Exploring the plant kingdom for the development of novel sunscreen formulations

By Mayuri Napagoda, Sanjeeva Witharana, and Lalith Jayasinghe

Contribution participating in the INPST 2018 Science Communication Awards contest.

Exposure to solar radiation, particularly to its ultraviolet (UV) components has a variety of harmful effects on human skin, ranging from mild inflammatory effects to as severe as causing several types of cancers. Thus, synthetic sunscreens have been introduced to the market to be used as protectants against harmful UV radiation. However, with the realization of the adverse effects associated with the synthetic sunscreen products, there is an increasing demand for sunscreens of herbal origins. Dr. Mayuri Napagoda and her team explain here the significance of plant extracts and plant secondary metabolites for the development of sunscreens with high efficiency and low side-effect profiles while sharing their latest research findings in the field.

Continue reading “Exploring the plant kingdom for the development of novel sunscreen formulations”

No more drugs… St. John’s Wort and ginseng are there!

By Asmaa F. Galal, Attia A. Yassen, Mai S.Saleh

Contribution participating in the INPST 2018 Science Communication Awards contest.

Could you imagine?! About 16 percent of the world’s population are drug addicts. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 230 million people use illegal drugs at least once a year. Besides, 27 million people are typical addicts with 12 million of them having disabilities and 200.000 die each year (UNODC, 2015).

Continue reading “No more drugs… St. John’s Wort and ginseng are there!”

Phytoremediation Techniques for Environmental Sustainability – in the Age of Urbanization and Industrialization

”Let us Make Our Earth Pollution Free”

By Dr. Ashwini A. Waoo, AKS University, India

Contribution participating in the INPST 2018 Science Communication Awards contest.

1. Phytoremediation Technology

Our earth was a beautiful planet with plant, animal and microbial diversity but human harshly exploited all natural resources for their benefit. Industrialization and urbanization intensified the problem of pollution. Prof. Ashwini A. Waoo and her team are working on bioremediation and phytoremediation. For the improvement and sustainability of the environment, phytoremediation is a useful way which is well recognized throughout the world.

Continue reading “Phytoremediation Techniques for Environmental Sustainability – in the Age of Urbanization and Industrialization”

Can We Bring Back Extinct Species? Yes… and No

By Mikael Angelo S. Francisco

Contribution participating in the INPST 2018 Science Communication Awards contest.

Approximately 3,600 years ago, the last of the woolly mammoths took their final steps on the frosty soil of Wrangel Island, 140 km off the Russian coast. A small group of around 500 or so stragglers somehow managed to find their way to that isolated island, subsequently outliving their mainland counterparts by roughly 6,000 years.

 Asian Elephant - Richard Towell/Flickr; Woolly Mammoth - Wikimedia Commons
Asian Elephant – Richard TowellFlickr; Woolly Mammoth – Wikimedia Commons
Continue reading “Can We Bring Back Extinct Species? Yes… and No”