Bioalert by Camouflage

Late last year, our college faculty told us of a talk that would be hosted for life sciences courses in the college amphitheatre. We were told that we would be getting attendance. Since this meant spending 2 hours in a cool large hall while enabling us to not attend a boring lecture, the whole class decided to attend it. On reaching, I read the banners on the talk. It was to be given by a certain Noble laureate from America. Though I was certain it would be the same as previous talks, boring and inconsequential for us Biotechnology students, my curiosity got the better of me. I instinctively Googled the name and was instantly pleasantly surprised. His research was directly related to our field of interest. He had received the prestigious (considered the most prestigious in most scientific circles) award for the "discovery of Introns in eukaryotic DNA". This phrase completely changed my attitude towards the talk, as well as my enthusiasm level for it. M...

Caution: “Before you read the last word of this blog, a pangolin might be poached from the wild and maybe sold out for a hefty amount.” Let’s learn about this animal and why it has become one of the most heavily traded animals. Pangolins are mammals of the order Pholidota. They get their name “ scaly anteaters” as they have no teeth. Pangolins pick up food with sticky tongues, sometimes reaching lengths greater than the animal’s body. These solitary, primarily nocturnal animals roll up completely into a ball, lashing out sharp scales on their tails as a defence mechanism. Pangolins are the only mammals in the world that are covered in scales. Where do these creatures live? Pangolins are found in various habitats, including tropical and flooded forests, thick brush, cleared and cultivated areas, and savannah grassland; in general, they occur where large numbers of food (ants and termites) are found. Pangolins dig deep burrows for sleeping and nesting that contain circular ch...

Why should anybody care about air pollution? The question arises regularly in our minds considering there are many things to do around us. So, why concentrate on the problem of air pollution? It has become essentially important to consider pollution of the air an important issue considering all the environmental changes occurring globally. Environmental problems have taken a toll on the land, water and soil along with air. The next question in line is why do people consider air pollution a myth? It is usually believed and also said that everything happens for a reason. Considering this, people tend to believe that changes taking place around them in society, in the economy, psychologically as well as environmentally are bound to happen. But are these positive changes? Continuous and disastrous changes have been impacting nature since industrialization. Not only air but every natural resource has turned into more of a WANT than a NEED. Now, let’s talk about the air. Starting with the ba...

Ever since I was a small child, I've always been fascinated by spiders. These largely misunderstood creatures captured my heart when I saw them for the first time. From that point on, my curiosity took over and started reading about them anywhere anytime. While these arthropods scared me, they had a certain beauty and upheld themselves with such magnificence that always brought me back to them. Their natural hunting abilities and their usage of the webs they produce have always excited me and made me want to read more. Spiders are invertebrates under the class Arthropoda. They are ubiquitous and found in every major biome present in nature. They are often referred to as generalist species as they feed on whatever prey they find. Arachnids follow what is told to be a three-prey species system to acquire the essential amino acids that are vital to their functioning. Spiders hunt in a variety of ways; some choose the sit-and-wait method of hunting which involves them waiting till thei...