Skip to main content

UPSC PRELIMS_POWER PLAY- SCIENCE &TECH SERIES_HEALTH (Enzymes to block HIV replication)

 

Enzymes to block HIV replication

Enzymes to block HIV replication

The researchers at IISc, Bengaluru have developed artificial enzymes to block replication and reactivation of HIV

Key updates and 

  •  According to the researchers these “nanozymes”, made from vanadium pentoxide nanosheets, work by mimicking a natural enzyme called glutathione peroxidase that helps reduce oxidative stress levels in the host’s cells, which is required to keep the virus in check.
  • Advantages of Nanozymes: 
    • The nanozymes are stable inside biological systems and do not mediate any unwanted reactions inside the cells
    • They are also quite easy to prepare in the lab
  • They pointed out that elimination of HIV from a patient’s body completely is impossible as of now, anti-HIV drugs that have been developed so far are only successful in suppressing the virus.  However, they fail at eradicating HIV from infected cells 
  • Reactivating & Replication of HIV: The IISc has mentioned that The virus hides inside the host’s immune cells in a “latent” state and stably maintains its reservoir. When the levels of toxic molecules such as hydrogen peroxide increase in the host’s cells, leading to a state of increased oxidative stress, the virus gets ‘reactivated’ – it emerges from hiding and begins replicating again
  • Study by: It was published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, was led by Amit Singh, Associate Professor and Wellcome Trust-DBT India Alliance Senior Fellow at the Department of Microbiology & Cell Biology and Centre for Infectious Diseases Research (CIDR). 
  • The same team had developed a biosensor to measure oxidative stress levels in HIV-infected immune cells in real-time some years back.
  • During the same time another group of researchers had published a study showing that nanowires made of vanadium pentoxide can efficiently mimic the activity of glutathione peroxidase. Singh’s lab, therefore, decided to collaborate with them.
  • The researchers have found that these nanosheets (that were prepared using vanadium pentoxide) were having some sort of direct effect where the expression of the host genes essential for virus reactivation is reduced
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Major Literary Works & Authors in Gupta Period

  Major Literary Works & Authors in Gupta Period The Gupta period was known as the Golden period of India in cultural development. It is considered as the one of the supreme and most outstanding times. Gupta Kings patronized the Sanskrit literature. They generously helped Sanskrit scholars and poets. Eventually Sanskrit language became the language of cultured and educated people. Kalidasa He was a Classical Sanskrit writer, extensively considered as the greatest poet and dramatist of Gupta Period. The six major works of Kalidasa are Abhijnanashakuntala Vikramorvashi Malavikagnimitra The epic poems Raghuvamsha Kumarasambhava Meghaduta Vishakhadatta The famous plays of Vishakhadatta are Mudrarakṣhasa Mudrarakshasha means “Ring of the Demon” and it recites the ascent of Chandragupta Maurya to throne. Shudraka He is a king as well as poet The famous three Sanskrit plays contributed by him are Mrichchhakatika (The Little Clay Cart) Vinavasavadatta A bhana (short one-act monologue) ...
Post a Comment
Read more

15 July – Current Affairs

15 July – Current Affairs National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) : Ø The Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries recently told the Parliament that it has advised NDDB to “extend the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 to its subsidiary companies including NDDB Dairy Services.” Ø Type: An Institution of National Importance set up by an Act of Parliament of India. Ø History: It was founded by Dr. Verghese Kurien in 1965. Ø Headquarters: Anand, Gujarat. Ø NDDB's subsidiaries include: IDMC Limited-Anand, Mother Dairy, Delhi, NDDB Dairy Services, Delhi and Indian Immunologicals Ltd, Hyderabad. World Youth Skill Day : Ø The fourth anniversary of the Skill India Mission is being observed on July 15, 2019 o the occassion of World Youth Skills Day. Ø The United Nations, at its General Assembly in November 2014, declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day.  Ø Traditionally organized by the Permanent Missions of Portugal and Sri Lanka, together w...
1 comment
Read more

CASE STUDY PART-2

CASE STUDY-1 Mihir is a new Panchayat secretary. Within few days he got a circular which said that he should soon conduct Grama Sabha to finalize the action plan of MGNREGA. Action plan contains the list of works to be undertaken in the villages and their estimated expenditures. This should be decided in the Grama Sabha and the decision of Gram Sabha is immutable. The Gram Sabha was held and chairman, all elected members, officer in-charge,engineer,  people from villages debated and finally listed important works to be undertaken and the estimated expenditure was decided there itself. Next, this plan had to be approved in the Panchayat meeting and sent to Tehsil for further approval for sanction of funds. The chairman of Panchayat, who was also a class-I contractor, met Mihir and asked him to manipulate the funds estimates. Even few members who themselves were small time contractors and who had previously used machines in MGNREGA scheme to finish works and draw money, jo...
Post a Comment
Read more