Tag: GS 3 ||Science & Technology || Biotechnology || Cell Theory

Why in news?

For the first time, Indian scientists will be mapping every single tissue of the human body to have deeper understanding of the roles of tissues and cells linked to various diseases.

to have deeper understanding of the roles of tissues and cells linked to various diseases. Department of Biotechnology (DBT) launched MANAV : Human Atlas Initiative, towards improving knowledge on human physiology.

What is MANAV : Human Atlas Initiative?

It is a project funded by DBT , which aims at creating a database network of all tissues in the human body from the available scientific literature.

, which aims at from the available scientific literature. The student community , who will be the backbone on assimilating the information, will be trained and imparted with skills to perform annotation and curation of information that will ultimately form the online network.

, who will be the backbone on assimilating the information, will be trained and imparted with skills to perform annotation and curation of information that will ultimately form the online network. Investment – DBT has invested Rs 13 crore shared between two institutions in Pune – National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) and Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER), Pune. Besides, Persistent Systems Limited has co-funded the project and is developing the platform, and has contributed Rs 7 crore.

It is a project that involves scientific skill development for annotation, science outreach along with handling big data.

for annotation, science outreach along with handling big data. The programme will involve gaining better biological insights through – physiological and molecular mapping, develop disease models through predictive computing and have a wholistic analysis and finally drug discovery.

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Who can participate in this project?

The project can be signed up by students who are in their final year graduation and above .

. Students from the fields of biochemistry, biotechnology, microbiology, botany, zoology, bioinformatics, health sciences, systems biologists, pharmacologists and data sciences can associate with this project.

Even participants having a science background but not necessarily involved in active scientific research can be part of this network.

The MANAV team has encouraged colleges and universities to register as teams and work in this project.

Initially, DBT will accommodate colleges that operate the DBT Star College scheme to register for this Human Atlas programme.

to register for this Human Atlas programme. There is no restriction on the time period set for student participation.

Why is MANAV important?

This platform will impart key skills to the student community to read classified scientific literature, in this case, on individual tissue-basis, and perform annotation and curation.

to read classified scientific literature, in this case, on individual tissue-basis, and perform annotation and curation. Since all the information generated will pass through multiple levels of reviews, it will be an Atlas or a reliable collection on human body tissues .

. This collated data can be useful for both future researchers and parallelly, to the clinicians and drug developers, who finally handle human bodies in disease conditions.

What are the applications of information generated through MANAV?

The aim of the project remains to understand and capture the human physiology in two stages – in a normal stage and while in a disease

– Such a database on individual tissues, once ready, can come handy in tracing the causes of a disease, understanding specific pathways and ultimately decode the body’s disease stage linked to tissues and cells.

The teams will also study any potent elements or molecules that have never been used in the form of drugs, to target the specific cells or tissues.

Additional info

Tissue

In biology, tissue is a cellular organisational level between cells and a complete organ. Tissue: A tissue is an ensemble of similar cells and their extracellular matrix from the same origin that together carry out a specific function. Organ: Collections of tissues joined in structural units to serve a common function compose organs.



Animal tissue

Animal tissues are grouped into four basic types : connective, muscle, nervous, and epithelial.

: connective, muscle, nervous, and epithelial. Connective tissues are fibrous tissues made up of cells separated by non-living material, which is called an extracellular matrix.

are fibrous tissues made up of cells separated by non-living material, which is called an extracellular matrix. Muscle tissue: Muscle cells form the active contractile tissue of the body known as muscle tissue or muscular tissue. Muscle tissue functions to produce force and cause motion, either locomotion or movement within internal organs.

Muscle cells form the active contractile tissue of the body known as muscle tissue or muscular tissue. Nervous tissue: Cells comprising the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system are classified as nervous (or neural) tissue. In the central nervous system , neural tissues form the brain and spinal cord. In the peripheral nervous system , neural tissues form the cranial nerves and spinal nerves, inclusive of the motor neurons.

Cells comprising the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system are classified as nervous (or neural) tissue. Epithelial tissue: The epithelial tissues are formed by cells that cover the organ surfaces, such as the surface of skin, the airways, the reproductive tract, and the inner lining of the digestive tract.

Plant tissue

In plant anatomy, tissues are categorized broadly into three tissue systems : the epidermis, the ground tissue, and the vascular tissue. Epidermis – Cells forming the outer surface of the leaves and of the young plant body. Vascular tissue – The primary components of vascular tissue are the xylem and phloem. These transport fluids and nutrients internally. Ground tissue – Ground tissue is less differentiated than other tissues. Ground tissue manufactures nutrients by photosynthesis and stores reserve nutrients.

: the epidermis, the ground tissue, and the vascular tissue. Plant tissues can also be divided differently into two types: Meristematic tissues: Meristematic tissue consists of actively dividing cells , and leads to increase in length and thickness of the plant . The primary growth of a plant occurs only in certain, specific regions, such as in the tips of stems or roots. It is in these regions that meristematic tissue is present. Permanent tissues: Permanent tissues may be defined as a group of living or dead cells formed by meristematic tissue and have lost their ability to divide and have permanently placed at fixed positions in the plant body.



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