Today’s Highlights: Omisure, Synapses

Thought for the Day

“True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.” Today in History Ø 1704: Aurangzeb conquered Rajgad fort and renamed it as Nabishahagad. Ø 1887: Shiv Narayan Agnihotri founded the Dev Samaj. Ø1933: Surya Sen was arrestedon this day from Gairalavillage after a tip-off from an insider of the group. Ø 1960: US submarine Triton started to orbit the earthunderwater. Ø1982: Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup Football tournament organized for the first time in Kolkata, India. Birth Anniversaries: Ø 1222: Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Kamakura period, who developed the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, a branch school of Mahayana Buddhism. Ø1928: Dinesh Nandini Dalmia, an Indian poet, short story writer, and novelist. Ø 1964: Bebeto, a Brazilian former professional football player. Death Anniversaries: Ø1944: Dadasaheb Phalke, an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as the Father of Indian cinema. Ø1956: Meghnad Saha, an Indian astrophysicist who developed the Saha ionization equation. Ø 2000: Bellary Kesavan, the first National Librarian of independent India.

Build a Better Vocabulary

1. FORMIDABLE (ADJECTIVE): (दुर्जेय): intimidating Synonyms: forbidding, redoubtable Antonyms: comforting Example Sentence: Competition from established businesses can be formidable.

2. VAGUELY (ADVERB): (अनिनित रूप से): roughly Synonyms: more or less, approximately Antonyms: exactly Example Sentence: She vaguely remembered talking to him once. 3. UNBRIDLED (ADJECTIVE): (निरं कु श): unrestrained Synonyms: unconstrained uncontrolled Antonyms: restrained Example Sentence: I felt a moment of unbridled ambition. 4. IRRITANT (NOUN): (निढ़): annoyance Synonyms: irritation, pinprick Antonyms: help Example Sentence: The reasons for his irritant are now well known. 5. PLAINTIVE (ADJECTIVE): (शोकाकु ल): mournful Synonyms: sad, wistful Antonyms: cheerful Example Sentence: The sad news of their grandmother's death left the room full of plaintive cries.

Current Affairs

· IAS Officer Vineet Joshi Named As Chairman Of CBSE · India to Replace Diesel By Renewable Energy In Agriculture By 2024 · BoB Will Acquire Union Bank’s Stake In India First Life Insurance · Gita Mittal Appointed As Chairperson Of Committee of Administrators to Run TTFI · Saubhagya Scheme: Rajasthan Tops Solar Electrification Scheme · Paisabazaar & RBL Bank Tie-Up to Offer ‘Paisa on Demand’ Credit Card · India Ranks 3rd in 9th US Green Building Council · Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes Emergencies Act For 1st Time · Israel Became First Country To Allow Drones In Civilian Airspace · Indian Railways To Set Up Country’s Biggest Wrestling Academy

Knowledge Update

About Omisure

· Omisure is an omicron detecting RT-PCR kit developed by the Mumbai- based Tata Medical and Diagnostics Ltd (TATA MD) in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). · It can differentiate the omicron strain of the novel coronavirus from the delta, alpha and the other variants in under four hours. · It can diagnose this variant in a single step How does it work? · This new kit can identify the Omicron variantby targeting two regions of the S or the spike gene. · This gene codes for the spike protein, which helps the novel coronavirus enter and infect human cells. · The S, the Enveloped (E), and Nucleocapsid (N) genes are some of the targets of conventional RT-PCR tests. · When it detects these genes, a patient sample is labelled positive. As omicron bears heavy mutations in the S gene, the RT-PCR can sometimes miss it. · The absence of S gene likely indicates omicron’s presence. · This is called S gene dropout or S gene target failure — and is one of the targets of Omisure.

How does Omisure compare with gene sequencing? · Gene sequencing reads the order of nucleotides, which are the building blocks of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). · Despite being considered the gold standard, sequencing has a few limitations. · It is slow, expensive and complicated. It is a multi-step process. · It begins with extracting the virus’ RNA from patient samples, converting it into DNA, amplifying or multiplying it through RT-PCRbefore finally sending it for gene sequencing. · This entire process can take as many as three days.

What are Synapses? · Neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain connect by means of junctions known as synapses through which they transmit signals. · There are two types of synapses –chemical and electrical: (1) Chemical Synapse · In this, there is a space of about 20 nanometres between two neurons, and the way they communicate is this: One neuron converts electrical signal into chemical signals. · This chemical is released into the synaptic space and the receiving neuron converts the chemical signal back into an electrical signal. (2) Electrical synapse · In these synapses, the two neurons have a physical connection and the conversion of electrical to chemical need not occur, and they communicate directly. · Electrical synapses are like a physical wire, communication is faster but they are also fewer in number. Observing these synapses · Researchers from TIFR-National Centre of Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, have chosen Zebrafish as a model organism to study this process. · Zebrafish are transparent and neuron development in larval zebrafish can be observed from day to day by injecting a dye or by engineering the fish to express fluorescent proteins. · It was observed that electrical synapses are formed before chemical synapses, they are like a blueprint in which neurons make a handshake. This results in the making of chemical synapses. · Research on organisms such as leeches showed that if you remove electrical synapses, the chemical synapses do not form. · However, the mechanism of how it happens in higher organisms such as vertebrates was not known.

What induces these synapses?

· The group observed that knocking out a particular protein known as the gap junction delta 2b (gjd2b) in the cerebellum of zebrafish affected levels of the enzyme CaMKII.

· Levels of CaMKIIwere seen to increase in the Purkinjeneurons in the cerebellum.

· These neurons and the cerebellum itself control coordination of movements in the organism.

Why study this?

· In humans for example, excess abuse of alcohol leads to damage of these cells, which results in lack of coordination in movement.

· The cerebellum shows an evolutionary continuity in all vertebrates, so, too, the Purkinje neurons.

· Even though fish and humans diverged from a common ancestor about 500 million years ago, the cerebellum has been evolutionarily conserved.

· While zebrafish have about 300-400 Purkinje neurons, humans have thousands of these.

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