Antibiotic-resistant bacteria use the efflux pumps to expel antibiotics from the intracellular environment>
It thus prevents antibiotics from reaching the target thus helping the bacteria to survive.
IIT Roorkee have been able to reverse drug resistance by using a small molecule screened from a synthetic library of 8,000 molecules.
The molecule restores the efficacy of fluoroquinolone-group of antibiotics by inhibiting the proton gradient which drives the efflux pump.
Rattan
Rattan is the name for roughly 600 species of old world climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae.
The climbing habit is associated with the characteristics of its flexible woody stem, derived typically from a secondary growth.
It makes rattan a liana rather than a true wood.
Generally, raw rattan is processed into several products to be used as materials in furniture making.[
Scientists have discovered that non-protected areas near the Agastyamalai Biosphere Reserve, Silent Valley-Mukurthi National Parks and Coorg-Wayanad in the Western Ghats are hotspots of rattan or cane species.
Urgent conservation attention in the face of threats including habitat loss and excessive harvesting would be critical here.
Superhydrophobic Cotton
Superhydrophobic i.e extremely water repelling medical cotton has been developed by a team of researchers at IIT Guwahati.
It removed up to 95% of oil-spill of different densities i.e both light and heavy oils repetitively at least 100 times using
The efficiency of absorption is very high i.e one gram of the superhydrophobic cotton absorbs 20 grams of either heavy or light oils.
The absorbed oil can be recovered through physical compression.
Most Threatened Ape
Scientists have so far recognized six living species of great ape aside from humans.
They are Sumatran and Bornean orangutans, eastern and western gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos.
But researchers have now made the list into seven, based on a collection of evidence showing that an isolated population of orangutans living in Sumatra is actually its own unique species.
They've named the new species the Tapanuli orang-utan.
But there are only about 800 Tapanuli orangutans left.
This makes this newly discovered species among the most threatened great ape species in the world.
Ozone Hole
NOAA and NASA collaborate to monitor the growth and recovery of the ozone hole every year.
Measurements from satellites this year showed the hole in Earth's ozone layer that forms over Antarctica was the smallest observed since 1988.
The polar stratospheric cloud formation and persistence of these clouds are important first steps leading to the chlorine- and bromine-catalyzed reactions that destroy ozone.
The smaller ozone hole in 2017 was strongly influenced by an unstable and warmer Antarctic vortex -- the stratospheric low pressure system that rotates clockwise in the atmosphere above Antarctica.
This helped minimize polar stratospheric cloud formation in the lower stratosphere.
