Researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, have developed a mouse model for detecting cells that respond to antipsychotic drugs in live brain tissues. Using this, the team have also discovered that the antipsychotics Clozapine and Olanzapine affect ependymal cells—a class of brain cells responsible for producing cerebrospinal fluid—previously unknown to be affected by antipsychotics.

Raghu Padinjat’s group from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore

     It is midday in mid-April, and the air shimmers with heat. From the shelter of an acacia tree, one of the few spots of shade in the flat, slightly undulating land, a small group of scientists intently observe a congregation of male blackbuck sitting or standing somnolently atop its own pile of odoriferous dung.

The Bangalore Life Sciences Cluster (BLiSc) congratulates Kamaljit Bawa on being awarded the Linnean Medal for 2018!

The Linnean Medal is awarded every year by the Linnean Society of London to biologists as an expression of the Society’s esteem and appreciation of the awardees’ service to science.

With nearly 2 –3% of the population of youngsters and adults (between the ages of 15–59 years) at risk of developing neuropsychiatric diseases, India needs to focus on understanding mental disorders.

The eye of the fly

Is wondrous indeed,

For capturing images

At uncanny speeds.

The molecular signal

That makes this possible,

Recent work from Deepa Agashe’s and Radhika Venkatesan’s groups has shown that female red flour beetles reproduce better in male-dominated groups than in unbiased or female-dominated groups.

You and I live in a sensory world—sight, sound, touch and taste blend to give us a sense of our surroundings. However, imagine perceiving the world as a fly, with a brain the size of a pinhead. Yet many insects with miniscule brains manage to do exactly what we do—identify objects like a flower, or a plant.

The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) congratulates its current faculty member Upinder Bhalla, and former faculty member Yamuna Krishnan on winning the 2017 Infosys Prize in the life sciences and physical sciences categories!

The Infosys Prize celebrates the awardees’ outstanding achievements and is intended to honor them for the excellence of their work in their respective fields.

A novel regulator for membrane traffic in cells has been discovered by a team of scientists from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Babraham Institute. The molecule, Phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate 4-kinase or PIP4K is a molecular overseer of membrane dynamics that functions as a negative regulator of endocytosis.