Editorial

The accident that happened with cobalt-60 in Delhi is an eye-opener. In this case, the source has been sold as scrap and handled as a scrap by sawing the container. This has resulted in serious radiation damage for a few persons. Now that India is a nuclear power, we have to be extra-careful in stringent enforcement of our laws regarding civilian uses of radioactive materials as tracers or even in medical therapy. Every gram that is sold should be monitored with regular checks. Every medical equipment using X-rays or y-rays or tracers should be handled only by persons trained-to be sensitive about radiation, not only caring for the doctor's health but also that of the patients. Nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry and particularly health physics has to be taught in school. Fire-fighting should include courses in handling nuclear disasters. Civilian population should be taught how to protect themselves against nuclear explosions. more...

Neither Nuclear Engineering nor Bio-technology is bad What is bad is not taking care of some after effects. After all the magic genetic engineering that is being harnessed to cure diseases such as cancer, is part of bio-engineering. If one has to import every single fuel rod of uranium or every seed of cotton and brinjal, it is the policy that needs a change. However Biotechnology is a great one, Just like Nuclear science. We cannot even dream of shying away from mastering any new technology. Our scientists are capable of taking the right steps to tackle any problem that may arise. If any good product comes out as a by-product of research, commercialization will automatically follow. There is no need to justify the economic viability of any research. One cannot serve two masters-commerce and science, simultaneously. Science will progress if and only if scientists work only for the progress more...

It is the nature of man to play with new things. That is because of the inventive mind of human beings. just as children hurt themselves in play, men also get hurt and hurt future generations seriously unless they are very careful. In 1950'5, thanks to the development of Nuclear Physics, peaceful scientists looked for their applications. Nuclear medicines, radiation therapy, preservation of food by irradiation, irradiation of plants and crops and so  on. The incidence of cancer is also increasing. Whatever may be the cause, radiation has to be treated as a dangerous thing – Handle with care! The recent advancement is in genetic science. The problem of pests is a serious one for crops The usual way of control is by the application of pesticide. Chemical pesticides are preferred by the common, more than the organic ones, such as neem cakes and tobacco, as the effect of inorganic more...

IIT engineers from Delhi bioengineering group attached to the text- tile department of IIT, Delhi have developed a novel method of organ development using stem cells of the same person. The cells from the healthy part of the body needing replacement are made to grow in biodegradable scaffolds of the required shape. They replace the organ, eliminating the risks involved by receiving organs from donors. This also eliminates the possibility of rejection of the I grafted organ by the patients. This work creating scaffolds has been with the help of AIIMS and PGI, Chandigargh, Proving that science is "sans frontiers", the IIT team has worked with Prof. Hibbon from the University of Uppsala of Sweden, Prof. Didier Letourneur from Bichat Hospital and Prof. Joelle Amedee from the University of Bordeaux, France, in this research. Scaffolding is based on polylactic acid copolymers. They are biodegradable. If successful, one has many applications more...

Comparison of the DNA sequence of tumour cells affected by cancer and those which are healthy has been studied by the research scientists in Cambridge. They have studied 23,000 mutations in the DNA affected by lung cancer and more than 33,000 in the case of melanoma or skin cancer. They have also studied the causes for the mutations and predict the tendency of certain mutated DNA to form cancerous tumours. This is a first step. The second step is to understand what is the basic enzyme that will prevent the breaking of DNAs. The solution to fight the diseases has come form the Study of the causes for long life. Scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University of Israel have given the answer. Life becomes longer if anti-ageing drugs can be discovered. Ageing is a result of the damage of telomeres which are similar to the more...

An analysis of the services exams have shown that it is the doctors and engineers who do very well. After They have passed IIT and medical entrance tests, and taking degrees and post-graduate studies and high specialization in medicine, what is their motivation to become an administrator? If serving the people Is the motivation, they can find ample opportunities to do so. If a doctor or a scientist feels that his call for service to the people is through administrative services, the call had been mistaken. All the specialization achieved against great odds are thrown to the wind. The country needs specialists in every field. On the other hand the nation wants them to study the history of India and the Constitution. These specialists got their admissions in the top ranking institutions after very hard work. They deserve it. We also know that there are equally good or belter candidates more...

Prof. Elizabeth H. Blackburn of the University of California, San Fransisco, Prof. Carol W. Greider, Professor at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore and Jack Szostak from the Harward School of Medicine are the new stars in the horizon of Bio-chemistry. The discoveries of these scientists go to the root of aging mechanism, the protective mechanism of DNA which prevents the degradation and consequently understanding the mechanism of the formation of "caps" or protective structure which prevents degradation. The stopping of the production of these protective caps, the telomeres can be used to do the reverse in cancer cells which never seem to age. Prevention of the production of the enzyme, telomerase can in turn prevent the DNA that carry cancer to multiply and start degrading this DNA by the removal of the 'cap' telomeres. As this study is very fundamental, this is expected to help the prevention of many other diseases also. more...

Any government has certain primary duties to the citizens. Security of the nation, providing the people education, health, affordable means of livelihood and so on. The list grows as the government is more and more following the dictum of being a government of the people, by the people, for The people. The law of demand and supply is a direct consequence of the primitive concept of the early industrialisation days. This principle is "laisser fairs", that is, to allow the economy of the country and the people to reach equilibrium through mutual actions and reactions which are not often equal in economics. In the modern world, education has also become a very profitable industry. When lakhs or students, even this is only a minute fraction of our student population, want to become doctors or engineers and The available seats in medical colleges and universities and IITs are Just a few more...

Panic and caution are two different things. Caution comes from knowledge. Panic or extreme fear of the unknown is a form of helplessness. Our country, as every other nation, has known many epidemics. After every war, along with famine, the country had a succession of fevers, plague and cholera. Malaria, dengue and typhoid are also not unknown in our country. Tuberculosis is another danger. The standard formula, used to contain any contagious disease, is isolation. The isolation wards in hospitals are more risky to doctors and other patients, because of the density of the sources of contamination. Along with special diets and total rest, isolation at home with prohibition of access to the patient for every person expect the one who is nursing was strictly enforced. For small-pox and chicken-pox, a bunch of neem leaves will be hung on the gate outside the house to indicate that outsiders should avoid more...

The call for one All-India Entrance test for MBBS by the Medical Council of India has come just in time. In one stroke, multiple exams and multiple criteria for admission in the various states will be eliminated if this suggestion is implemented. This will also remove the frustration of the candidates running from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to write half a dozen exams. Still we have miles to go to arrive at uniformity. Seats for every course in every state should be filled on the basis of the All India Examination. Just as for Central Services, people normally residing in one state can serve in any State Cadre they want to choose, students should be free to give their options to study anywhere. Filling the seats should be strictly according to merit to avoid any heartburn. Justice demands it. As for the seats reserved for weaker sections, the same principle should more...