Absent gene

STEWART Cole and his team of scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris have discovered that the absence of a single large gene is responsible for making certain strains of tuberculosis bacteria resistant to isoniazid, the principal drug used to treat the disease. (Nature, Vol 358, No 6387) On reinserting the missing gene, in the laboratory, scientists found the bacterium once again became susceptible to the drug.

Carnivorous algae

THE INCREASE in phosphate wastes released into rivers over the last 20 years may in turn have increased the frequency of "red tides" (coloured springtime algal efflorescences) which poison and kill numerous fish in American estuaries.

Chemical battles

THE "arms race" between plants that produce defence mechanisms to ward of foragers such as deer and animals who attempt to evolve mechanisms to counter these defences, have long intrigued evolutionary biologists.

Will liberalisation destroy the environment?

PARTICIPANTS: Y K ALAGH PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, SARDAR PATEL INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS T C ANANT READER, DELHI SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS D BANDYOPADHYAY FORMER REVENUE SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA L C JAIN FORMER MEMBER, PLANNING COMMISSION PREM SHANKAR JHA FORMER EDITOR, 'BUSINESS AND POLITICAL OBSERVER' VEENA MAZUMDAR DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT STUDIES SUDIPTO MUNDLE PROFESSOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC FINANCE AND POLICY V R PANCHAMUKHI DIRECTOR, RESEARCH & INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR NON-ALIGNED & OTHER DEVELOPING