Author: Biotech Express

The peer review system – or the evaluation of academic work by others in the same field – has broken down because authors can just pay to be published, says leading biologist Shekhar Mande. The former director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) told ThePrint that mushrooming online journals, even the reputed ones, charge an author hefty fees to post their scientific findings. Mande said a scientific publication brought in only a very small set of editors and peer reviewers to vet this article. This introduced a lot of subjectivity and personal bias in the system,…

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19. The 66-year-old tech giant wrote in a tweet Tuesday that he is experiencing mild symptoms and is “following the experts’ advice” by isolating himself until he’s healthy. The billionaire further informed that he has been completely vaccinated and received his booster shot too. “I’m fortunate to be vaccinated and boosted and have access to testing and great medical care,” Gates tweeted. Gates has said that the biggest scientific breakthrough that would help end the pandemic would be better and longer-lasting vaccines. Notably, his book, “How to…

A paper on the potential use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19 has been retracted for a litany of flaws, joining at least 10 other articles on the therapy some liked to promote without evidence to fall. The article was part of a special issue of Toxicology Reports on Covid-19 that has received an expression of concern; six of the eight articles still have EoCs. Two, including one “Why are we vaccinating children against COVID-19?,” have now been retracted. The newly retracted article, “Use of ivermectin in the treatment of Covid-19: A pilot trial,” was written by a group from Brazil…

It took about five months, but a virology journal has retracted a paper on the microbe that causes COVID-19 after tagging it with an expression of concern back in December. As we reported then, the paper, “SARS–CoV–2 Spike Impairs DNA Damage Repair and Inhibits V(D)J Recombination In Vitro,” was a hit with vaccine skeptics who used the article to buttress their claims that Covid vaccines are unsafe. The paper, which appeared in MDPI’s Viruses, generated enough buzz on social media and in the news to make it into the top 5% of all articles tracked by Altmetric. This Week in…

Sound is used to burst clots according to several studies and this is contrary to the statement made by Ujjain doctor who said that sound has made blood clot and ultimately death. The news raise further questions that the covid vaccination status was taken into consideration while doing autopsy and whether vaccine has role to play in this. An 18-year-old boy dancing at his friend’s wedding suddenly collapsed and died. A doctor claims that loud music played by the DJ led to the fatality. It is widely acknowledged that noise pollution has adverse health effects, but can it actually kill?…

Janssen (Johnson & Johnson ‘s) COVID-19 vaccine is now limited to certain individuals ages 18 and up after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration downgraded its emergency use authorization (EUA). The regulator’s decision came after finding that some people develop a greater risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, a rare and possibly life-threatening blood clotting disorder. People with TTS have low blood platelet counts and the onset of symptoms happens around one to two weeks after receiving Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA has already updated the Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine to reflect this change, including a warning statement at…

The Vision of the Department of Pharmaceuticals is to promote Indian pharma sector as the global leader for quality medicines and to ensure availability, accessibility and affordability of drugs and medical devices in the country. One of the measures to achieve the vision is to concentrate on Research & Development and innovation. In order to achieve the same, the Department, amongst various other measures, has set up seven National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs) as institutes of national importance all across the country for imparting quality education and conducting high-end research. NIPERs have recently launched a common Research…

As reported by Indian Express The Civil Registration System (CRS) data for 2020 includes a key metric that shows how difficult it was for people to access health facilities during the pandemic: over 45 per cent of all recorded deaths that year happened in the absence of medical attention, the highest percentage ever. The data also show a sharp decline in deaths recorded in hospitals and other medical facilities in 2020. For several months in 2020, when the pandemic first gripped the world, non-Covid medical services were suspended or operating thinly in India, with 80 to 100 per cent of…

India’s main opposition Congress party on Friday demanded a hefty rise in compensation for the families of those who died of COVID-19, after the World Health Organization estimated the country’s toll was nearly 10 times the reported figure. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has rejected the WHO estimate released on Thursday that 4.7 million people died in India as a result of the pandemic until last year, when hospitals ran out of oxygen and beds due to a record wave driven by the Delta variant. India has reported only 524,002 COVID-19 deaths – the most after the United States and…

Redcliffe Lifetech (Redcliffe) has raised $61 million in Series B funding. Led by LeapFrog Investments (LeapFrog), the round saw participation from Healthquad, Schroders, LC Nueva, Growth Spark Ventures and existing investors Chiratae Ventures and Alkemi Venture Partners. While O3 capital acted as financial advisor on the transaction. Preventative medicine helps to empower the average Indian with the information they need to take charge of their health and wellbeing, Dheeraj Jain, founder, Redcliffe Lifetech, said. “Redcliffe has built a one-stop diagnostic shop offering a wide selection of tests to choose from and delivering care closer to the customer. This investment will…