Dunedin (Otago) [New Zealand], May 14 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Otago have got insights from ancient Moa DNA on how this extinct species responded to climate change.

Dunedin (Otago) [New Zealand], May 11 (ANI): According to a study at the University of Otago, ancient Moa DNA has provided insights into how species respond to climate change.

Pune Oct 19 PTI Snail mucus secretions of snails which are normally considered as agricultural pests has several applications in the development of anticancer and antimicrobial drugs as well as biosensors for the detection of toxic metals in water researchers have said The multi-disciplinary study was published in the journal Nature-Scientific Reports recently The researchers used unexplored snail mucus of Achatina fulica also known as the Giant African snail Prof Dr R D Chaudhari one of the researchers and Head of the Department of Zoology Research Centre Shri Shiv Chhatrapati College Junnar Pune said Achatina fulica is an exotic terrestrial snail having the status of serious agricultural pest in India The research was carried out in collaboration with Savitribai Phule Pune University Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology C-MET Pune Nanoparticles Technology Laboratory School of Mechanical Engineering Sungkyunkwan University Suwon South Korea and the Department of Physics and Astronomy College of Science King Saud University Saudi ArabiaAchatina fulica secretes a sticky complex viscous secretion from its foot The mucus serves various functions such as lubrication for the passage of objects maintains hydrated layer on the epithelium blocks the pathogens etc throughout a snails life cycle Chaudhari saidDr Dinesh Amalnerkar another researcher said they used the snails mucus as a novel biomaterial for the synthesis of silver bio-nano composite which was then tested for various biological activitiesBesides antibacterial and antifungal properties preliminary in-vitro investigations revealed that this bio-nano composite successfully neutralised cervical cancer cells Our research outcomes will add new insights into the science of organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials-based drug formulations he saidCervical cancer accounts for almost one-third of total deaths among women due to cancer he pointed out Dr Pramod Mane another researcher said the bio-nano composite dispersion exhibited better antimicrobial activity against certain germs including bacteria that cause diseases in plants animals and humansIn particular it showed better antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa which causes infections of urinary tract respiratory system gastrointestinal system and burn wounds and is resistant to many of the antibiotics currently in useThe researchers published another paper in Springer Nature Journal where another application of the bio-nano composite was explored for the detection of highly toxic mercury ions in waterParag Adhyapak one of the authors of the study said this is an important application as a majority of heavy metal pollutants such as mercury chromium and lead are extremely toxic to the environment as well as to a human bodyThe bio-nano composite dispersion was used as the colorimetric bio-interfacial sensor for detection of toxic metal ion mercury in the solution at parts per million ppm and parts per billion ppb concentrations he saidThis method could be very convenient as one can observe the color of a water sample changing with the naked eye if it contains pollutants such as mercury lead or chromium he said PTI SPK KRK KRK