Science Cartoon based on decision of US Govt to release research Chimp

Science Cartoon based on decision of US Govt to release research Chimp 

 

Science cartoon on "Bacteria on International Space Station"

Bacteria on International Space Station

No place is completely clean! Either you roam on earth or fly to the International space station (ISS), you will get bacteria everywhere. Consider it as dirty but the fact is, scientist found the presence of bacteria on ISS also.  Venkateswaran and his team collected samples from ISS and two clean rooms at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, CA) to study the presence of microflora. They found strong evidence that specific human skin-associated microorganisms make a substantial contribution to the ISS microbiome, which is not the case on Earth-based classrooms. For example, Corynebacterium and Propionibacterium (Actinobacteria) but not Staphylococcus (Firmicutes) species are dominant on the ISS in terms of viability and total bacterial community composition. Their finding is published in Open Access journal Microbiome on 27 Oct 2015.

Original Paper: Microbiomes of the dust particles collected from the International Space Station and Spacecraft Assembly Facilities

Article on Science Magazine site: The International Space Station is home to potentially dangerous bacteria

Science cartoon on Comet with alcohol

Comet with alcohol

Imagine an ocean of alcohol. Yes, believe me, neither I am drunk, nor comet researcher Nicolas Biver of the Paris Observatory, France. Nicolas Biver, lead author of a paper published on Oct. 23 in Science Advances is revealing the boozy fact about comet lovejoy with the words "We found that comet Lovejoy was releasing as much alcohol as in at least 500 bottles of wine every second during its peak activity".

Comet Lovejoy was having name C/2014Q2 according to catalogue. It was one of the brightest and most active comets since comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. When it was moving closest to the sun on last week of January this year, the team of scientist observed that it was releasing water at rate of 20,000 lit per second. When scientist observed the shower of water with different wavelength, they found various kind of organic chemicals. The team found 21 different kind of molecules in comet, including ethyl alcohol (ethanol, C2H5OH) and the simplest monosaccharide sugar glycolaldehyde (CH2OHCHO). Presence of alcohol is reported for the first time.

Reference: Biver et al, Ethylalcohol and sugar in comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy). Science Advances,2015; 1(9):e1500863 published date: 23 Oct, 2015

Article in Science Daily: Researcherscatch Comet Lovejoy giving awayalcohol

Science cartoon based on "Sexual transmission of Ebola Virus"

Sexual transmission of Ebola Virus

Ebola virus need no introduction. Ebola virus disease was known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. Till today, no promising treatment or vaccine is there to cure Ebola virus disease.

It is thought that fruit bats are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.

Ebola spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.

Data on sexual transmission of Ebola viruses were lacking till now but work published by CPT Suzanne Mate, Ph.D., of U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), USA with the help of genomic analysis provide proof about positive conformation of sexual transmission. The paper published on 14^th Oct, 2015 in the New England Journal of Medicine, provides molecular evidence of Ebola virus (EBOV) transmission between an EVD survivor and his female partner.

Reference: Suzanne E. Mate et al (2015), Molecular Evidence of Sexual Transmission of Ebola Virus. New England Journal of Medicine, 151014140151006 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1509773