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Unmasking Nipah Virus: A Deadly Zoonotic Threat and the Race for a Vaccine

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Globally, NiV remains a significant concern due to its high mortality rate, which can vary between 40% and 100%, depending on the outbreak. As of 2024, the Nipah virus (NiV) has resurfaced with notable outbreaks in South Asia, particularly in India, and Bangladesh. Nipah Virus Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic paramyxovirus belonging to the Henipavirus genus, first identified in Malaysia in 1998 during an outbreak. It primarily causes severe encephalitis and respiratory diseases in humans. Its reservoir hosts are fruit bats, particularly the Pteropus  species, and it can be transmitted from animals to humans through direct contact or via contaminated food, such as raw date palm sap. Human-to-human transmission is also possible. NiV is categorized as a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) pathogen due to its high mortality rate, which can range from 40% to 75%, and its potential for causing global pandemics due to its high mutation rate. Nipah Virus Entry Nipah virus enters the human body prima...
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Organ-on-Chip Technology: Revolutionizing Biomedical Research

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Researchers currently take a decade and $2.3 billion on average to bring a drug from a lab to the market. One big roadblock is that drugs that clear animal testing in a clinical trial’s early stages often fail when tested with humans. Organ-on-chip technology offers a solution to this problem. Points to note The government of India announced the ‘BioE3’ policy to drive innovation in the biotechnology sector by establishing biomanufacturing facilities, bio-AI hubs, and bio-foundries. Recent advancements in human-relevant 3D culture models, also known as ‘ new approach methods’ (NAMs) , have shown promising results in the field of precision therapeutics. These models include 3D spheroids, organoids, bioprinting, and organ-on-chips. The global organ-on-chip market is expected to be worth around $1.4 billion by 2032 . This expansion is the result of increasing investments in R&D within the field of NAMs, particularly in organ-on-a-chip technology. Introduction Organ-on-chip (OOC) tech...
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Can creatine boost human memory?

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Memory is defined as the ability to process and retain information. Memory can be categorised into short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM), which are associated with several neural systems and mechanisms. STM relies on existing networks and post-translational modifications, while LTM involves structural and functional changes in neural networks, requiring de novo gene expression. The consolidation of memory is a multi-step process that stabilizes fragile memory traces after encoding. It involves cellular or molecular consolidation as well as systems consolidation. Various molecular pathways are crucial for LTM formation including CREB (cAMP response element-binding protein) and C/EBP (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein) cascades, which are activated following memory encoding.   As an inbuild human nature, we generally remember incidents that are more emotionally charged than emotionally neutral experiences. Stress and associated glucocorticoid release can modulate memory con...
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