WHAT IS OPTOGENETICS ?  Optogenetics, a recently developed technology that can be used to control the activity of genetically-defined neurons with light.  Optogenetics is a neuromodulation approach that controls the neural activity using light. For the study of neuroscience, optical techniques are more useful tools than the pharmaceutical and the electrical ones because of their higher speed and accuracy and less damage to tissue. HOW DOES OPTOGENETICS WORK ?  Cells are first genetically engineered to express a light-sensitive opsin, which is typically an ion channel, pump, or G protein–coup ..read more

Dream, a word we all are familiar with. For a common man dream means series of events or pictures which happen in our mind while we are asleep.But have you ever wondered what a dream is? What causes dream to occur? When do we exactly dream while sleeping? Does dream relate to anything in our real lives?This article would try to answer few of these questions. Since dreams are not fully understood but many scientific theories are present.Beginning with, the exact stage of sleep at which dream occurs!A stage called as REM stage of sleep is when we have vivid dreams.For better understanding let u ..read more

The human body with its interconnected systems is the most advanced structure in the known universe. All the fundamental body functions are controlled by a soft mass of supportive tissues and nerves connected to the spinal cord, we know as, Brain. The human brain is the marvel of evolution. This little organ weighs only 1500 grams, but contains more nerve cells than there are people on the earth, more than 10,000 million, simply an unimaginable number. Scientists never cease to explore the working of the human brain. We have all watched one of those specials on someone who experienced an amaz ..read more

                                                        “All that glitters is not gold” What looks attractive outside may not be good for health. Fruits are widely distributed in nature and form an essential component of the balanced diet as it provides significant fibre, minerals and vitamins. Antioxidants are an important category of naturally occurring chemicals in fruits as they have the potential to reduce the risk of free radical related health problems. However, now days to prospective consumers the fruits that appear to be attractive on account of its colour and texture might not be go ..read more

How do we recognize a face when we see it from the perspective of Neuroscience? Is it a conscious or an unconscious process?Faces are very special to most people. That is the reason why we have a special brain system which decodes faces and helps us to identify them. The activity in the fusiform gyrus (a region in the temporal lobe of the brain) leads us to recognize faces, not the body parts though. Facial recognition takes place in a particular order, most of which is done unconsciously.Steven Le Chang, a postdoctoral scholar along with Doris Tsao, professor of Biology had identified the ne ..read more

                        As all of us know that in almost all species offspring are carried by female until birth, while it is really shocking to know that in some species male pregnancy is seen. Yes, what I said is true, male pregnancy is seen in fish of Syngnathidae family (pipe fish, sea horses and the leafy sea dragon) male perform the function of carrying eggs until birth. Nearly all Syngnathidae practice ‘male pregnancy’. The most famous example of this phenomenon is sea horse. In sea horse female impregnate male seahorses opposite to usually seen on earth. During their mating, female de ..read more

A biological killing machine that’s making headlines in news and local dailies in the nation is the Nipah virus. It is an evolving pathogen that causes disease in humans i.e. its zoonotic.  The virus is responsible for causing severe febrile encephalitis in humans resulting in death of 40% to 75% of infected individuals. The Nipah virus is a RNA virus belonging to the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus. It is closely related to the Hendra virus.This RNA virus infects both animals and humans and can be transmitted from animals to humans. The transmission is through direct contact wit ..read more

Cell phones are the rapid way of communication and have been a boon especially to the healthcare professionals. Although many major clinical mishaps like hospital emergencies which require immediate communication have been averted by its use but can this boon turn in to a nightmare. Probably yes because of its omnipresent nature.  The cell phones are accompanied at almost every place a user goes and it is hardly disinfected. Our cell phone has become a reservoir of microbes and since it is majorly hand held, we transfer every microbe that comes in contact to our hands to this gadget. The ..read more

The gastrointestinal microbial composition majorly defines the state of health and disease of an individual through various metabolic processes. The robustness in data generation and interpretation suggests that these microbial populations are not static and keeps fluctuating based on environment and life style. Gut microbes perform a vast range of functions such as degradation of undigested carbohydrates, production of vitamin B, antioxidants, protection against pathogens etc. During the degradation of undigested carbohydrates, these microbes produce the short chain fatty acids (SCFA) thro ..read more