How small structures create stunning colours in nature In the 19th century, the piercingly blue morpho butterfly captivated the attention of people worldwide; its blue was so brilliant that one could not take their eyes away from it. Understandably, people wanted to extract the colour from the butterflies for human use, such as dyeing […]
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 […]
