Science Beat

The Union Health Ministry has approved a proposal for the setting up of the countrys first National Centre for Diseases Informatics and Research in Bangalore. The Centre,to be housed in the Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR building,will document and research noncommunicable diseases

In two papers to be published in The American Journal of Human Genetics ,scientists from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology,Delhi,the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology,Hyderabad and a few Indian universities have described the results of a genome-wide survey to understand the population history of the Siddis,Afro-Indians from western India. The researchers conclude that the admixture between the African ancestors of the Siddis and neighbouring South Asian groups occurred in the past eight generations.

Last week,the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO released a study of 2,190 Himalayan glaciers undertaken by 15 institutes and organisations in India. There are 32,392 glaciers in the region,covering an area of 71,182 sq km,the study says,adding that the average loss in area of the glaciers is 3.75 per cent. Interestingly,while 75 per cent of the glaciers retreated,8 per cent have advanced and 17 per cent have shown no changes.