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[Public Health] ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012) Mrunal

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NOVEMBER 7TH, 2012

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[Public Health] ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012)
Antibiotic resistance Super-spreading of Dengue Humanised mice RNTCP (Revised National TB Control Programme) Reproduction Spicy food and Tears G-proteincoupled receptors (GPCRs) Pineapple itching Blank Slate Cells / Reprograming Cells / Disease in Dish ENCODE project Single-dose drug cure for malaria HIV drops in India Linear No Threshold (LNT) concept Tobacco law & WTO Mock Questions Mains/Descriptive

Antibiotic resistance
It is the ability of certain microorganisms to withstand attack by antimicrobials drugs Main factor for the rise and spread of resistant microbes= Overuse and misuse of antimicrobials drugs. The spread of drug resistance is faster in India due to many reasons lack of infection control practices in hospitals, absence of antibiotic policy, sanitation issues in the community etc.

Super-spreading of Dengue
mrunal.org/2012/11/public-health-encode-gpcr-dish-rntcp.html

Super spreading means, one infected person passes on a disease to lots of others, This is an important factor driving dengue transmission in places.

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This is an important factor driving dengue transmission in places. Since mosquitoes are concentrated in only a couple of homes in each locality, an infected individual in those houses or in their immediate vicinity was likely to get bitten and pass on the virus to a large number of mosquitoes, who then pass it on to many other humans mosquito Aedes aegypti carries the virus for Dengue.

[Public Health] ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012) Mrunal

Humanised mice
It is engrafted with human liver cells. Itll help research liver-to-blood stage infection of Malaria.

RNTCP (Revised National TB Control Programme)

Meant for 2012-2017 It aims to involve private sector into the fight against Tuberculosis. Nearly one lakh new multidrug resistant (MDR) TB cases are estimated to occur every year. The only way of reducing mortality and morbidity is by engaging the private sector

Reproduction
Q. Why does the immune system in females not attack sperms (foreign bodies) that enter the female body? human immune system is that it can differentiate self from others. This allows the body to fight off any foreign cells which it encounters. That is why it is difficult to transplant organs without suppressing the immune system However, when it comes to reproduction, the human body not only ignores the sperm, but also fails to recognise the foetus (which has half of its material from a foreign donor) as a foreign body Studies have confirmed the presence of markers on the surface of the human sperm These markers on the sperm are universally recognised by any womans immune system, and trick the immune system into believing that the sperm is harmless. That is why reproduction can occur between any two people.

Spicy food and Tears

Why are tears produced in our eyes when we eat something which is spicy or spicy over our limits? When we eat food the sensory nerve endings on our tongue are stimulated. This nerve also serves as the sensory nerve to the surface of the eye and face. When we eat very spicy food the sensory nerve endings on the tongue are irritated and an overload of noxious stimulus is carried to the eyes as well, hence tears.

G-proteincoupled receptors (GPCRs)

Human cells have these receptors
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[Public Health] ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012) Mrunal

It enables them to sense chemical substances hormones, poisons and drugs in their environment. 2012 Noble Prize in Chemistry is given for this topic.

Pineapple itching
Why do we get an itching sensation in our mouth when we eat too much of pineapple? Pineapple, botanically, is not a single fruit berry. It is a collection of individual fruits (each fruit, marked on the surface by the near-hexagonal demarcation) Pineapple contains a proteolytic (protein hydrolyzing) enzyme When we have eaten the pineapple, this enzyme temporarily stays on the tongue and interiors of the mouth and starts attacking the proteinous muscle parts of the tongue and the mouth while sensitizing the nerve endings there. These neurological signals, when transmitted to the brain, make us feel the pricking and itching sensation.

Blank Slate Cells / Reprograming Cells / Disease in Dish

Terms associated with stem cell research done by Gurdon and Yamanaka (they got Noble-2012 for it). Once created, these blank slate cells can be used for developing into other cell types. For example, Skin cells can ultimately be transformed into brain cells. This Reprogramming allows scientists to create particular kinds of tissue they want to study, like lung tissue for studying cystic fibrosis, or brain tissue for Huntingtons disease. By reprogramming cells from patients with a particular disease, they can create new tissue with the same genetic background, and study it in the lab. That can give new insights into the roots of the problem. In addition, that approach allows them to screen drugs in the lab for possible new medicines. (more discussed in earlier guest article by Mr.Manikandan)

ENCODE project
ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements, which was started in 2003. The goal is to find all functional elements in the human genome. Until recently, the majority view has been that much of the DNA is junkDNA that is never transcribed and has no biological function and only 1% of the DNA is actually responsible for everything. But ENCODE project has found that not one per cent but more than 80 per cent of the genome has an active role or function.

Single-dose drug cure for malaria

Scientists claim to have discovered a drug that could cure all strains of malaria with a single oral dose and also block transmission of the deadly parasite from person to person. Will be made from synthetic molecule from the aminopyridine class.

HIV drops in India

HIV which causes AIDS was detected in India nearly 25 years back. Though more than 2 million people are affected by the virus, India is said to be one of the few countries which has actually made significant reductions in HIV infections. India had witnessed a sharp decline in the number of new HIV cases a 56 per cent drop in the past 10 years, because of the National AIDS control Programme. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) =Used for HIV treatment.

Linear No Threshold (LNT) concept

means that harmful effects of radiation increase with radiation dose and even small radiation doses can cause some finite harm. Some scientists challenge the validity of LNT concept. They say, in low dose radiation we would be fine, and would not have any cellular damage. (then it leads to debate on mobile phone radiation etc. we already saw it in an earlier article.)

Tobacco law & WTO

Australia enacted worlds toughest law on cigarette promotion, meaning tobacco companies will be prohibited from displaying their logos on cigarette packs that will instead feature images of cancerriddled mouths, blinded eyeballs and sickly children. But Australia faces a potential challenge to its laws through the World Trade Organization, Three tobacco growing countries Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic making official requests for consultation on plain packaging. Consultations are the first stage of the WTOs dispute resolution process.

Mock Questions
Which of the following statements are correct? 1. Aedes aegypti carries the virus for Dengue. 2. India launched national antibiotic policy in 2007
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2. India launched national antibiotic policy in 2007 3. Pineapple is a single fruit berry.

[Public Health] ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012) Mrunal

Mains/Descriptive
1. What are the salient features of National Aids Control Programme. Evaluate its success. What steps should be taken in future, to reduce the spread of HIV even further? (25m) 2. Write a note on the Revised National TB Control Programme (10m) 3. Examine the need for a National policy on Antibiotics? 10 marks 4. Examine the ethical issues involved in Stem cell research. What is the policy of Government of India, regarding Stem cell research? Ref The Hindu, S&T section, September-October 2012 Previous Posts
[Public Health] Current Affairs 2012-13: Government schemes, Policies, Yearbook stuff (Part 1 of 3) [Public Health] Current Affairs 2012-13: Diseases, Drugs and Research (Part 2 of 3) [Public Health] Current Affairs 2012-13: Mock Questions (Part 3 of 3) [Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT [Policy] Science Technology & Innovation (STI) Policy 2013: Salient features, highlights, criticism [Defense] Current Affairs compilation 2012-13: missiles, joint exercises, operations, organizations [Hindu Sci-Tech] Public Health, EnB related: Virtopsy, Vomitting Larry, Hydrogel, Mauritia (Jan Feb 2013) [Hindu Sci-Tech] Space, IT related: KSLV, Luna Glob, Black Beauty, COMET, SKA, SAGA-220 (Jan, Feb 2013) [Science] TheHindu Dec12: Asteroid Mining, GRAIL, MoonKAMs, Liquiglide, Oraquick and more Science-Tech for UPSC CSAT [Science] No Touch Breastscan, Chemin, TLS, CFL vs Tubelight choke etc from The Hindu S&T, Nov 2012

10 comments to [Public Health] ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012)

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Roxy
Reply to this comment we have one more dengue mosquito aedes albopictus.

Krishna
Reply to this comment For dengue fever..the following link may be helpful for long answers.. http://zeenews.india.com/exclusive/dengue-reasons-and-precautions_5770.html

gautam
Reply to this comment Sir, mcq can be answered by reading above but some ques I think u shuld help us as ques like Whats Indias policy towards stem cell research??

suraj
Reply to this comment thanks sir for these valuable infocan i request youto write on the topic of new telecom policy and current wave-spectrum issue.
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[Public Health] ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012) Mrunal

Praveen Kumar
Reply to this comment Hi Mrunal, Request you to please write on new telecom policy and current wave-spectrum. This will be highly appreciable. Thanks & Regards Praveen Kumar

Narasimhan Khadri
Reply to this comment Hi mrunal, I saw this same article in the following website I dont know if this has been done after your approval I thought of bringing this into your notice http://iasrahmanistudy.blogspot.in/2012/11/public-health-encode-gpcr-lnt-disease.html And many other articles as well.

Partho
Reply to this comment LOLZ!!! This is is really serious. Plagiarism!!!

skp singh
Reply to this comment really, after browsing various cites n following no of news papers n mags,i think u r d only gemstone.thanks for lucid n cogent presentation.

Sunil M
Reply to this comment Dear Mrunal, Thanks for the Lucid and compact presentation Could you tell where is the article on Mobile Tower Radiation.. Regards Sunil M

namrata
Reply to this comment what is the status of indias antibiotic policy? has it been approved?

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