A gene that follows its own drum-beat
A team of Russian scientists have found in mice a gene, which, unlike others, decides when to express itself
Blindsight?
What appear to be vestigial or redundant organs need not be so, as the Spalax ehrenberghi teaches us
Agouti : the prolific gene
A gene that determines coat colours in mice and affects cellular calcium might hold valuable clues to understanding human ailments like obesity
The empire strikes back
Despite the progress in medical science, many old and new diseases seem to dodge us. Microbes which we bade farewell to, are raising their ugly …
The hanta phantom
Indian scientists suspect the presence of hantavirus - one of the. most dreaded killers of modern times - in Gujarat
Unravelling the Bombay plague
Room 000: Narratives Of The Bombay Plague is the story of the plague that killed thousands in Mumbai in the late 1890s. Very little was known …
Lab manual
Book>> A Guinea Pig's History of Biology by Jim Endersby Random House 2008 Indian Price Rs 495
Mammals in wildlife trade host 75% of known zoonotic viruses
The researchers surveyed the association of 226 viruses responsible for zoonotic diseases with more than 800 mammal species
Born in a dish
The birth of a mouse in a petri dish -the end result of the use of an effective technique to manipulate oocytes -heralds a new era in …
‘If trees are lost, giant and flying squirrels will lose their arboreal highways’
Three researchers talk to Down To Earth about the real danger facing India’s canopy-dwelling rodents
The original Mus
Researchers zero in on the Indian subcontinent as the possible birthplace of that most evasive of pesky mammals - the house mouse
The mystery of the mouse that died of smoke inhalation, but went nowhere near a fire
The mice didn’t die immediately after inhaling the smoke. When temperatures in Canberra spiked at more than 40℃, they went into …
Coconut cracker
The eriophyid mite has a field day, while officials sleep tight. The pest attack was first reported in 2000, when a farmer from the Puri …
Look beyond invasive species
Competition, not predation, is the most influential process that shapes food web
Rat chronicles
The tiny rodents that most people link only to pestilence and crop destruction have fascinated Ishwar Prakash -- one of that rare breed: a rat …
Animal sacrifice
150 million animals are killed for research worldwide. Do humans really benefit?
Climate change may aid spread of Lassa fever from west to east Africa by 2070: Report
The number of people at risk of exposure to Lassa fever in Africa would increase by 600%, according to new study
Pied pipers of Irula
Rats.... rats.... we've got to get rid of the rats. Irula tribals offer the most environmentally-safe, low-cost way to do it
Mautak will flower
In 2006-2007, a bamboo species will flower over vast swathes of Mizoram, Tripura and Assam. When bamboo flowers, it dies; usually a famine follows.…
Call from cave
Bats, largely elusive till now, are slowly revealing their secrets as scientists record and analyse their calls
Book Excerpt: How the plague affected colonial Bombay in 1896
‘The Moral Contagion’ by Julia Hauser and Sarnath Banerjee describes in vivid detail how the pestilence shook up the port city
Rats!
Another mammal
Rodents on rampage
The rat connection
