Cell Biologist

  India has recently licensed multiple pharmaceutical companies to manufacture and commercialise its first indigenous multi-stage malaria vaccine. Developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and its partners, the vaccine targets the malaria parasite before it enters the bloodstream. It offers a stable, affordable, and scalable solution effective for over nine months at room temperature. This breakthrough aims to reduce malaria transmission and burden in India and beyond. Development and Technology Transfer The vaccine, named AdFalciVax, is a recombinant chimeric multi-stage vaccine against *Plasmodium falciparum*. ICMR invited eligible companies for ‘Transfer of Technology’ to facilitate large-scale production and commercialisation. The ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre in Bhubaneswar led the technology development using *Lactococcus lactis* as the production platform. Pre-clinical validation was done in collaboration with the National Institute of Malaria Resea...

  "Flatheads grow fast in this river system, attain large body sizes and can eat a variety of prey," said study first author Olivia Hodgson, a master's degree student in Penn State's Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. "Because adult flatheads have few natural predators, flathead catfish can exert strong control over the ecosystem." Hodgson is working with Tyler Wagner, a scientist with the USGS Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program and a Penn State affiliate professor of fisheries ecology. He is senior author on the study. In findings published Sept. 4 in Ecology, the researchers reported that flathead catfish are apex predators. Flatheads had the highest trophic position -- the level an organism occupies in a food web, based on its feeding relationships -- even higher than resident top predators such as smallmouth bass and channel catfish. Channel catfish had a lower trophic position in areas with flathead catfish. ...

  Recent research has uncovered a hidden role of the protein p47 in protecting other proteins from mechanical stress inside cells. This discovery could lead to new treatments for diseases where protein stability under force is impaired. Scientists at the S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS) demonstrated that p47 acts as a mechanical chaperone, stabilising proteins under physical strain. This challenges previous views that p47 was only an accessory helper to the cellular machine p97. The findings open new avenues in understanding cellular mechanics and protein quality control. Role of Mechanical Stress in Cells Proteins inside cells constantly face mechanical forces. These arise during vital processes like transport, degradation, and cytoskeletal changes. Such forces can cause proteins to unfold or misfold, affecting their function. Cellular health depends on proteins maintaining their shape despite these stresses. Until now, canonical chaperones were known to a...

  The scientists found that eukaryotes -- complex cellular lifeforms that eventually evolved into the diverse multicellular life we see today -- could have survived the global freeze by living in shallow pools of water. These small, watery oases may have persisted atop relatively shallow ice sheets present in equatorial regions. There, the ice surface could accumulate dark-colored dust and debris from below, which enhanced its ability to melt into pools. At temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Celsius, the resulting meltwater ponds could have served as habitable environments for certain forms of early complex life. The team drew its conclusions based on an analysis of modern-day meltwater ponds. Today in Antarctica, small pools of melted ice can be found along the margins of ice sheets. The conditions along these polar ice sheets are similar to what likely existed along ice sheets near the equator during Snowball Earth. The researchers analyzed samples from a variety of meltwate...

  While the role of ABA in drought response is well-established, researchers have now identified a surprising contributor to this process: myosin XI, a motor protein traditionally known for transporting cellular components. To explore this, a team of researchers led by Professor Motoki Tominaga from Waseda University, Japan, conducted a study to determine whether myosin XI actively contributes to drought response in plants and to uncover the processes involved. "Although previous studies have suggested a potential involvement of myosin XI in drought stress responses, the underlying mechanisms have remained unclear," shares Tominaga. The findings of this research were published in Volume 44 of Plant Cell Reports on June 19, 2025. The study was co-authored by Graduate Student Haiyang Liu, also from Waseda University. The results were striking. Plants lacking myosin XI, especially the 2ko and 3ko mutants, showed a higher rate of water loss, impaired stomatal closure, and lower ...

  Recent data from 43 cancer registries in India show a lifetime cancer risk of 11%. In 2024, an estimated 15.6 lakh new cancer cases and 8.74 lakh deaths were recorded. These registries cover 10% to 18% of the population across 23 states and Union Territories. The findings reveal important trends in cancer types, regional variations, and risk factors that inform policy and healthcare strategies. Cancer Burden in India Cancer cases in India show gender difference. Women account for 51.1% of cases but only 45% of deaths. This is largely due to the types of cancers common in women, such as breast and cervical cancer, which are easier to detect early and treat effectively. Men face more deadly cancers like lung and gastric cancer, which are harder to diagnose early. Shift in Common Cancer Types Oral cancer has become the most common cancer in Indian men, surpassing lung cancer. This rise occurs despite a decline in tobacco use from 34.6% to 28.6% between 2009-10 and 2016-17. The long ...