Biopesticides – Bacterial, Viral and Fungal

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Biopesticides - Bacterial, Viral and Fungal

Biopesticides Definition Biopesticides can be defined as pesticides that are derived from plants, animals, microbes, or any other biologically available source. Pests or insects are directly involved with crop loss. This problem was first encountered with chemical insecticides. But later on, several adverse effects of chemical insecticides were reported which makes it mandatory to search … Read more Biopesticides – Bacterial, Viral and Fungal

Prostaglandins and Therapeutic use of Prostaglandins

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Prostaglandins

Actions of Prostaglandins Prostaglandins act by binding to different G-protein coupled receptors that in return activate or inhibit adenylyl cyclase or stimulate phospholipase C. That eventually results in an enhanced formation of diacylglycerol and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), the leukotrienes, and thromboxane A2 (TXA2) activate phosphatidylinositol metabolism to perform certain functions. Thus, activation of … Read more Prostaglandins and Therapeutic use of Prostaglandins

Group Selection and Altruism

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Group selection

Group selection definition It refers to the tendency of most groups of individuals to control their rate of consumption of resources and rate of breeding to ensure that the group would not become extinct. According to this, individuals in successful groups would not act selfishly. Image Source: Researchgate (David Sloan Wilson). Altruism One of the … Read more Group Selection and Altruism

Bacterial Foodborne Illness

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Bacterial Foodborne Illness

Foodborne Illness definition Foodborne illness refers to the different diseases and infections caused by microorganisms in food items. This article is mainly focused on the Foodborne illness caused by bacteria. Another term related to foodborne illness is food poisoning. A closer look toward these terms can help to understand different types of illnesses related to … Read more Bacterial Foodborne Illness

Organic Compost and Vermicomposting

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Organic Compost and Vermicomposting

Organic Compost definition Organic compost can be defined as a mixture of decayed organic matter which can be added to soil to enhance the growth of different plants. Composting is a process by which heterogeneous organic compounds can go through decomposition and the process occurs due to the presence of a moist ward aerobic environment … Read more Organic Compost and Vermicomposting

Bioplastic – Definition, Type, Advantages, Disadvantages

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Bioplastic

Bioplastic Definition Bioplastic means “plastic derived from biomass”.  According to IUPAC (International union of pure and applied chemistry) “Biobased polymer derived from the biomass or issued from monomers derived from the biomass and which, at some stage in its processing into a finished product, can be shaped by flow. Bioplastic is an emerging research area … Read more Bioplastic – Definition, Type, Advantages, Disadvantages

Mycotoxins- Related to Food Microbiology

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Mycotoxins in Foods

Mycotoxins definition Microbial toxins are metabolites produced by a specific microorganism during its growth or life cycle. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by several fungi that have a severe impact on human or animal health. The mycotoxins are not only responsible for causing disease but it can also lead to long term damage to humans … Read more Mycotoxins- Related to Food Microbiology

MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and Spanish flu

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Pandemic and epidemic Coronavirus and flu viruses

Viruses with a high mutation rate “that is a reason there are no permanent vaccination against it”. According to Jean and Peter Medawar 1977 virus “simply a piece of bad news wrapped up in protein” (from Bad News Wrapped in Protein: Inside Coronavirus Genome by Jonathan Corum and Carl Zimmer). In December 2019 there is … Read more MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and Spanish flu

Examples of Single Gene Disorders

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Single Gene Disorders

Image Source: A-T Society. About 10,000 or more single-gene disorders have been identified, which affect approximately 1-2% of the total population. Some of these disorders are as follow: Huntington disease The name of the disease is on the name of Dr. George Huntington, who describes this disease in 1872 in North American kindred. It is … Read more Examples of Single Gene Disorders

Treponema pallidum – An Overview

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Treponema pallidum

Classification Class- Spirochaetes Order- Spirochaetales Family- Spirochaetaceae Genus- Treponema Species- Treponema pallidum Image Source: Russell Publishing Limited. Morphology of Treponema pallidum Treponemes are thin, delicate, helically coiled, corkscrew-shaped organisms. They are microaerophilic and actively motile. They are measures about 10 to 14 micrometers long and 0.1 to 0.2 micrometer wide. They have 8-24 sharp and … Read more Treponema pallidum – An Overview