Bhargava is a pioneer in the field of biotechnology in the country.
'Wearing masks, washing our hands, all those things are barriers to transmissibility, or contagion, but as the virus becomes more contagious it statistically is better at getting around those barriers'
The Centre is conducting a study to assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2, or novel coronavirus, in the Ganga as corpses were found dumped in the river during the second Covid wave, and were fished out from districts in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, officials said.
Those who have recovered from COVID-19 respond faster to the Covishield vaccine and reach high antibody levels, says a study, leading to hopes that they may not need a second dose and therefore help widen India's corona immunisation cover.
The study, published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, noted that the 'nanobodies' can prevent infection with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 by blocking its interaction with the protein ACE2, which it uses as a gateway to enter and infect cells.
The prime minister was happy that the assurance given by the Serum Institute that it will make India self-sufficient in vaccines at the lowest possible price in the world was fulfilled.
Responding to another question, Choubey said that the phase-I of clinical trials have revealed excellent safety of the two candidate vaccines indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research and Cadila Healthcare Ltd, and now their immunogenicity testing is in progress. Their phase II clinical trials are ongoing.
Why did the Chinese military take over the lab in Wuhan in end January? Did something go wrong? Claude Arpi glances at the mystery surrounding the origin of the coronavirus.
865 million Indian adults require vaccination.
Dr Mishra further explained the effect of hybrid immunity on the vaccinated population and said that it is likely to give protection to people along with the Indian vaccines administered.
Alert: Post-doctoral fellowships in Biotechnology and Life Sciences
'Between its natural immunity with Delta, in so many populations, and then getting on top of the vaccination (situation), I do not think India is going to have another bad wave.'
'And Joshimath has already shown the dangers ahead.' 'We have to acknowledge that our mountains are still young babies.' 'You don't put an extra load on the back of a growing child!'
The new lineage called B.1.618 is distinct from the B.1.617, also known as the 'double mutant' virus that contains two mutations, E484Q and L245R, and is believed to be behind the powerful second COVID-19 wave sweeping through India.
The rapid surge in cases during Delhi's fourth COVID-19 wave was mainly driven by the Delta variant, which likely has immune-evasion properties and counted for 60 per cent of the cases in April, according to a new study.
The phase-three human clinical trial of indigenously developed anti-coronavirus vaccine candidate Covaxin began at the AIIMS in New Delhi on Thursday, with Dr M V Padma Srivastava, the chief of Neurosciences Centre at the premier institute, and three other volunteers receiving the first dose.
Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) opens admissions to its PhD programme.
Eleven months after RA Mashelkar retired from the leadership of India's apex research body, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the government on Monday appointed Samir K Brahmachari, director, Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (IGIB), New Delhi, as the new chief. Brahmachari will also head the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) as secretary.
'This government did not have any plan for safety stocks of essential medicines.'
If the vaccination drive against coronavirus is not ramped up and COVID-19 appropriate-behaviour is not maintained, there is a possibility of a third wave of the pandemic in six-eight months, said M Vidyasagar, a scientist involved in the Sutra Model which uses mathematics to project the trajectory of COVID-19.
Is the worst of the Covid crisis behind India? As cases dip three weeks after Diwali, the answer is a possible yes, say several experts, attributing the downslide to a large section of the population already exposed to the virus during the second wave and a stepped up vaccination campaign.
The phase 3 trial findings indicate that Covaxin induces a robust antibody response with no severe vaccine-related adverse events or deaths reported among the trial participants, the authors of the study said.
The company has been developing donor-derived stem cell platforms.
As India prepares to launch its vaccine drive on January 16, here is a look at the options:
While some researchers are developing prototypes for ventilators to overcome their shortage, others have teamed up to develop testing kits.
Early data from its vaccine candidate 'mRNA-1273' showed it produced protective antibodies in a group of eight healthy volunteers, Moderna said. The other closely watched COVID-19 vaccine is the one being developed by scientists at Oxford University.
China will carry out major scientific research to enhance its biosecurity science and technological capacity against future infectious diseases, state-run Global Times quoted Xiang as saying.
Named after Satyajit Ray's famed detective, the Feluda test, which is priced at Rs 500 and can deliver a result in 45 minutes, is able to differentiate SARS-CoV-2 from other coronaviruses even if genetic variations between them are minute.
As the Omicron strain spreads across the globe and questions on vaccine inequity dominate discussions, scientists are still scrambling to learn more about emerging variants of the deadly virus that has claimed millions of lives and crippled economies.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Lakshadweep Research Collective said it along with 60 other signatories from the scientific community have written to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking his intervention to withdraw the "incautious draft" Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation of 2021.
Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E are among the domestic pharma firms working on the coronavirus vaccines in India.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the COVID-19 vaccine will be available in the next few months and it is estimated that by July-August 400-500 million doses will be made available for 25-30 crore people.
The Indian vaccine industry largely feels there are two ways in which vaccine innovation can be spurred - one, get a high price for the product and two, have the government buy a few hundred million doses of the product at a certain price.
The study has predicted that confirmed COVID-19 cases reported daily will show a rising graph till the end of June. "A clear downward trend in the confirmed cases is likely to be observed each day from the second week of July," Nandadulal Bairagi, a senior professor of Jadavpur University who was involved in the project told PTI.
Scientists around the world, including in India, suggest it hasn't been tested properly given the time constraint and there may not be enough evidence to prove its efficacy.
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A team at Bristol University used recently developed techniques to validate that the vaccine accurately follows the genetic instructions programmed into it by the Oxford University team.
The female tiger, named Nadia, is believed to be the first known case of an animal infected with COVID-19 in the US. It is suspected that she contracted the virus from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at that time.
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