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A brief introduction to mRNA Vaccines

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The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology was awarded for the research that led to the development of mRNA vaccines for COVID19. mRNA stands for messenger Ribonucleic Acid, a form of nucleic acid that carries genetic information. These vaccines attempt to activate the immune system to produce antibodies that help counter an infection from a live virus. mRNA offers important safety advantages. While most vaccines use weakened or dead bacteria or viruses to evoke a response from the immune system. mRNA vaccines only introduce a piece of the genetic material that corresponds to viral proteins. Therefore the mRNA vaccine does not expose people to the virus itself. Such vaccines are fully synthetic and do not require a host for growth, for example eggs or bacteria. They can be produced faster, cheaper and in more standardized fashion, which improves responsiveness to outbreaks. mRNA vaccines are different in some key ways. A piece of DNA must be converted into RNA, for a cell to be able to m...
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Deep Sea Mining and what it means for the ecosystem

 Extraction of mineral resources from the oceans below a depth of 200 metres is what’s called Deep Sea Mining. The seabed is not yet thoroughly explored, and depletion terrestrial deposits has lead to an increased demand to look into the depths of the ocean. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has recently declared that it is going to start taking permit applications from various companies that wish to mine the ocean floor. While this practice certainly has economic benefits, it can be just as harmful for the marine ecosystem. These are the methods of conducting Deep Sea Mining : • Extracting metals from poly metallic nodules on abyssal plains. • Stripping cobalt crusts off of seamounts. • Extracting poly metallic sulphides from hydrothermal vents. As of now, countries are free to carry out exploitation within their borders. Earlier this year, in June, Norway proposed opening it’s borders for Deep Sea Mining. France has banned it in their waters, while Germany has cal...
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Internationalization of the Indian Rupee

The Government Of India recently announced a long term map for internationalization of the Indian Rupee (INR). This will make it easier for Indian businesses to trade or invest abroad, and enhance the INR's liquidity, while facilitating financial stability. The daily average share of the Indian Rupee in the global foreign exchange market hovers at around 1.6%. At the same time, India's share in global goods trade is 2%. The Indian government has enabled external commercial borrowings in INR. Indian banks are being pushed to open Indian Rupee Vostro Accounts for banks from Russia, UAE, Sri Lanka and Mauritius. India is already trading with 18 different countries in INR. Of course, there are several challenges that need to be overcome. Demonetisation adversely impacted confidence in the INR. The fact that India doesn’t provide full capital account convertibility also doesn’t help. Exchange rate volatility cannot be ignored either. India can draw some lesson from China’s...
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Artificial Intelligence : Why human beings should proceed with caution

 In the last few years, there has been a rise in warnings against the use of Artificial Intelligence by technology leaders, researchers and experts. Recently, the World Trade Organisation called for caution in using AI for public healthcare. The possibility of machines surpassing human beings is certainly a threat, the likelihood of which needs more discourse and deliberation. In developing countries especially, this threat can propagate inequity and exclusion for minorities and other marginalised groups. A report by the United Nations Development Programme highlighted that algorithmic bias has a great impact on financial services, healthcare, retail and gig workers industries. This report stated that AI generated credit scoring exhibited a tendency to assign a lower score to women, in comparison to men. Significant biases have been identified even in healthcare diagnostics. In India, a rapidly developing country, both commercial and government players are shifting from Big D...
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Sea level rise as a consequence of climate change

 The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report provides one of the most expansive and scientific reviews on the impact of climate change. It discusses different shared socio economic pathways for the future with varying levels of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The likelihood of the average warming exceeding 2°C around mid century is very high. The average global temperature is already 1.09°C higher than pre-industrial levels. CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is currently 410 ppm, compared to 285 ppm in 1850. Sea level rise basically means an increase in the levels of the world’s oceans due to effects of global warming. One of the major causes of this is burning fossil fuels, and the fact that the majority of the heat produced is absorbed by oceans. As water gets warmer, it expands. This, along with the melting of glaciers and ice sheets, leads to sea level rise. Nearly 700 million people around the world live along the coast and there continue...
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Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) : The new pandemic?

 Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an invisible pandemic, and it appears it’s here to stay. Rapidly rising AMR rates need an accelerated, multi sectoral, national as well as a global response. Public health response all over the world has been threatened due to rising misuse and over use of antibiotics. Microbial resistance to antibiotics has made it a lot more difficult to treat infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, septicaemia and several food borne diseases. AMR also imposes a huge health cost on the patients in the form of long hospitalization, health complications and delayed recovery. Those undergoing complex surgery or chemotherapy are at much greater risk. In 2019 AMR was responsible for 4.95 million human deaths. It adds to the burden of communicable diseases and strains a country’s healthcare system. An Indian Council of Medical Research study in 2022 showed that resistance levels increase 5% to 10% every year for broad spectrum antimicrobials. Ciprofloxacin i...
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Financial inclusion for reducing inequality

 Policymakers have been using financial inclusion as a key tool for reducing poverty and inequality, and to spur economic growth. Global Findex Database 2021 of the World Bank estimates that about 24% of adults globally do not have access to formal financial accounts. Micro, Small and Medium enterprises are also experiencing increasing financial disparity. In developing countries 21% of micro enterprises are constrained either due to rejection of loan applications or incompatible terms. Globally Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) contribute about 35% in developing economies and about 50% in developed economies. Closing the funding gap is essential for boosting economic growth and creating productive jobs. Women entrepreneurs at times face obstacles such as restrictive social norms, mobility constraints, lack of identification, lack of financial literacy etc, in obtaining basic banking services. This is reflected in the gender gap in bank account ownership. This divide...
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