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Subject: Basic Sciences

  • Coccolithophores: The Ancient Algae

    A study of microscopic ancient marine algae (Coccolithophores) has found that there is a decrease in the concentration of oceanic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the Southern Indian Ocean.

    Try this question:

    Q.The Coccolithophores sometimes seen in news are-

    (a) Diatoms

    (b) Algae

    (c) Coral Polyps

    (d) Sea grass

    Coccolithophores

    • Coccolithophores are single-celled algae living in the upper layers of the world’s oceans.
    • They have been playing a key role in marine ecosystems and the global carbon cycle for millions of years.
    • They calcify marine phytoplankton that produces up to 40% of open ocean calcium carbonate and responsible for 20% of the global net marine primary productivity.
    • They build exoskeletons from individual CaCO3 plates consisting of chalk and seashells building the tiny plates on their exterior.

    Role as a carbon sink

    • Though carbon dioxide is produced during the formation of these plates, coccolithophores help in removing it from the atmosphere and ocean by consuming it during photosynthesis.
    • At equilibrium, they absorb more carbon dioxide than they produce, which is beneficial for the ocean ecosystem.
    • These investigations are important for future intervention to bring positive changes in the marine ecosystem and the global carbon cycle.

    Threats

    • The reduction of coccolithophores is due to an increase in the presence of diatom algae, which occurs after sea ice breakdown with climate change and ocean acidification, and increases the silicate concentration in the waters of the Southern Ocean.
    • Their existence is highly dependent on time and influenced by various environmental factors such as silicate concentrations, calcium carbonate concentration, diatom abundance, light intensity and availability of macro and possibly micronutrient concentrations.

  • Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe)

    The Union Cabinet has approved the creation of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) to provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.

    Note the key differences between IN-SPACe, ANTRIX and NSIL. We can expect a prelims question with shuffled objectives of these organisations.

    IN-SPACe

    • The creation of IN-SPACe is part of reforms aimed at giving a boost to private sector participation in the entire range of space activities.
    • The IN-SPACe is expected to hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.
    • It would endeavour to reorient space activities from a ‘supply-driven’ model to a ‘demand-driven’ one, thereby ensuring optimum utilization of the nation’s space assets.

    Why need IN-SPACe?

    • India is among a handful of countries with advanced capabilities in the space sector.
    • Space sector can play a major catalytic role in the technological advancement and expansion of our Industrial base.
    • The proposed reforms will enhance the socio-economic use of space assets and activities, including through improved access to space assets, data and facilities.

    Back2Basics: New Space India Limited (NSIL)

    • It functions under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS).
    • It aims to commercially exploit the research and development work of ISRO Centres and constituent units of DOS.
    • The NSIL would enable Indian Industries to scale up high-technology manufacturing and production base for meeting the growing needs of the Indian space programme.
    • It would further spur the growth of Indian Industries in the space sector.

    ANTRIX

    • Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL), Bengaluru is a wholly-owned Government of India Company under the administrative control of the Department of Space.
    • It is as a marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO.
    • Antrix is engaged in providing Space products and services to international customers worldwide.

  • Celebrating the contributors to agriculture

    This article introduces us to the Indian winners of the prize that is considered as the Nobel for research in food. Their contribution has benefited agriculture immensely.Here, we’ll get a brief idea about their work.

    Word Food Prize

    • The World Food Prize is often described as the Nobel for research in food.
    • It was set up by Ñorman Borlaug.
    • Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1972 for his work on hybridisation of wheat and rice.
    • His work led to the Green Revolution in the mid-1960s.

    Indian winners of the award

    • The awards to eight Indians of the total of 50 given so far are a tribute to the country’s agricultural university education and research system.
    • The country should celebrate their achievements unabashedly when 7-10 million new productive jobs need to be created annually.
    • And when it accounts for a third of global undernourished.
    • The COVID-19 pandemic has made job creation and improved nutrition and health more urgent than ever.

    Let’s look at the contributions made by these personalities

     Rattan Lal

    • Rattan Lal was awarded for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production.
    • This approach also restores and conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change.
    • His research has shown that growing crops on healthy soils produces more food from less land area, less use of agrochemicals, less tillage, less water, and less energy.

    M S Swaminathan

    • Swaminathan’s vision transformed India from a “begging bowl” to a “breadbasket” almost overnight.
    • His work helped bringing the total crop yield of wheat from 12 million tonnes to 23 million tonnes in four crop seasons.
    • Which helped in ending India’s dependence on grain imports.

    Verghese Kurien

    • Kurien, received the prize in 1989 for India’s white revolution.
    • Under his leadership, milk production increased from 23.3 million tonnes (1968-69) to 100.9 million tonnes (2006-07).
    • And now it is projected to reach 187 million tonnes for 2019-20.
    • This helped in bringing millions of small and marginal farmers, including women into the marketplace.

     Ramlal Barwale

    • Barwale, a small farmer and entrepreneur, received the award in 1996.
    • He made selling seeds of okra and sorghum “hip” and founded the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company.
    • The Crop Science Society of America has called him father of the seed industry in India.
    • He introduced hybrid rice from China to India.

    Surinder Vasal

    • Vasal was given the prize in 2000 for developing quality protein maize (QPM).
    • Integrating cereal chemistry and plant breeding techniques, Vasal and Villegas of Mexico collaborated to work on “opaque-2” maize variety using molecular biology techniques.
    • In the mid-1980s, they produced a QPM germplasm with hard kernel characteristics and taste like that of the traditional grain.
    • But it has much higher quality levels of lysine and tryptophan, thereby enhancing the nutrition value.

    Mododugu Gupta

    • Gupta received the award in 2005 for starting a blue revolution.
    • He developed two exceptional approaches for increasing fish harvests among the very poor.
    • This helped in increasing the protein and mineral content in the diets of over one million of the world’s most impoverished families.
    •  Gupta’s aquaculture technologies boosted Bangladesh’s fish yields from 304 kg per hectare to over 2,500 kg per hectare in less than a year — including 1,000 kg per hectare harvests in the dry season.

    Sanjaya Rajaram

    • Rajaram, who won the prize in 2014.
    • He succeeded Borlaug in leading CIMMYT’s wheat breeding programme.
    • There he went on to develop an astounding 480 varieties that have been widely adopted by both small and large-scale farmers.
    • Rajaram was born near a small farming village in Uttar Pradesh and received his master’s degree from IARI.

    Decreasing government support

    • The awardees all come from the time of the green and rainbow revolutions (of dairy and aqua-culture).
    • It was also the time when India invested heavily in agricultural science education and research and Indian scientists shone brightly in the global galaxy of science.
    • Government support for state agricultural universities, and research conducted by the ICAR and the departments of science and technology and biotechnology has slipped in recent years.
    • Today, not a single Indian university is counted among the top 100 in the world.
    Consider the question asked by the UPSC in 2019 “How was India benefitted from the contributions of Sir M.Visvesvaraya and Dr M. S. Swaminathan in the fields of water engineering and agricultural science respectively?”

    Conclusion

    Students and faculty at ICAR and state agricultural universities can follow in their footsteps and achieve scientific excellence, if they receive the resources and their work is supported with incentives.

  • What are Biosimilars?

    Recently an Indian pharma company has been granted a USFDA approval for Insulin Glargine, a biosimilar. This article briefly introduces us to this term, complexities involved in its manufacturing and also explains why the USFDA approval create hype.

    The story of simple molecules and some difficult diseases

    • Ever since modern medicine started to emerge post the Industrial Revolution, simple molecules have been used to treat most diseases.
    • While these formulations are highly effective against some illnesses, they aren’t particularly effective against more complex diseases like cancer.
    • Our immune system has evolved over millions of years to specifically defend against outside intruders.
    • But cancer isn’t like most diseases.
    • It’s not caused by an invasion of a foreign pathogen.
    • Instead, it’s a byproduct of rogue cells that destroy our bodies from within.
    • To this end, using simple molecules to defend against a barrage of mutating versions of our own cells is an exercise in futility.

    What is biologic?

    • A biologic is manufactured in a living system such as a microorganism, or plant or animal cells. Most biologics are very large, complex molecules or mixtures of molecules. Many biologics are produced using recombinant DNA technology.
    • What we probably need is a biologic or a complex protein isolated from natural sources that can mimic our immune cells.
    • Maybe this would help us in fighting cancer.

    So, Biosimilars are..

    • A biosimilar is a biological product that is developed to be similar to an already FDA-approved biologic, known as the reference product. It can be tempting to think of a biosimilar as a “generic” version of the reference product.
    • But biosimilar is not an exact duplicate of another biologic. There is a degree of natural variability in all biological products; it is not possible to generate a precise copy of a product that comes from living cells. All biologics—including reference products—show some batch-to-batch variation.

    Utility of patents in the pharmaceutical industry

    • Success in this market is deeply intertwined with the research and development process that characterizes the pharmaceutical industry.
    • It might take 5 years for you to develop a new drug and you might still need another 10 years to clinically test the product and get the necessary approvals from the regulatory agencies.
    • This is a capital intensive process and the only way to remunerate the pharma company’s contribution is to protect their investment through patent laws.
    • This way the companies can be incentivised to invest more in research and we can ensure a steady supply of new drugs that could cure the greatest maladies of modern time.

    What happens when the patent expires?

    • Once the patent expires, other companies can market their own version of the drug (copycats) if they can figure out how to synthesize it.
    • Consider — Aspirin. It’s a simple molecule drug and it’s quite easy to replicate the manufacturing process.

    Why biologics would be difficult to replicate after the patent expires

    • Biologics are harvested from living cells and are often produced using complicated manufacturing processes.
    • Most modern biologics are assembled inside vats — or bioreactors — that house genetically engineered microbes or cell cultures and can often take a whole decade of research to perfect.
    • So replicating the process isn’t exactly a cakewalk.
    • Meaning if you want to market your own version of a “biologic” once all the patents expire, you need some expertise and India’s Biocon is at the forefront of this revolution.
    • For the past few years, they’ve been building a “biosimilar pipeline” — copycats of famous biologics and they’ve been using it to fight cancer, diabetes, and arthritis.
    • And it’s not all that easy for most pharma companies to enter this market.

    Why marketing a drug in the US gather headline?

    • Because the US provides an opportunity like no other.
    • Buying drugs here is expensive and pharmaceutical companies make a killing in the process.
    • It might not necessarily bode well for consumers.
    • But it does provide a lucrative market for potential Indian manufacturers who are looking to sell their products elsewhere.

    Consider the question “What is biosimilar technology? How is it different from generic medicine? Discuss its application.”

    Conclusion

    Growing expertise of Indian pharmaceutical companies in the complex research area bodes well for the Indian pharma sector which is known otherwise for the manufacturing of generic medicines.

     

    Reference Source: https://finshots.in/archive/biocon-and-the-world-of-biosimilars/

  • Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI)

    India joins Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) as a founding member to support the responsible and human-centric development and use of AI.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. Discuss India’s National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (AI) unveiled by the NITI Aayog.

    About GPAI

    • GPAI is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.
    • It is the league of leading economies including India, USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, and Singapore.
    • GPAI will be supported by a Secretariat, to be hosted by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, as well as by two Centers of Expertise- one each in Montreal and Paris.
    • This is also the first initiative of its type for evolving better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries.
    • In order to achieve this goal, the initiative will look to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.

    Aims and Objectives

    • In collaboration with partners and international organizations, GPAI will bring together leading experts from industry, civil society, governments, and academia to collaborate to promote responsible evolution of AI.
    • It will also help evolve methodologies to show how AI can be leveraged to better respond to the present global crisis around COVID-19.

    India and AI

    • It is pertinent to note that India has recently launched the National AI Strategy and National AI Portal.
    • It has also started leveraging AI across various sectors such as education, agriculture, healthcare, e-commerce, finance, telecommunications, etc. with inclusion and empowerment of human being approach by supplementing growth and development.
    • By joining GPAI as a founding member, India will actively participate in the global development of Artificial Intelligence, leveraging upon its experience around the use of digital technologies for inclusive growth.

    Also read:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/op-ed-snap-india-takes-the-first-step-to-building-an-ai-vision/

  • What is the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC)?

    Scientists have observed the fifth state of matter in space for the first time, offering unprecedented insight that could help solve some of the quantum universe’s most intractable conundrums.

    Try this question from CSP 2018

    Q. Consider the following phenomena:

    1. Light is affected by gravity.
    2. The Universe is constantly expanding.
    3. Matter warps its surrounding space-time.

    Which of the above is/are the prediction/predictions of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, often discussed in media?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs)

    • Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) — the existence of which was predicted by Albert Einstein and Indian mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose almost a century ago — are formed when atoms of certain elements are cooled to near absolute zero (0 Kelvin, minus 273.15 Celsius).
    • At this point, the atoms become a single entity with quantum properties, wherein each particle also functions as a wave of matter.
    • BECs straddle the line between the macroscopic world governed by forces such as gravity and the microscopic plane, ruled by quantum mechanics.

    Why are BECs important?

    • Scientists believe BECs contain vital clues to mysterious phenomena such as dark energy — the unknown energy thought to be behind the Universe’s accelerating expansion.
    • But BECs are extremely fragile. The slightest interaction with the external world is enough to warm them past their condensation threshold.
    • This makes them nearly impossible for scientists to study on Earth, where gravity interferes with the magnetic fields required to hold them in place for observation.

    Studying BECs

    • NASA scientists unveiled the first results from BEC experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where particles can be manipulated free from Earthly constraints.
    • The microgravity onboard the ISS allowed them to create BECs from rubidium — a soft metal similar to potassium — on a far shallower trap than on Earth.
    • Microgravity at ISS allows confining atoms with much weaker forces. Microgravity also allowed the atoms to be manipulated by weaker magnetic fields, speeding their cooling and allowing clearer imaging.
    • Creating the fifth state of matter, especially within the physical confines of a space station, is no mean feat for NASA.

  • GM seeds: the debate, and a sowing agitation

    In the current Kharif season, farmers would undertake mass sowing of GM seeds for maize, soybean, mustard brinjal and herbicide-tolerant (Ht) cotton, although these are not approved. Farmers had carried out a similar movement last year, too.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. Indian agriculture is in a way, a victim of its own past success – especially the green revolution. Critically comment.

    Genetically Modified (GM) seeds

    • Conventional plant breeding involves crossing species of the same genus to provide the offspring with the desired traits of both parents.
    • Genetic engineering aims to transcend the genus barrier by introducing an alien gene in the seeds to get the desired effects.
    • The alien gene could be from a plant, an animal or even a soil bacterium.

    What is the legal position of GM crops in India?

    • In India, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is the apex body that allows for the commercial release of GM crops.
    • In 2002, the GEAC had allowed the commercial release of Bt cotton.
    • More than 95 per cent of the country’s cotton area has since then come under Bt cotton.
    • Use of the unapproved GM variant can attract a jail term of 5 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Environmental Protection Act,1989.

    GM crops in India

    • Bt cotton, the only GM crop that is allowed in India, has two alien genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) that allows the crop to develop a protein toxic to the common pest pink bollworm.
    • Ht Bt, on the other, cotton is derived with the insertion of an additional gene, from another soil bacterium, which allows the plant to resist the common herbicide glyphosate.
    • In Bt brinjal, a gene allows the plant to resist attacks of fruit and shoot borer.

    Why are farmers rooting for GM crops?

    • In the case of cotton, farmers cite the high cost of weeding, which goes down considerably if they grow Ht Bt cotton and use glyphosate against weeds.
    • Brinjal growers in Haryana have rooted for Bt brinjal as it reduces the cost of production by cutting down on the use of pesticides.
    • Industry estimates say that of the 4-4.5 crore packets (each weighing 400 gm) of cotton sold in the country, 50 lakh are of the unapproved Ht Bt cotton.
    • Haryana has reported farmers growing Bt brinjal in pockets which had caused a major agitation there.

    Why furore over GM crops?

    • Environmentalists argue that the long-lasting effect of GM crops is yet to be studied and thus they should not be released commercially.
    • The genetic modification brings about changes that can be harmful to humans in the long run.

  • Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT)

    The Indian Air Force has developed and inducted an Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT).

    This rescue pod ARPIT can be used as an example of self-sufficiency under the ambitious Atmanirbhar Abhiyan.

    What is ARPIT?

    • ARPIT is a lightweight isolation system made from aviation certified material.
    • It has a transparent and durable cast Perspex for enhanced patient visibility which is larger, higher and wider than the existing models.
    • The isolation system caters for the suitable number of air exchanges, integration of medical monitoring instruments, and ventilation to an intubated patient.
    • In addition, it generates high constant negative pressure in the isolation chamber for prevention of infection risk to aircrew, ground crew and health care workers involved in air transportation.
    • It utilizes High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) H-13 class filters and supports invasive ventilation using Transport Ventilator.

    It’s utility

    • This pod will be utilized for the evacuation of critical patients with infectious diseases including COVID-19 from high altitude area, isolated and remote places.

  • Rare-earth based Magnetocaloric materials for cancer treatment

    Indian scientists have developed a rare-earth-based magnetocaloric material that can be effectively used for cancer treatment.

    Magnetocaloric Effect does have other applications like in the field of medical implants but for use in energy field, it is still in nascent stage.

    From exam perspective, do understand what principles lies behind this effect.

    What is Magnetocaloric Effect?

    • Magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is a phenomenon where the application and removal of a magnetic field cause certain materials to get warmer and cooler, respectively.
    • This effect normally occurs near its Curie temperature where the application of the field makes the material to warm up and cools up when the field is removed.

    Issue of hyperthermia in cancer treatment

    • Advancements in magnetic materials led to the development of magnetic hyperthermia to try to address the issues of side effects of cancer treatment like chemotherapy.
    • In magnetic hyperthermia, magnetic nanoparticles are subjected to alternating magnetic fields of few Gauss, which produce heat due to magnetic relaxation losses.
    • Usually, the temperature required to kill the tumour cells is between 40 and 45°C.
    • However, the drawback in magnetic hyperthermia is the lack of control of temperature, which may damage the healthy cells in the body and also have side effects like increased BP, hair losses etc.

    Here comes in, Magnetocaloric materials

    • This hypothermia can be avoided by using magnetocaloric materials, as it can provide controlled heating.
    • The advantage of magnetocaloric materials which heat up or cool down with the application and removal of the magnetic field, respectively is that as soon as the magnetic field is removed, the cooling effect is generated.
    • The team at ARCI chose rare-earth-based alloy for studies as some of the rare earth materials are human body compatible.
    • The heating capacity would increase with the increase in the magnetic field.

  • Serotonin Hormone causes Locust to form Swarms

    Scientists have attempted to answer an important scientific question of how and why locusts collect together by the thousands in order to make a swarm.

    Quite often, Oxytocin hormone is seen in the news for its commercial uses and associated ethical concerns. Kindly go through Oxytocin and issues over its commercial use

    What causes Locusts to form huge swarms?

    • When lone locusts happen to come near each other (looking for food) and happen to touch each other, this tactile stimulation, even just in a little area of the back limbs, causes their behaviour to change.
    • This mechanical stimulation affects a couple of nerves in the animal’s body, their behaviour changes, leading to their coming together.
    • The central nervous system of the locust, the most important among them being serotonin which regulates mood and social behaviour is the mystery behind swarms.
    • Their coming together triggers a mechanical (touch) and neurochemical (serotonin) stimulations to make crowding occur.

    What is Serotonin?

    • It is a monoamine neurotransmitter.
    • It has a popular image as a contributor to feelings of well-being and happiness.
    • Its actual biological function is complex and multifaceted, modulating cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes such as vomiting and vasoconstriction.