Clean drinking water is an essential prerequisite for good health. In a country like India, where 21% of communicable diseases spread through unsafe water, and more than 500 children under the age of five die each day from diarrhoea, the accessibility to clean drinking water is paramount. Researchers from the CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, have developed a frugal water purification system, Oneer, to help overcome our water woes.
The study from IISc found a previously unidentified yeast-like symbiont inside the lac insect Kerria lacca, which gives the insect its distinctive red colour and, may also provide other nutrients in return for shelter.