Demystifying nature’s oldest pigment producers In Shantanu Shukla’s lab, dissecting insects is routine. The well-lit room, located in the Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics (DBG), IISc, is filled with young scientists studying scale insects – tiny plant vampires that feed on the plant phloem sap. The team investigates the intimate relationship between insects […]
What microbes are teaching us about life in space In Andy Weir’s fiction novel The Martian, NASA astronaut Mark Watney is stranded alone on Mars after his crew is forced to evacuate. To survive, he begins growing potatoes in his crew’s Martian habitat. Soon, however, he develops a new priority – ensuring the survival […]
Hunting strategies of predatory bacteria In 1900, a young medical student named Alexander Fleming was studying at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. Fleming also served in the London Scottish Regiment of the Territorial Army, where he became an expert marksman. His talent for shooting caught the eye of the captain of St […]
India is the world’s tuberculosis capital, accounting for 27 percent of the 10 million patients globally. Understanding how drug resistance emerges and improving vaccine efficacy are key to fighting this disease. Macrophage (red) engulfing tuberculosis bacteria (yellow), taken with ZEISS FE-SEM (Image courtesy: Volker Brinkmann) In 1890, Robert Koch believed he was going to […]
