals may have been the source of the virus.
    • Although they found a small number of goats and dogs that may have been infected with the virus in the past, there was more direct evidence a significant proportion of wild shrews were harbouring the virus.
    • This suggests humans may have caught the virus from wild shrews.

    Does this virus actually cause this disease?

    • The researchers used a modern technique known as metagenomic analysis to find this new virus.
    • Researchers sequence all genetic material then discard the “known” sequences (for example, human DNA) to look for “unknown” sequences that might represent a new virus.
    • This raises the question about how scientists can tell whether a particular virus causes the disease.
    • Researchers used “Koch’s Postulates” to determine whether a particular micro-organism causes disease:
    1. it must be found in people with the disease and not in well people
    2. it must be able to be isolated from people with the disease
    3. the isolate from people with the disease must cause the disease if given to a healthy person (or animal)
    4. it must be able to be re-isolated from the healthy person after they become ill.

    What can we learn from related viruses?

    • This new virus appears to be a close cousin of two other viruses that are significant in humans: Nipah virus and Hendra virus.
    • This family of viruses was the inspiration for the fictional MEV-1 virus in the film Contagion.
    • Hendra virus was first reported in Queensland in 1994, when it caused the deaths of 14 horses and the trainer Vic Rail.
    • Nipah virus is more significant globally, with outbreaks frequently reported in Bangladesh.

    What lies ahead?

    • Little is known about this new virus, and the currently reported cases are likely to be the tip of the iceberg.
    • At this stage, there is no indication the virus can spread from human to human.
    • Further work is required to determine how severe the infection can be, how it spreads, and how widespread it might be in China and the region.

     

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  • Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) launched into wrong Orbit

    The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that the satellite onboard its’ maiden Small Satellite Launch Vehicle “are no longer usable” after the SSLV-D1 placed them in an elliptical orbit instead of a circular one.

    What is SSLV?

    • The SSLV is a small-lift launch vehicle being developed by the ISRO with payload capacity to deliver:
    1. 600 kg to Low Earth Orbit (500 km) or
    2. 300 kg to Sun-synchronous Orbit (500 km)
    • It would help launching small satellites, with the capability to support multiple orbital drop-offs.
    • In future a dedicated launch pad in Sriharikota called Small Satellite Launch Complex (SSLC) will be set up.
    • A new spaceport, under development, near Kulasekharapatnam in Tamil Nadu will handle SSLV launches when complete.
    • After entering the operational phase, the vehicle’s production and launch operations will be done by a consortium of Indian firms along with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

    Vehicle details

    (A) Dimensions

    • Height: 34 meters
    • Diameter: 2 meters
    • Mass: 120 tonnes

    (B) Propulsion

    • It will be a four stage launching vehicle.
    • The first three stages will use Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) based solid propellant, with a fourth terminal stage being a Velocity-Trimming Module (VTM).

    SSLV vs. PSLV: A comparison

    • The SSLV was developed with the aim of launching small satellites commercially at drastically reduced price and higher launch rate as compared to Polar SLV (PSLV).
    • The projected high launch rate relies on largely autonomous launch operation and on overall simple logistics.
    • To compare, a PSLV launch involves 600 officials while SSLV launch operations would be managed by a small team of about six people.
    • The launch readiness period of the SSLV is expected to be less than a week instead of months.
    • The SSLV can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kg to a low earth orbit while the tried and tested PSLV can launch satellites weighing in the range of 1000 kg.
    • The entire job will be done in a very short time and the cost will be only around Rs 30 crore for SSLV.

    Significance of SSLV

    • SSLV is perfectly suited for launching multiple microsatellites at a time and supports multiple orbital drop-offs.
    • The development and manufacture of the SSLV are expected to create greater synergy between the space sector and private Indian industries – a key aim of the space ministry.

    Back2Basics: Various Orbits of Satellites

    [1] Geostationary orbit (GEO)

    • Satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) circle Earth above the equator from west to east following Earth’s rotation – taking 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds – by travelling at exactly the same rate as Earth.
    • This makes satellites in GEO appear to be ‘stationary’ over a fixed position.
    • In order to perfectly match Earth’s rotation, the speed of GEO satellites should be about 3 km per second at an altitude of 35 786 km.
    • This is much farther from Earth’s surface compared to many satellites.
    • GEO is used by satellites that need to stay constantly above one particular place over Earth, such as telecommunication satellites.
    • Satellites in GEO cover a large range of Earth so as few as three equally-spaced satellites can provide near-global coverage.

    [2] Low Earth orbit (LEO)

    • A low Earth orbit (LEO) is, as the name suggests, an orbit that is relatively close to Earth’s surface.
    • It is normally at an altitude of less than 1000 km but could be as low as 160 km above Earth – which is low compared to other orbits, but still very far above Earth’s surface.
    • Unlike satellites in GEO that must always orbit along Earth’s equator, LEO satellites do not always have to follow a particular path around Earth in the same way – their plane can be tilted.
    • This means there are more available routes for satellites in LEO, which is one of the reasons why LEO is a very commonly used orbit.
    • It is most commonly used for satellite imaging, as being near the surface allows it to take images of higher resolution.
    • Satellites in this orbit travel at a speed of around 7.8 km per second; at this speed, a satellite takes approximately 90 minutes to circle Earth.

    [3] Medium Earth orbit (MEO)

    • Medium Earth orbit comprises a wide range of orbits anywhere between LEO and GEO.
    • It is similar to LEO in that it also does not need to take specific paths around Earth, and it is used by a variety of satellites with many different applications.
    • It is very commonly used by navigation satellites, like the European Galileo system of Europe.
    • It uses a constellation of multiple satellites to provide coverage across large parts of the world all at once.

    [4] Polar Orbit

    • Satellites in polar orbits usually travel past Earth from north to south rather than from west to east, passing roughly over Earth’s poles.
    • Satellites in a polar orbit do not have to pass the North and South Pole precisely; even a deviation within 20 to 30 degrees is still classed as a polar orbit.
    • Polar orbits are a type of low Earth orbit, as they are at low altitudes between 200 to 1000 km.

    [5] Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO)

    • SSO is a particular kind of polar orbit. Satellites in SSO, travelling over the polar regions, are synchronous with the Sun.
    • This means they are synchronised to always be in the same ‘fixed’ position relative to the Sun.
    • This means that the satellite always visits the same spot at the same local time.
    • Often, satellites in SSO are synchronised so that they are in constant dawn or dusk – this is because by constantly riding a sunset or sunrise, they will never have the Sun at an angle where the Earth shadows them.
    • A satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit would usually be at an altitude of between 600 to 800 km. At 800 km, it will be travelling at a speed of approximately 7.5 km per second.

    [6] Transfer orbits and geostationary transfer orbit (GTO)

    • Transfer orbits are a special kind of orbit used to get from one orbit to another.
    • Often, the satellites are instead placed on a transfer orbit: an orbit where, by using relatively little energy from built-in motors, the satellite or spacecraft can move from one orbit to another.
    • This allows a satellite to reach, for example, a high-altitude orbit like GEO without actually needing the launch vehicle.
    • Reaching GEO in this way is an example of one of the most common transfer orbits, called the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

     

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  • What is Genome Sequencing?

    Researchers from across the world have made available over 650 complete genome sequences of monkeypox isolates to date in public domain databases including GISAID and GenBank.

    What is Genome Sequencing?

    • Genome sequence is the unique code of genetic material of any organism, and determines the characteristic of any organism.
    • Whole genome sequencing is the process of determining the complete DNA sequence of an organism’s genome at a single time.
    • The gene composition of novel coronavirus, for instance, is different from that of the influenza virus. Every organism has a unique genome sequence.
    • Laboratories in various countries have been isolating and sharing the genome sequences of the virus on an international platform.

    Why are so many genome sequences being isolated?

    • When viruses multiply, or reproduce, there is a copying mechanism that transfers the gene information to the next generation.
    • However, no copying mechanism is perfect. When the virus multiplies, there will be small changes, which are called mutations.
    • These mutations accumulate over time, and after prolonged periods, are responsible for evolution into new organisms.
    • Within a single reproduction, the changes are extremely minor. More than 95 per cent of the gene structure remains the same.

    How does it help scientists?

    • However, the small changes that occur are crucial to understanding the nature and behaviour of the organism.
    • In this case, for example, the small changes could provide scientists with information about the origin, transmission, and impact of the virus on the patient.
    • It could also hold clues to the differing effects the virus could have on patients with different health parameters.

    Accelerated evolution of Monkeypox

    • The monkeypox virus has a DNA genome of around 2,00,000 base pairs, roughly six times larger than that of SARS-CoV-2.
    • Like other viruses, the monkeypox virus evolves by the accumulation of genetic errors, or mutations, in its genome when it replicates inside a host.
    • Being a DNA virus, the monkeypox virus like other poxviruses was believed to have a small rate of accumulating genetic changes compared to viruses with an RNA genome like SARS-CoV-2, which have a much larger rate of mutations.
    • For poxviruses, this rate is estimated to be as low as a couple of genetic changes every year.
    • A recent study, however, revealed that the observed rate of genetic changes in the virus was higher than expected — average of around 50 genetic changes.

    Key findings

    Ans. APOBEC3 protein

    • The study also suggests that several mutations that have been identified in the new sequences of the monkeypox virus.
    • This may have emerged due to interaction between the virus genome and an important family of proteins coded by the human genome known as the Apolipoprotein B Editing Complex (or APOBEC3).
    • These proteins offer protection against certain viral infections by editing the genome sequence of the virus while it replicates in the cell.
    • Some researchers suggest that many of the genetic mutations in the monkeypox genomes from the current outbreak are relics of the effect of APOBEC3.

    Conclusion

    • Genomic surveillance of pathogens provides interesting insights by following a molecular approach for contact tracing and understanding the transmission of the virus across the world.
    • As cases of monkeypox continue to rise, it is therefore important to strengthen the genomic surveillance for the monkeypox virus.
    • Since data from the present outbreak suggest a sustained human-to-human transmission, continuous genomic surveillance is important to understand the evolution and adaptation of the virus, apart from providing useful data to epidemiologists.
    • With COVID-19 continuing unabated and monkeypox around the corner, the time has never been better, and the need never more acute, to build a sustainable system for genomic surveillance in India.

     

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