eChapters

Summary

Genes are discrete elements that govern the appearance of specific traits. Morgan Sturtevant and their coworkers demonstrated that genes have specific address. They reside at particular locations on particular chromosomes and these addresses remain constant from one individual of the species to the next. Transcription is the first step leading to gene expression. It is the process of creating a complementary RNA copy of a sequence of DNA. Both RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language that can be converted back and forth from DNA to RNA by the action of the correct enzymes. During transcription, a DNA sequence is read by RNA polymerase, which produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand. translation is the second stage of protein biosynthesis (part of the overall process of gene expression). In translation, messenger RNA (mRNA) produced by transcription is decoded by the ribosome to produce a specific amino acid chain, or polypeptide, that will later fold into an active protein.

Summary

Expressed sequence tags are small pieces of DNA sequence (usually 200 to 500 nucleotides long) that are generated by sequencing either one or both ends of an expressed gene. Currently various EST sequencing projects are underway for numerous organisms, generating millions of short, single-pass nucleotide sequence reads, accumulating in EST databases. Extensive computational strategies and various databases have been developed to organize and analyse both small- and large-scale EST data for gene discovery, functional annotation of putative gene products as well as transcript and single nucleotide polymorphism analysis. Present chapter provides an overview of the significance of ESTs, their properties, databases, analysis software and the applications of ESTs.

Summary

Genetic engineering can be used to introduce specific traits into plants. It may not replace conventional breeding but can add to the efficiency of crop improvement. It is possible due to the fact that plants are totipotent, enabling regeneration of a new plant from an isolated cell. Transformation of dicots is usually carried out using the bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Genes are cloned into plant expression vectors that carry the 25-bp repeat sequences at the borders of the onc region, known as the left and right borders (LB and RB) and the virulence genes (vir) of the Ti plasmid.

Summary

Molecular farming is the large scale production of pharmaceutically important and commercially valuable proteins in plants and animals. Molecular farming in plants has the potential to provide an inexpensive and convenient system in the production of unlimited quantities of recombinant proteins for use as therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines, antibodies, plasma proteins, cytokines and growth factors. Plants are also being used for the production of oils, starches, plastics, enzymes for food processing and other uses and spider silk etc. However, quality and safety of the final product and wider effects of molecular farming on health and environment need to be addressed. The benefits of molecular farming should not be outweighed by risks to human health and environment.

Summary
 
Although the concept of IPM, with emphasis on minimum use of pesticides: is well established and widely practiced in India, pest population still continue to be unabated, often reaching to alarming levels .Development of non chemical methods of pest control  as component of IPM tactics is a priority area of research today. Development of multiple resistance in larval stages against recommended insecticides ,spoiling of crop ecosystem with toxic chemicals and consequences of health hazards is the best alternative to control the pest in adult stage before they reproduce. Use of light trap is one such potential methods of control for the species known to be positively phototropic in adult stage. Rice is one of the most important cereal crop grown in different parts of world , serving as staple diet for millions of people . The losses due to insect pests in rice are very high and the pesticidal use in this crop is second highest after cotton in world .The positive feature of using light trap as IPM tool for survey ,monitoring , detection and control tool is that most of the insect pest species of rice are phototropic in nature and collected in sufficient numbers in light trap .Therefore use of light trap for imparting eco-integrity  by minimizing indiscriminate use of chemicals ,reduction of pest management cost and enhancement of farm income can be very useful for achieving the ultimate goal of sustainability in rice cultivation. 

Summary

The huge accumulation of agro-industrial waste-materials generated by the milling, brewing and various agriculture and food based industries which in total amount to be about 500 million tones per year in India. Most of these by-products contain three major structural polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. These are also the main source of feed for domestic animals. A high proportion of this waste material is carbohydrate and phenolic compounds. Accumulation of this kind of biomass not only results in the deterioration of the environment, but also loss of potentially important materials. Biological degradation, now-a-days, has become an increasingly popular alternative for the treatment of agricultural, industrial, organic as well as toxic wastes. Cellulose and hemicellulose being the major constituents of these materials can be referred to as valuable resources for a number of reasons, mainly due to the fact that they can be bio-converted easily into valuable products. These wastes can be processed to yield a number of value added products, such as biofuels like biohydrogen, bioethanol along with a variety of chemicals. Various treatment methods such as physical, chemical, biological are employed for the production of value-added compounds. Various phenolics like ferulic acid and vanillin are world’s most prized flavor compound mostly obtained through microbial treatment of agro-wastes.

Summary

Over the past several decades, the exponential population and social civilization expansion have been accompanied by rapid industrialization. As such, there has also been a proportionate expansion in the global energy demand. Till date, crude oil has been the only source to meet the increasing energy demand. Nowadays ethanol is the most acceptable product in the fuel market. The importance of ethanol is increasing due to a number of reasons such as global warming and climate change, limited reserves of fossil fuel and reduction on imports of transport fuel. Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant renewable source for commercial alternative fuel. Maximum bioethanol production depends on the whole process and optimum process parameters itself. Bioethanol from lignocellulosics is a type of second generation biofuel. Many researchers have been focused on bioethanol production from renewable sources. This chapter highlights the processing steps for second generation bioethanol production from lignocellulosics.

Summary

Bioenergy is the subject of increasing attention around the globe and represents an important issue in the present context. The rise of commodities prices, the negative impact on food security, and climate change represent different challenges to be overcome before the full potential of bioenergy can be realized. Bioenergy issues related to agriculture needs special attention for its development. Bioenergy development is always linked with rural economy. Farmers, having the choice to convert their food crops to fuels crops, naturally expect a high return from their farmland, thereby generating a scenario where food production gets depleted. The optimal production of bioenergy can be generated by using the wasteland present in different area. This way, food security for the future generation can be maintained along with optimal growth of bioenergy.

Summary

Idealistic theories of property are projected to offer general and explicit statements of the justification for deciding legal and moral questions about the status property claims. Debates over property rights in biotechnology were occasioned by specific legislative proposals such as the US Animal Patent Act of 1986, and by filing of patent applications for DNA sequences and processes in the early 1990s. While these debates make sporadic petition to philosophical theories of property, moral claims were entwined with questions about filing requirements, tests for worth, and the rules for licensing and defending patents. The comparative scarcity of discussion on intellectual property at that time dictated the general approach of the chapter: Review basic philosophical approaches to property rights, and speculate on how one might use these approaches in constructing an argument pertinent to agricultural biotechnology. This chapter deals with different approaches to intellectual property in the field of Plant Sciences especially the Biotechnology. It incorporate many different types of intellectual property and a variety of incommensurable values play a role in the justification of intellectual property.

Summary

Animal tissue culture is a biological technique in which a piece of tissue is taken from an animal specimen and cells from this tissue are grown and maintained in an in vitro or artificial environment (Harrison, 1907). Aim of cell / tissue culture is actually to make cells as happy in the in vitro conditions, as they are in their natural environment. The objective of this chapter is to highlight those principles and procedures that have particular relevance to the use of cell culture in tissue engineering.

Summary

Multicellular organisms are made up of diverse set of cells. Cells respond to the changes in the particular microenvironment by means of cellular communication. This cell-cell communication is extremely important for the development, maintenance and survival of the organism. This communication is equally important for the unicellular organisms. Cells communicate to one another and respond to the environmental changes using diverse chemical languages, as discussed in this chapter. However, in many cases like multicellular organisms, cell communication is primarily mediated by specific receptor(s) expressed on the cell membranes. These receptors bind to the extracellular signaling molecules (called ligands) and activate specific signaling pathways to bring about particular cellular responses. These different receptors, ligands and signaling pathways are briefly discussed here.

Summary

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells which have the potential to divide and multiply indefinitely and can be differentiated to any type of cell of the body of an organism. Due to its peculiar characteristics stem cells are being experimentally used to cure certain dreaded diseases of the humans including different haemoglobinopathies. The stem cells isolated from bone marrow have been cultured, modified and differentiated to get various blood cells like erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes etc. Recently haematopoietic stem cells have been transplanted to the sickle cell and beta thalassaemia patients successfully. Gene therapy using the embryonic and cord blood stem cells have been experimentally tried successfully to cure transgenic sickle as well as thalassaemic mice. Induced Pluripotent stem cells (iPS) generated from autologous skin has also been used successfully for treatment of transgenic sickle cell anaemia mouse.

Summary

The indiscriminate use of pesticides and their persistence in the environment enhances the residue levels in meat, dairy products, eggs and food crops, consequently adversely affecting the human health (Akhtar, 1985). In India millions of tons of pesticides are applied to the agricultural fields to increase the productivity for compensation of the nutritional requirements of increasing population from the same land resources. It was the advent of green revolution that really spurred the growth of pesticide industry. Several reports published reveal that a large amount of organochlorine pesticides is present in vegetables, fruits and soft drinks besides other pesticides compared to World Health Organization (WHO) standards (Martin and Duggan, 1968; Corneliussen, 1969; Ulmann, 1972; Hildebrandt et al., 1986). Organochlorine pesticide persistence, biomagnification and toxicity adversely affect the ecological systems (Khanna et al., 2002). There are a large number of different types of pesticides which differ in their mechanisms of action. Some pesticides are very acutely toxic in humans, while others have low acute toxicity but may cause long term health effects in chronically exposed individuals. Each pesticide class has to be considered individually when predicting effects. Therefore, considering organochlorine pesticides induced disruption of body functions and possibly the involvement of free radicals is cardinal to present study.

Summary

Nanotechnology, the science of nanoscale structures has been applied in various fields including in biomedical sciences. Nanotechnology is being increasingly used to create materials and devices so as to interact with the body at sub-cellular scales with a high degree of specificity. Nanotechnology is used in the fight against cancer, cardiac and neurodegenerative disorders, infection and other diseases. This chapter provides an overview of some of the applications of nanotechnology in the field of biomedical sciences particularly with a focus on tissue engineering and medical diagnostics.

Summary

Researchers face a series of similar-yet unique problems to isolate proteins. To solve these they must have dip knowledge to select an appropriate technique. The mechanism, to study the way in which a living system works, is necessary to dismantle the machine and to isolate the component parts so that they may be studied, separately and in their interaction with other parts. The knowledge that is gained in this way may be put to practical use, for example, in the design of medicines, diagnostics, pesticides, or industrial processes. In every case a pure protein is desirable as impurities may either be misleading, dangerous or unproductive, respectively. Protein isolation is, therefore, a very common, almost central, procedure in biotechnology. The purpose of this chapter is thus to fill the beginners with techniques relevant to protein isolation, hopefully to improve their knowledge.

Summary

RNA interference has revolutionized the concepts in regulation of gene expression. RNA interference is the mechanism that controls sequence specific gene silencing by double stranded RNA. These non-coding RNAs are gene specific regulators critical in the transformation of normal cells to a malignant stage. Alterations in the non-coding RNAs have been linked to specific cancers and can serve as diagnostic markers. The ability of exogenously introduced siRNAs to specifically bind its complementary mRNA and down regulate its expression has various applications. It has markedly influenced the way the role of certain genes is investigated in tumorigenesis. The siRNA technology has been effectively functional in identification of new components and blocking the expression of critical mediators in tumorigenesis.

Summary

Plants produce over 200,000 metabolites, which are important source of drugs and industrial materials. They have been traditionally classified as primary and secondary metabolites. The primary metabolites like sugars, amino acids and fatty acids that are needed for general growth and physiological development of plants are widely distributed in nature and are also utilized as food by man. Secondary metabolites are natural products, the absence of which does not result in immediate death, but in long term their impairment may lead to malfunction and reduced survivability. These plant secondary metabolites can be divided into groups that share the same core substructure, originated from the same biosynthetic pathways. Secondary metabolites play a major role in the adaptation of plants to the changing environment and in overcoming stress constraints. In this chapter we discussed the structure, properties, classification and functions of some of the important groups of plant secondary metabolites such as phenols, flavonoids, terpenoids and alkaloids. A brief overview of some of the important fungal secondary metabolites, their structures and importance has also been discussed. Biotechnological approaches which can be adopted to engineer plants for production of secondary metabolites have also been discussed.

Summary

The present era is witness of understanding the science of human diseases at molecular level. The advances of science in terms of Genomics, Proteomics, Metaboliomics, Lipidomics and bioinformatics have drawn an excellent pathway to discover more promising drugs. It’s still a challenging task to reduce the time line to discover new drug, which is approximately 10-15 years. A drug discovery program requires billions of dollars but without the promise of success. After screening of thousands of compounds only one becomes successful in clinical trials and reaches to the market. Although there are lot many ways to approach drug discovery, nature has gifted many interesting compounds to fight the diseases. On the other hand isolation of pure compounds from natural products like bacteria found in soil or different parts of plants is itself a challenging area. The modern fashion of natural product isolation is guided by bioactivity. Hence a feasible assay to access the bioactivity has got a great importance.

Summary

Human being is dependent on nature and natural resources to combat diseases from time immemorial. Ayurveda describes the use of traditional herbs in medicinal preparations in ancient India. Such types of evidences are there in classical Chinese and Greek records also. Nowadays, modern tools are used to identify and purify the active principle from the herbal composition having the therapeutic effect. Bioinformatics tools are often used to screen the drug efficacy of natural products. Using computational and Bioinformatics tools, the efficacy of lead molecules can be screened. Moreover, drug targets can be identified using Bioinformatics and proteomics approach. QSAR and molecular docking tools are used to study the probable activity and mode of action of drug molecule. This approach has minimized the cost and time involved in the drug discovery process.

Summary

The process of administration of a drug into the human body to cure a disease is regarded as drug delivery. The common routes of administration of the drugs include oral, nasal, inhalational, transdermal, dermal, ocular, rectal and vaginal. In the current chapter, an attempt has been made to discuss about the various methodologies which are being used to deliver the drug to the human patients.

Summary

Substance that acts as a catalyst in living organisms, regulating the rate at which life’s chemical reactions proceed without being altered in the process. Enzymes reduce the activation energy needed to start these reactions, without them, most such reactions would not take place at a useful rate. Because enzymes are not consumed, only tiny amounts of them are needed. Enzymes catalyze all aspects of cell metabolism, including the digestion of food, in which large nutrient molecules (including proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) are broken down into smaller molecules; the conservation and transformation of chemical energy and the construction of cellular materials and components. Almost all enzymes are proteins; many depend on a nonprotein cofactor, either a loosely associated organic compound (e.g., a vitamin) or a tightly bound metal ion (e.g., iron, zinc) or organic (often metal-containing) group.

Summary

One of the most seductive lures of the genomic revolution is the promise of personalized medicine. The rapid identification of tens of thousands of human genes and hundreds of thousands of DNA variations that might influence disease susceptibility has spawned a new field Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics deal with the genetic basis underlying variable drug response in individual patients. The traditional pharmacogenetic approach relies on studying sequence variations in candidate genes suspected of affecting drug response i.e. single or few genes. On the other hand, pharmacogenomic studies encompass the sum of all genes, i.e., the genome. Numerous genes may play a role in drug response and toxicity, introducing a daunting level of complexity into the search for candidate genes. The high speed and specificity associated with newly emerging genomic technologies enable the search for relevant genes and their variants to include the entire genome.

Summary

Molecular evolution is the process of evolution at the scale of DNA, RNA, and Protein. Molecular evolution emerged as a scientific field in the 1960s as researchers from molecular biology, evolutionary biology, and population genetics sought to understand recent discoveries on the structure and function of nucleic acids and protein. It covers two broad areas of study : the evolution of macromolecules, and reconstruction of the evolutionary history of genes and organisms. The evolution of macromolecules refer to the characterization of the changes in the genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences) and its products (Proteins of RNA molecules) during evolutionary process, and to the rates and patterns with which such changes occur, and also the mechanism responsible for such changes. The second area also known as “molecular phylogenetics”, deals with the evolutionary history of organisms and macromolecules as inferred from molecular data and the methodology of tree reconstruction.

Summary

Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary areas of science and technology which refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme of control of matter is on the molecular scale that integrates material science and biology. Due to their advantages over non-biological systems, several research groups have explored the use of biological systems for the synthesis of nanoparticles. Among the different microbes used for the synthesis of nanoparticles, fungi are efficient candidates for fabrication of metal nanoparticles both intra-and extracellulary. The nanoparticles synthesized using fungi present good polydispersity, dimensions and stability. The potential applications of nanotechnology and nanoparticles in different fields have revolutionized the health care, textile and agricultural industries and  they are described in present chapter.

Summary

Lac is a resinous exudation from the body of female scale insect Laccifer lacca Kerr. belongs to family Lacciferidae of phylum Arthropoda, class  Insecta and order Hemiptera. The lac insect lives on native trees in India, China,Thiland, Burma/Myanmar and Malaysia. In India it is chiefly grown on trees like Kusum, “Palas”, and “Ber. It is also purposely cultured on shoots of these tree species. Lac cultivation is an alternative agricultural profession and provides subsidiary source of income for a large number of farmers mainly in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha, North-East states and other parts of the country. India, which is the highest producer of lac, contributes around 55% of the total world requirement followed by China and Thiland. The country exports around 80-90% of its production.

If you are inclined to make research as a career, the first question is why are you interested in research or making it as a career in your life -whether for money or to pass a cozy life in a government institute or to get fame or to solve some scientific problems - related to cosmos, Agriculture, animals, human health, search some medicinal plants or you have great passion for science and impressed with its power to find solutions for many universal problems ? Or it is un-employment, now rampant in every field, which is deriving you to join higher degrees and research. Many times, this unemployment or no vacancies in due time leads the young persons to continue their post graduation or joining doctorate program with the hope that some vacancy will arise in the ensuing period or a suitable job may fall after or prior getting a Ph.D. degree.

Research is the basics which have changed human life and surrounding environment what existed on earth million years ago into present form. As soon as man realized himself as a separate entity from other animals, he started thinking about himself, creatures co-inhabiting with him and the universe. In that sense, biological science is the oldest subject which fascinated man, though it was called natural sciences in ancient times. Perhaps, the first curiosity was about himself, his birth, death and alike matters. As soon as he realized mortality of life or faced death of his dear ones, he attempted to become immortal or ‘amar’. This is reflected by worshiping of ‘Asur ’(Hirnakashyap, Bhasmasur, Ravan etc) to ‘Brahma’ or ‘Shiva’ for receiving the blessings of becoming immortal . However, even God refrained to bless these personalities becoming ‘amar’ confirming the realization by all that life is strongly linked with death ; as such they were blessed with certain conditional ties which may lead their death. Eventually, they met with their death under specific circumstances (3). When God or His little part (Ansh) took birth on earth as incarnation, He also followed all the rules and regulations of cosmic laws. But He never tried to become immortal and left His body on the earth, after finishing His duties.

The very basics in one’s life is whether he has judged his interests or decided goals of his life or has taken life casually. The first is to know what you wish to achieve in your life or in the words of our former president and Bharat Ratna APJ Abdul Kalam (14) what are your dreams ? If you have dreams than only you can achieve them hence it’s essential to know what is your passion ?, passion is the key to success. In pursuing your passion, all things become secondary ; in fact, desired changes occur within you, unnoticed and automatic to achieve your goals. It may not be out of contest to mention that basically I belonged to a business family and being eldest son in the family, my father asked me to join family business, after doing my intermediate, with the liberty to join part time BA classes while carrying business activities. But business was not my passion hence I struggled to join to the academics and carried all my Veterinary education with distinctions - because of my interests. I am not sure what would have happened to my life have I joined least interested business line- perhaps a failed business man.

At times, we hear our young generation questioning the need for obtaining degrees for conducting any research work. To some extend they are right. If we look back, there are many examples where persons without any former degree attained what is impossible by many degree holders. Tulsidas has written ‘Ramacharitmanas’, incorporating so many principles of Vedas and stories from Puranas without obtaining any degree. Srinivasa Ramanujan (21) narrated mathematics theorems without any degree in mathematics. His achievements may be appreciated by the fact that we celebrate his birthday 22nd December as National Mathematical day.

Whenever a person acquires desired qualifications, he needs a forum to express his talents and a place where he can fulfill his dreams and make important attainments. This may be achieved by two ways. One is, he becomes an entrepreneur and plans his own organization. As we are discussing biological research, there are good opportunities to start a Pharmaceutical firm to produce a drug, or a biotechnology firm to produce some biochemical molecule, enzymes, bio-fertilizers, vaccines against important human/animal/poultry diseases or a firm to supply diagnostic kits or immunological products etc. These are not hypothetical suggestions, difficult to achieve by a middle class person, but part of reality achieved by middle class family in India with laurels in their field of work. We may cite examples of firms like Dr Reddy Laboratory (Dr K.A Reddy), Biocon India (Ms Majumdar), Venky (poultry vaccines etc), Biorad (Bangalore based biochemical molecules supplier) who are working in India and leading their respective field. All this have been possible with tremendous change that has occurred in Indian scenario where there are many venture capitalists (or PE firms) who are willing to invest any amount of money provided they like your new idea of establishing a new enterprise. A somewhat more detailed information, in this regards, is provided elsewhere (see Research for money-chapter 13). Here I have not mentioned to pursue a Dairy or Poultry farm as these are not parts of research activities but related to animal production and any other person may also enter in such commercial activities.

It will be unjust not to describe history of Parasitology (31) and a little bit about Parasitology (chapter 8) so that our students may know the earlier works done in this field and how research has advanced by diligent observations of the eminent scientists when they were not having such sophisticated facilities.

As helminth is visible with naked eyes, it was this parasite which man encountered first in its journey of life sciences or natural sciences,as was known in ancient times. Some of these were known even before the era of biblical Palestine and ancient Egyptian civilization. Hippocrates (460-357BC), ‘Father of Medicine’ knew about pinworms (Oxyuris equi) of horses. In his “History of Animalium”, Aristotle (384-322 BC)(32) has mentioned three kinds of helminthes-flatworms, cylindrical worms (Ascaris lumbricoides) and thinworms (Enterobius vermicularis). The treatises of India had the information on large roundworms of intestine (Ascaris), pinworms, leeches, bed bugs and mosquitoes.

Our nature is the greatest or only laboratory where a large number of events are occurring at every fraction of a second - there are so many events, creatures, miseries taking place in the nature. Rightly it is considered an unparallel and biggest laboratory, man has ever witnessed. However, understanding it’s any event requires deep devotion and understanding,then only success will come. Our Philosopher and Poet Kabirdas has understood these facts as have reflected in his various couplets “Jin khoja tin paiya, gahre pani paith” or “chalti chaki dekh kar diya kabira roye, do patan ke beech main sabit bacha na koi“. For an ordinary person earth is still flat and he may not know the reasons for change of seasons.

Parasitology is the branch of biological sciences that deals with the study of parasites and all the related aspects. This leads to a basic question who is a parasite ? In fact, this term is frequently used in our society for those persons who are doing nothing and depending on others for their survival. The term Parasite means the organism (parasite) which depends on other organism (host) for its nutritional requirements. By definition, it excludes the organisms which are free living and do not depend on other organism for their food requirements. There are other details in fulfilling its nutritional requirements and important one is that in doing so, it causes some harm to the host other wise it will not be a parasite but a commensal.

A close look on three disciplines of Parasitology reveal that these are the branches where a scholar initially select them as per his basic qualifications. But while pursuing research in Parasitology, the line of demarcation becomes blurred and it is in fact combination of a group of scientists,from varied disciplines, who are able to solve any one problem; at that point, it is absurd to divide the subject as medical or veterinary or basic parasitology. In fact, these will be your interests and experiences which will decide your line of research and will determine your achievements.

It is always advantageous if there is a senior scientist,a mentor or a Guru ( I have not used the term teacher as all may be teachers but may not be Guru as per Indian mythology) who can recognize your talents and may believe that you may achieve some unusual goals, if properly guided or encouraged. This is important for carrying an important task to its fruitful results. Here what we are referring a Guru is not in the sense as is presently used for searching a god father. There is a vast difference between the two. The perception about god-father is that he may not possess the required knowledge but is perfect in manipulating situations in his favor so that work is done by all means. In scientific world, this is mostly applied to the persons who have contact with higher ups helping in getting promotions or foreign trips. These god fathers are good only to provide some material gifts but are not best in their scientific achievements hence cannot replace a Guru or a good scientist.

If you have prepared yourself to make research as your career, it is most advantageous to read research papers/reviews/chapters/books published by the eminent scientists. It is not necessary to confine reading to your subject but a voracious reading will enable you to develop an idea about general problems related to science and our society; how scientists managed to solve them and with development of new knowledge, how you may tackle fresh or existing problems. A deep analysis may be done of those works which are so accurate that even after lapse of so many years, they still hold true. In our opinion, it is better to launch websites/blogs highlighting important works of eminent Parasitologists for the benefit of our research scholars; a beginning, in India in Parasitology, has been made in this direction with launch of a website on first time Rafi Ahmed Kidwai award winner (in Animal Sciences) late Dr SC Dutt (www.drscdutt.com). 

One prime fact in research is not to take the matter for granted and do not believe in status quo. This is most critical mindset for creating something new. Even change may be made in existing circumstances with minimum requirements. Here, I may cite my experience while starting research in 1976 for my doctorate program on immunity against schistosomiasis. The experimental model was albino mouse where schistosomes, by their nature, develop into blood vascular system of the host hence require a special technique called “Perfusion technique” for retrieval of mature and immature schistosomes. This ‘perfusion technique’ requires use of a “Peristaltic pump” and was followed in some western countries (2). However, No body in India followed this perfusion technique hence recovered schistosomes from mouse or from any other host species by teasing the blood vessels or/and cutting and soaking liver,spleen, kidney, lung pieces in normal saline.

There is only one type of scientific research and that is to solve a real problem or to understand the universe and provide a solution –either with the experiments or by putting a hypothesis. However, we have classified the research in various types as per our comfort. But for the employed researchers, it may be a matter of concern if they are working on time bound research schemes as their services may be co-terminus with the project and they may face the problem of un-employment, after termination of the scheme. According to the scholars’ activities and type of research being carried out in the country, we can discuss the subject under following topics.

When you are assigned with your thesis problem or some problem is puzzling you, the first step is to search the related literature ; here the term literature is used not as it is used in humanities but this means the literature related to the research work published by the earlier scientists on the topic. The searching of literature is a most important and first step in conducting research on a particular topic. This not only acquaint you with the work of other scientists who tried to solve the problem but also confirms the possibility that previous scientists might have solved that problem and yours will be a repeat attempt ; in that case you may tackle other aspects of the problem, if at all they are existing and important in present circumstances.

Review of literature or consulting of literature is just beginning of a research project. The main intellectual work is to study the previous work meticulously and to draw conclusions regarding existing problems. This leads us to another intelligent part of the research i.e. planning of the research work. If you analyze what you are planning, it is only about materials to be employed and methodology of the research work (with planning of the work)- only these three parameters are under your control as results will be the outcome of these three facets while discussion will be how you consider your results in presence of previous research work. In fact, this statement of mine is more align to the sermon of “Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta” (5) where it is stated that man has control only on his actions (planning and conducting research) hence fulfill this duty without caring for the results-which in turn will depend on your analyzing the previous facts and how you have planned to solve the problem. Therefore, pay full attention on these three facts of the research.

After planning research problem, the next step is to start real research work. Indeed, it is said that planning of a research work is only 20% of work done while conducting the experiments is 80% to be done and is more laborious, requiring extended time and patience of the scientist. While conducting your research work,it is essential to record each and every observation of your work. These observations will be of two types. One is the subjective observations which are difficult to quantify. For example, if you are recording clinical parameters of a disease,you may record pulse, temperature, respiration in arithmetic form but clinical symptoms are subjective and require a description of the patient rather than filling tabular sheet. In describing morphology of a parasite both parameters are needed ; you will describe morphology of the parasite and will also mention measurements of different parts of the parasite. Likewise, you may like to describe weather conditions or behavior of animals, vectors at certain stage of disease while you have to mention figures in many cases. Thus your observations are clearly divided in two categories – one is subjective observation and other is recording arithmetic values.

What so ever you are doing as a researcher, one important task is to publish the same for scientific fraternity for establishing your view points else no body will recognize you and your competence. Your credentials are judged by the research papers published by you and its impact on scientific community. Therefore, it is must to publish what so ever you are doing to establish yourself in the scientific community and also to advance science. This implies to select a national or international journal for your research publication which has wide scientific circulation so that peers of scientific world may observe your publication. Adversely, the publication may bring you criticism if it does not stand on scientific parameters and you may lose your reputation in your profession.

What so ever work you have done, it will not be recognized in the scientific world unless you publish it hence publishing the search work is of prime importance for a scientist. As it provides you recognition, you must pay greatest attention on quality of your research work which depends on the keenness of your observations. It is must to confirm and re-confirm your observations prior publishing them as once they are published, it will come in public domain with nothing you can do (except of publishing another paper to refute your earlier finding). As publishing the observations will form opinion about your scientific integrity and knowledge among the peers, the paper, if not cared and contained silly technical mistakes, will reflect ignorance of the workers on the subject.

It is a must for the research scholars to attend scientific conferences of the Parasitology associations, after being members. It is advisable to become life-members of all three Parasitology associations, in India i.e. Indian Society of Parasitology, Lucknow, Indian Association for Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology, IVRI, Izatnagar and Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology, JIPMER, Pondicherry. The annual conferences expose better chances to interlink with Parasitologists of the country and at times foreign scientists.

As the Veterinary colleges, and Parasitology being an integral part of them, are part of Agricultural universities framed on USA land grant pattern, or separated as Veterinary university imbibing the same philosophy, extension is an integral part of the system. Here, a team of the experts visit the villages to teach the villagers about the basic problems, faced by them in day to day dealing with animals. For explaining a particular problem to the villagers, the experts generally take help of the pamphlets which they have prepared. These pamphlets or extension literature deal the subject with common sense and illustrate the material with line drawings.

Till twentieth century information technology was restricted to European and American countries but entering in twenty first century witnessed passage of this technology with a vast speed in all other countries making a spectrum of changes in communication and transmission of knowledge that has altogether changed scenario of whole world. Earlier communication to international scientists was costly, time consuming while now its only a click away. So is of transmitting reprints of research papers – earlier they were dispatched by mail, now these reprints and other matters are available in soft copy and are attached with e-mail that is transmitted instantly.

Indian Agriculture is facing a wide spectrum of constraints such as burgeoning population, shrinking farm land, restricted water availability, imbalanced fertilization, low soil organic carbon, besides experiencing the fatigue of green revolution and vagaries of climate change. To address all the challenges ahead, we should think of an alternate technology such as “nanotechnology” to precisely detect and deliver the correct quantity of nutrients or other inputs required by crops that promote productivity while ensuring environmental safety. The word “nano” refers to the size of one-billionth of a metre or one-millionth of a millimeter in any one of the dimension. We are aware that all materials are made up of atoms which are the smallest units and for example, ten hydrogen atoms put together will measure one nanometer. As the size gets reduced, the surface area gets increased by several folds.

Introduction

Nature has been performing wonderful feats for millions of years. All organisms from microbes to humans are powered by highly evolved molecular and cellular machines that operate at nano scale. The capability to manipulate, control, assemble, functionalise, produce and manufacture things at atomic precision provides an opportunity to understand this new and exciting field of science. Nanotechnology is application of science to control the properties and structure of matter at nanometric scale.

Introduction to Nano-materials

Nano-sized materials are naturally present from forest fires and volcanoes, but are also generated unintentionally from anthropogenic sources as a by-product of combustion and deliberately as manufactured nanomaterials. Nanoparticles have been used for centuries. The coloured glass that we see in many old cathedrals from the middle age was made of gold nanosized clusters that created different colour depending on the size of the nanoparticles. The most prominent example of engineered nanoparticulate material is carbon black which has been around us for decades in applications like printing inks, toners, coatings, plastics, paper, tires and building products.
 
Two of the major factors why nanoparticles have different properties (optical, electrical, magnetic, chemical and mechanical) than bulk material are because in this size-range, the quantum effects start to predominate and the surface area to volume ratio is increased.

Introduction

The metal particles in nanometer scale shows exciting optical and electronic characteristics when compared with respective bulk metals. Because of the inherent electronic properties of the metal and metal oxide nanoparticles these nanostructure materials are applied in various disciplines in recent days. Mostly these nanoparticles can be synthesized either top down or bottom up approaches. The conversion of bigger size particle or matter into tiny particles is called top down approach where as smaller particles or atoms joined together forming particles in regular shape within nanometer scale dimension is called bottom up approach. The formation of nanoparticles by chemical reduction is an example for the later one and the reduction size with the help of mechanical crusing leads to the formation of fine nanoparticles is named as top down approach. Mostly nanoparticles can be synthesized by chemical method because of its easiness to synthesis particles with uniform size and high purity.