Camptothecin (CPT)
Researchers at IIT Madras and Mandi have metabolically engineered Nothapodytes nimmoniana plant cells to increase production of anticancer drug CPT.
- An important anti-cancer drug lead molecule for high-value drugs like irinotecan and topotecan.
- Extracted majorly from –
- Camptotheca acuminata (native to China)
- Nothapodytes nimmoniana (native to western ghats in India)
- High demand for CPT for pharmaceutical industries has made the plants endangered.
Bio-Imaging Bank (BIB)
Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), has established a ‘BioImaging Bank’ for cancer.
- Aims at creating a robust repository encompassing radiology and pathology images.
- It will be linked with clinical information, treatment specifics.
- Used for training, validation, and rigorous testing of AI algorithms for early detection of cancer.
Proba-3 mission
ISRO will launch the European Space Agency’s (ESA) pioneering Proba-3 mission in 2024.
- Objectives: It will create a 144-meter-long solar coronagraph, an instrument that will allow scientists to study the Sun’s corona.
- World’s 1st precision formation flying mission.
- Functions –
- Pair of satellites will fly together maintaining a fixed configuration as a ‘large rigid structure’ in space to prove formation flying technologies.
- Will mimic an artificial eclipse in space, providing a continuous view of the corona.