Science and Technology

Production of modern vaccines Live Attenuated Vaccines Live vaccines are derived from “wild,” or disease-causing, viruses or bacteria. These wild viruses or bacteria are attenuated, or weakened, in a laboratory, usually by repeated culturing. For example, the measles virus used as a vaccine today was isolated from a child with measles disease in 1954. Almost … Read more

Traditional methods of vaccine production The first human vaccines against viruses were based using weaker or attenuated viruses to generate immunity. The smallpox vaccine used cowpox, a poxvirus that was similar enough to smallpox to protect against it but usually didn’t cause serious illness. Rabies was the first virus attenuated in a lab to create … Read more

Fundamental concepts in vaccination Immunology and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Immunology is a complicated subject, and a detailed discussion of it is beyond the scope of this text. However, an understanding of the basic function of the immune system is useful in order to understand both how vaccines work and the basis of recommendations for their use. … Read more

Vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body’s immune system to recognize the … Read more

Defluoridation and other Techniques of water purification Defluoridation Defluoridation is the downward adjustment of the level of fluoride in drinking water. Worldwide, fluoride is one of the most abundant anions present in groundwater. Fluoride is more present in groundwater than surface water mainly due to the leaching of minerals. Groundwater accounts for 98 percent of … Read more

Importance of renewable energy resources Renewable energy are sources of clean, inexhaustible and increasingly competitive energy. They differ from fossil fuels principally in their diversity, abundance and potential for use anywhere on the planet, but above all in that they produce neither greenhouse gases – which cause climate change – nor polluting emissions. Their costs … Read more

Applications of Space Technology in India Agriculture Information on crop statistics is required for planning and decision making purposes, such as, distribution and storage of food grains, Govt. policies, pricing, procurement and food security and so on. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare effectively uses contemporary techniques of satellite remote sensing in such decision making. … Read more

Microorganisms Microscopic organisms, commonly known as microorganisms or microbes, are found all around us and even inside our bodies. The category ‘Microbes’ includes a massive range of organisms including bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae, archaea and protozoa. Some of these, such as bacteria and fungi, are well known, but others such as archaea much less so. … Read more

Safe Drinking and Supply Safe drinking water is the birthright of all humankind – as much a birthright as clean air. The majority of the world’s population, however, does not have access to safe drinking water. This is certainly true in most parts of Africa and Asia. Even in relatively advanced countries such as India, … Read more

Recent trends in organic farming and farm mechanization organic farming Organic farming also known as ecological agriculture8 or biodynamic agriculture,9 works in harmony with nature i.e. the agricultural practices followed in organic agriculture do not cause any harm to the environment. Due to eco-friendly nature of the organic farming it is considered as an viable … Read more