UPSC Prelims News 28 October 2022

UPSC Prelims News of 28 October 2022

Dirty Bomb

Context: Russian defence minister has informed his counterparts in India and China that Ukraine intends on using a ‘dirty bomb’.

More on the News:

Ukraine has rejected the claims and counter-accused Russia of preparing its own ‘dirty bomb’ and planning to explode it in a false operation.

About the Bomb:

A dirty bomb is an explosive device that contains radioactive, biological or chemical materials, that disperses material after explosion. It mostly refers to radioactive explosives.
Working: These bombs use dynamite or other explosives to scatter radioactive dust, smoke, or other material in order to cause radioactive contamination.
Components: These bombs are cheap and can be made very fast. The radioactive materials in these bombs can be obtained from hospitals, nuclear power stations, or even research laboratories.
Effects: The radioactive fallout from the bomb can cause serious health problems, such as cancer.
- The bomb is used to create mass panic as a weapon of terror.
- The environmental hazard because of dirty bombs can potentially result in the need for large-scale cleanups that can be financially costly.
Mortality: Compared to conventional atomic, chemical or biological bombs, dirty bombs cause less human mortality.

UPSC Prelims News of 27 October 2022

CAR-T Cell Therapy

Context: India’s first indigenously developed Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T Cell T therapy has shown promising results and could be the safest therapy in this category so far.

What is the Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T Cell T therapy?

CAR-T cells are a patient’s own immune cells that are genetically engineered in the laboratory to fight cancer.
As part of the treatment, a specific type of white blood cells called T cells are changed in the lab so they can find and destroy cancer cells.
It is also sometimes referred to as a type of cell-based gene therapy because it involves altering genes inside T cells to help them attack cancerous cells.

How the Therapy Works?

It uses lentiviral technology. In gene therapy, this is a method of inserting, modifying, or deleting genes in organisms using lentivirus, a family of viruses responsible for diseases such as AIDS.
T cells taken from the patient’s blood are modified by adding a gene for a receptor (called a chimeric antigen receptor or CAR), which helps the T cells attach to a specific cancer cell antigen. The CAR T cells are then given back to the patient.

What Types of Cancer can it Treat?

The CAR-T cell therapy is mostly effective against leukemia and lymphoma.

Leukemia is cancer of blood-forming tissues, including bone marrow.
Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting network.

Avian Influenza

Context: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to depute a high-level team to Kerala to take stock of Avian Influenza outbreak in the state.

What is Avian Influenza?

About: Avian influenza (AI) or Bird Flu is a highly contagious viral disease that affects both domestic and wild birds.
Pathogen: it is caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses.
Transmission: Avian influenza viruses can be transmitted directly from wild birds to domestic poultry or indirectly e.g. through contaminated material.
- The virus spreads directly from bird to bird via airborne transmission or indirectly, through faecal contamination of material, feathers or feed
Infection in humans: Bird flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with bird flu viruses have occurred.
- The most common route of virus transmission is direct contact with infected birds, either dead or alive, or contact with contaminated surfaces or air near the infected poultry.
Symptoms: It may cause mild to severe illness or sudden death in birds. Domestic poultry like chickens are particularly vulnerable.

Types of Influenza Virus

There are four types of influenza viruses: influenza A, B, C, and D
Influenza A and B are the two types of influenza that cause epidemic seasonal infections nearly every year.
Influenza C mainly occurs in humans but has been known to also occur in dogs and pigs.
Influenza D is found mainly in cattle. It’s not known to infect or cause illness in humans yet.

Avian influenza Type A viruses

Type A viruses are classified based on two proteins on their surfaces – Hemagglutinin (HA) and Neuraminidase (NA). There are about 18 HA subtypes and 11 NA subtypes.
Several combinations of these two proteins are possible e.g., H5N1, H7N2, H9N6, H17N10, H18N11 etc.
All known subtypes of influenza A viruses can infect birds, except subtypes H17N10 and H18N11, which have only been found in bats.

Indigenous Overhauser Magnetometer

Context: Indian scientists have developed the first indigenous Overhauser (OVH) Magnetometer.

More on the News:

Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) has developed the magnetometer as part of its technology development program.
The sensor will be installed at Alibag Magnetic Observatory (MO) and can reduce India’s dependence on commercial OVH magnetometers for performing geomagnetic field measurements.
Significance:
- Reduce import: OVH magnetometer will reduce India’s dependence on privately-manufactured imported OVH magnetometers.
- MRI instrument: Understanding the Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) would potentially help to develop a sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instrument in future.
- Outer space programme: The sensor can be adapted for the outer space environment to support the existing Indian space research program.

Overhauser (OVH) Magnetometer

They are extensively used by all magnetic observatories around the world. They can be used in studying geomagnetic storms, sudden impulses etc.
They are known for their higher accuracy, higher sensitivity, and efficient power consumption.
Applications: Overhauser magnetometers find applications in all magnetic observatories worldwide as well as in international space programs.

UPSC Prelims News of 29 October 2022