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Rhino DNA Indexing System ( RhODIS ). a DNA-based forensic tool The RhODIS , used to investigate and prosecute suspects in cases of rhino poaching.
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Rhino DNA Indexing System (RhODIS) • a DNA-based forensic tool • The RhODIS, used to investigate and prosecute suspects in cases of rhino poaching. • The tool involves the collection of each individual rhino’s unique DNA profile into a database which can be referenced when presenting legal evidence in cases of rhino poaching.
Advantage • The RhODIS would help provide concrete evidence before the trial court, as required for conviction in poaching cases
poachers killed and dehorned 41 rhinos in Assam in 2013. • poaching had been posing a major threat to rhino conservation efforts. It was the market in China and Vietnam, which use the rhino horn for various purposes, including medicinal, that the poachers sought to tap
Ayurgenomics • Coined in 2001 • Derives from practice in Ayurveda to define an individual’s predisposition and habitus • Gene-mapping said to help predict disease susceptibility and behavioural pattern • Critics claim little science to back it at the moment • Separate unit within the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi • Collaboration on with several institutions
Biofuel • A biofuel is a fuel that contains energy from geologically recent carbon fixation. • These fuels are produced from living organisms. Examples of this carbon fixation occur in plants and microalgae. • These fuels are made by a biomass conversion (biomass refers to recently living organisms, most often referring to plants or plant-derived materials).
First-generation biofuels • 'First-generation' or conventional biofuels are made from sugar, starch, or vegetable oil.
Second-generation (advanced) biofuel • Second generation biofuels, also known as advanced biofuels, are fuels that can be manufactured from various types of biomass.( Biomass is a wide-ranging term meaning any source of organic carbon that is renewed rapidly as part of the carbon cycle. Biomass is derived from plant materials but can also include animal materials.) • First generation biofuels are made from the sugars and vegetable oils found in arable crops, which can be easily extracted using conventional technology. In comparison, second generation biofuels are made from lignocellulosic biomass or woody crops, agricultural residues or waste, which makes it harder to extract the required fuel.
Third Generation • The term third generation biofuel has only recently enter the mainstream it refers to biofuel derived from algae. Previously, algae were lumped in with second generation biofuels. However, when it became apparent that algae are capable of much higher yields with lower resource inputs than other feedstock, many suggested that they be moved to their own category.
This biomass can be converted to convenient energy containing substances in three different ways: thermal conversion, chemical conversion, and biochemical conversion
Ethanol • Ethanol fuel is the most common biofuel worldwide, particularly in Brazil. • Alcohol fuels are produced by fermentation of sugars derived fromwheat, corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, molasses and any sugar or starch from which alcoholic beverages such as whiskey, can be made (such as potato and fruit waste, etc.). • The ethanol production methods used are enzyme digestion (to release sugars from stored starches), fermentation of the sugars, distillation and drying. The distillation process requires significant energy input for heat (often unsustainable natural gas fossil fuel, but cellulosic biomass such as bagasse, the waste left after sugar cane is pressed to extract its juice, can also be used more sustainably).
Ethanol can be used in petrol engines as a replacement for gasoline; it can be mixed with gasoline to any percentage. Most existing car petrol engines can run on blends of up to 15% bioethanol with petroleum/gasoline. • Ethanol has a smaller energy density than that of gasoline; this means it takes more fuel (volume and mass) to produce the same amount of work.
Biodiesel is the most common biofuel in Europe. It is produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is a liquid similar in composition to fossil/mineral diesel. • Chemically, it consists mostly of fatty acid methyl (or ethyl) esters (FAMEs). • Feedstocks for biodiesel include animal fats, vegetable oils, soy, rapeseed, jatropha, mahua, mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, hemp, field pennycress, Pongamiapinnataandalgae. Pure biodiesel (B100) is the lowest-emission diesel fuel. Although liquefied petroleum gas and hydrogen have cleaner combustion, they are used to fuel much less efficient petrol engines and are not as widely available.
BIOGAS • Biogas is methane produced by the process of anaerobic digestion of organic material by anaerobes. It can be produced either frombiodegradable waste materials or by the use of energy crops fed into anaerobic digesters to supplement gas yields. The solid byproduct,digestate, can be used as a biofuel or a fertilizer.
SYNGAS • Syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and other hydrocarbons, is produced by partial combustion of biomass, that is, combustion with an amount of oxygen that is not sufficient to convert the biomass completely to carbon dioxide and water. Before partial combustion, the biomass is dried, and sometimes pyrolysed. The resulting gas mixture, syngas, is more efficient than direct combustion of the original biofuel; more of the energy contained in the fuel is extracted.
World wide Efforts • There are international organizations such as IEA Bioenergy, established in 1978 by the OECDInternational Energy Agency (IEA), with the aim of improving cooperation and information exchange between countries that have national programs in bioenergy research, development and deployment. • The UN International Biofuels Forum is formed byBrazil, China, India, Pakistan, South Africa, the United States and the European Commission
Bio fuel in India • The demand for transportation fuels is growing rapidly in India. In order to cut down its dependence on imports, the country has been focusing on environmentally friendly alternatives like biofuels. • It is in this context that the GoI announced its 'National Biofuel Policy' on 12 September 2008. The government aims to meet 20% of India's diesel demand with fuel derived from plants.
At present, ethanol is the most widely produced biofuel in India , it is being produced from sugarcane waste which is abundantly available in the country.
Recently, biologically produced butanol has emerged as an alternative biofuel. Butanol has proved to be a better biofuel than the widely acclaimed ethanol, because it is less corrosive and it can easily blend with gasoline. • Moreover, butanol can be produced from ligno-cellulosic biomass of sugarcane waste because of which, manufacturers feel that the existing ethanol distilleries can be upgraded for the production of butanol.
The January 2013 notification by GoI said that by 2017, every litre of petrol should be blended with 20% of ethanol. As a result, some companies are planning investments for capacity expansion and new plants to cater to the anticipated requirement, while others are looking at focusing on research and development to tap alternative methods for ethanol production. However, the research is still at a very nascent stage, especially when we talk about butanol production in India
Jatropha plant seeds which are very rich in oil (40%), have a very high potential in Indian context
Tetanus • A disease of the nervous system caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. This bacterium produces spores, which are resistant cells able to survive in the soil for many years. • Symptoms Symptoms include painful muscle spasms, initially of the muscles of the neck and jaw (lockjaw), and later of the muscles of the trunk. Tetanus is a very serious disease and is frequently fatal, particularly in infants and the elderly. It has become relatively common in intravenous drug users.
Treatment requires the administration of antitoxin and antibiotics. Often prolonged treatment in intensive care unit of a hospital is necessary. • Protection against tetanus is provided by tetanus toxoid vaccine.
Treatment Antibiotic therapy
Hepatitis B • Causative agent - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) • infects the liver and can cause liver inflammation called "hepatitis"
Spread - mother to her child during birth -unprotected sexual contact -sharing needles among injection drug users, -re-use of contaminated needles and syringes - Unsafe blood transfusion
Usually children become susceptible to Measles around the age of nine months, probably because they are protected up to this period by the antibodies (proteins that protect against a disease) against Measles, received from their mothers.
