UK Biobank opens world’s largest dataset of human genome sequences

5 years, £230 million, over 350,000 hours – that is the scale of work involved in UK Biobank’s project of genome sequencing of its half a million volunteers. The UK Biobank aims to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases by providing researchers with access to its rich and diverse data. The final set of whole exome sequencing data was released for 470,000 participants in 2022.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is a technique that reads the entire DNA code of an individual, which consists of about 3 billion letters. The genome is the set of genetic material present in the cells of an organism, which contains the instructions for building and maintaining that organism. In genome sequencing, the DNA is analyzed to identify the order of its nucleotide bases (adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine, abbreviated as A, T, C, and G).

WGS can help researchers to discover rare and novel genetic variants that are associated with diseases, traits, and drug responses. This unique and powerful resource will advance the understanding of human biology and improve the health and well-being of millions of people.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>The UK Biobank WGS project was funded by a public-private partnership involving the UK government, the Wellcome Trust, and four pharmaceutical companies: Amgen, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Johnson & Johnson.

>The sequencing was carried out by two leading genomics institutes: deCODE Genetics in Iceland and the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK. The project started in 2018 and was completed in 2023, generating 27.5 petabytes of data.

>The UK Biobank WGS data is now available to approved researchers through the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform, which is a secure cloud-based platform that allows researchers to access and analyse the data online.

>The UK Biobank WGS data is expected to have a huge impact on biomedical research and innovation. It will enable researchers to identify new genetic risk factors, biomarkers, and drug targets for a wide range of diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular diseases.

Chess has its first ever Grandmaster brother-sister pair in history

Vaishali Rameshbabu has joined her brother Praggnanandhaa as the only pair of siblings to achieve the title of Grandmaster in chess. This unique feat came as she surpassed 2500 ELO rating during the 2023 IV Elllobregat Open. She also became the third female Grandmaster from India, after Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli. Her brother Praggnanandhaa was already a Grandmaster in 2018, when at the age of 12, he became the second youngest in the world to be so.

The siblings are from Chennai and train at the Bloom Chess Academy. They are supported by their parents, Ramesh Babu and Nagalakshmi, who have sacrificed a lot for their children’s chess careers. Praggnanandha has been a guiding light for his sister, encouraging her to aim for the Candidates and giving her tips and advice. They are both inspired by the legendary Viswanathan Anand, who is also from Chennai and has been the World Chess Champion five times.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>Both the siblings have also made it for the Candidates tournament, the qualifying event for the World championship match.

>Among her recent laurels in Indian soil include the individual bronze in the Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram in 2022. She played a key role in India winning the bronze medals in the same women’s event. She followed it up with a superb win for the blitz title at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament in Kolkata.

>One of their earliest international wins came in 2012, when Vaishali and Praggnanandhaa won the nationals and qualified for the Asian youth championships in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. Despite the family struggling to put together their travel expenses, both returned champions – Vaishali in the under-12 girls, and Praggnanandhaa in the under-8 boys.

>Praggnanandhaa is only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to make a World Cup final and qualify for the Candidates tournament. He is also the only other Indian apart from Anand to have defeated Magnus Carlsen, that too multiple times.

World’s saddest elephant dies in captivity

Mali, the “world’s saddest elephant” passed away on November 28, 2023. A resident of the Manila Zoo, she was the sole captive elephant in the Philippines. News of her living alone raised concerns among conservationists and many prominent people and organizations campaigned for her release. In the last days, she suffered from cancer and was in agonizing pain.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>Originally from Sri Lanka, she was given as a gift to the Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos by the Government of Sri Lanka in 1977. She has been in the Manila Zoo since then.

>Mali caught the attention of Paul McCartney (of the Beatles) in 2013. The singer-songwriter worked with PETA to raise awareness about the elephant. He even penned a letter to the then Philippine President Benigno Aquino III urging the transfer of Mali to an elephant sanctuary in neighbouring Thailand.

>Other celebrities, including actress Pamela Anderson and reputed conservationist Jane Goodall joined the effort to “free Mali.”

>It is said Asian elephants, who are usually smaller than their African cousins, have an average lifespan of about 70 years in the wild. In captivity, it’s about 80 years.

>The oldest Asian elephant in captivity was Chengalloor Dakshayani, a female Asian elephant owned by Travancore Devaswom Board. She died in 2019 at 88 years old.

With the inauguration of NIMSR, every Indian state now has a medical college

In September 2023, Nagaland Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (NIMSR) opened its doors to 100 students. The next month, with a visit from Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandviya, the institution based in Phriebagie, about 20 minutes from Kohima, was formally inaugurated. Until now, Nagaland was the only state in Indian without a medical college.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were the last to get their medical colleges in 2018, leaving Nagaland with this dubious distinction. This comes after 60 years of statehood, and is especially relevant given it is the second oldest state in the Northeast after Assam

>The oldest such institution in the northeast — Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh — came up in 1900 after a donation by Dr John Berry White, a British surgeon considered to be the pioneer of modern healthcare in Assam.

Who is Arnold Dix, the Australian expert who helped rescue our 41 men trapped in a Uttarakhand tunnel?

On November 20, 2023, a bearded Australian arrived in India and conducted an inspection at the Silkyara tunnel site, where, following a landslide, 41 workers had been stuck inside the tunnel since November 12. After carefully judging the situation, he finally tasted success as the trapped workers were rescued, spending 17 days in that fragile environment. The rescue mission was lauded by many leaders all over the world, with a special message from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who was elated that the man who caused this miracle was an Australian.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>The mastermind behind this operation was Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, a barrister of the High Court of Australia, a scientist and a professor of engineering.

>A man with extensive experience and expertise in underground and transportation infrastructure, risk mitigation, disaster response and fire safety, he has also received several awards and recognition for his contributions to tunnelling and underground space.

Five additional sports officially included by IOC as part of LA28

As part of the 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held in Mumbai, Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash have been officially added in the roster of events for the Los Angeles Olympics 2028.

Niccolo Campriani, director of LA Local Organising Committee, acknowledged Virat Kohli’s popularity as a driving force behind cricket’s inclusion. Campriani, himself a three time Olympic gold medallist in shooting for Italy, noted, “He’s the third-most followed athlete in the world on social media with 314 million followers. That’s more than LeBron James, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods combined. This is the ultimate win-win for LA 28.”

Out of these five, baseball/softball, cricket and lacrosse have already been a part of Summer Olympics before, while flag football and squash will be making their Olympic debut in LA.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>During the inauguration of the Mumbai session of the IOC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “India will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to organise the 2036 Olympics.”

>The only time cricket was played in the Summer Olympics in 1900 Paris, Great Britain (comprising the Devon and Somerset Wanderers Club) had clinched the gold medal by defeating France (consisting of staffers from the British embassy in Paris) in a one-match showdown. Lacrosse was included at St. Louis 1904 and London 1908. Baseball and softball have shown up in multiple Olympics, most recently in 2021 for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

>Squash officials have been lobbying for decades for its inclusion in the Olympics. The World Squash Federation had launched Back the Bid 2020 to tap into the huge support players, fans and corporate organisations are showing towards Squash’s campaign to get the sport into the Olympic Games. They even roped in tennis Roger Federer who pledged his support towards the bid.

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari unveils new ensign of IAF at Air Force Day parade

At the 91st IAF Day celebrations in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari unveiled a new ensign of the Indian Air Force (IAF), replacing the existing one that was adopted more than seven decades back.

The new lAF ensign has been created to better reflect the values of the Indian Air Force.

The unveiling of the new ensign by the IAF came over a year after the Navy made changes in its ensign shedding its colonial past.

The existing ensign was adopted in 1950, replacing the Royal Indian Air Force ensign that featured the Union Jack and the RIAF roundel (red, white and blue).

KnowALLedge Plus

> The Indian Air Force was officially established on 8 October, 1932.

> In view of its professional efficiency and achievements during World War II, the force was bestowed with the prefix “Royal” in March 1945. So, it became the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF).

> In 1950, the IAF dropped its “Royal” prefix and amended the ensign as India became a Republic. The RIAF ensign consisted of the Union Jack in the upper left canton and the RIAF roundel (red, white and blue) on the fly side.

> Post-Independence, the IAF ensign was created by replacing the Union Jack with the Indian tricolour and the RAF roundels with the IAF tricolour roundel in the lower right canton.

> The IAF crest has the national symbol, the Ashoka lion on the top with the words ‘Satyameva Jayate’ in Devanagari below it. Below the Ashoka lion is a Himalayan eagle with its wings spread, denoting the fighting qualities of the IAF. A ring in light blue colour encircles the Himalayan eagle with the words ‘Bhartiya Vayu Sena. The motto of the IAF — ‘touch the sky with the glory’ is inscribed below Himalayan eagle in Devanagari.

> The IAF motto has been taken from verse 24, Chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita and means “Radiant Thou Touchest Heaven” or in other words “touching the sky with glory”.

> The parade was traditionally held at the Hindon airbase near Delhi till 2021 before the event was taken outside the national capital. It was held in Chandigarh last year and in Prayagraj this year.

Abki baar India went sau paar!

Here’s India’s medal round up at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023

ARCHERY (5 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze) 09

Gold – Mixed team compound: Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Ojas Pravin Deotale

Gold – Women’s compound team: Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami, Parneet Kaur

Gold – Men’s compound team: Abhishek Verma, Ojas Pravin Deotale, Prathamesh Jawkar

Gold – Women’s compound individual:  Jyothi Surekha Vennam

Gold – Men’s compound individual: Ojas Pravin Deotale

Silver     Men’s recurve team: Atanu Das, Tushar Shelke, Dhiraj Bommadevara

Silver     Men’s compound individual: Abhishek Verma

Bronze  Women’s recurve team: Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, Simranjeet Kaur

Bronze  Women’s compound individual: Aditi Swami

ATHLETICS (6 Gold, 14 Silver, 9 Bronze) 29

Gold – Men’s 3000m steeplechase: Avinash Sable

Gold – Men’s shotput: Tajinderpal Singh Toor

Gold – Women’s 5000m: Parul Chaudhary

Gold – Women’s javelin throw: Annu Rani

Gold – Men’s javelin throw: Neeraj Chopra

Gold – Men’s 4x400m relay: Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, Rajesh Ramesh

Silver – Men’s 10,000m: Karthik Kumar

Silver – Women’s 1500m: Harmilan Bains

Silver – Men’s 1500m: Ajay Kumar Saroj

Silver – Men’s long jump: Murali Sreeshankar

Silver – Women’s 100m hurdles: Jyothi Yarraji

Silver – Women’s 3000m steeplechase: Parul Chaudhary

Silver – Women’s long jump: Ancy Sojan

Silver – Mixed 4x400m relay: Muhammad Ajmal, Vithya Ramraj, Rajesh Ramesh, Subha Venkatesan

Silver – Men’s 800m: Mohammed Afsal

Silver – Men’s decathlon: Tejaswin Shankar

Silver – Women’s 800m: Harmilan Bains

Silver – Men’s 5000m: Avinash Sable

Silver – Women’s 4x400m relay: Vithya Ramraj, Aishwarya Kailash Mishra, Prachi, Subha Venkatesan

Silver – Men’s javelin throw: Kishore Jena

Bronze – Women’s shotput: Kiran Baliyan

Bronze – Men’s 10,000m: Gulveer Singh

Bronze – Men’s 1500m: Jinson Johnson

Bronze – Women’s heptathlon: Nandini Agasara

Bronze – Women’s discus throw: Seema Punia

Bronze – Women’s 3000m steeplechase: Priti Lamba

Bronze – Women’s 400m hurdles: Vithya Ramraj

Bronze – Men’s triple jump: Praveen Chithravel

Bronze – Mixed team race walk: Manju Rani, Ram Baboo

BADMINTON (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze) 03

Gold – Men’s doubles: Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy

Silver – Men’s team: Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, MR Arjun, Dhruva Kapila, HS Prannoy, Mithun Manjunath, Sai Pratheek, Rohan Kapoor

Bronze – Men’s singles: HS Prannoy

BOXING (1 Silver, 4 Bronze) 05

Silver – Women’s 75kg: Lovlina Borgohain

Bronze – Women’s 50kg: Nikhat Zareen

Bronze – Women’s 54kg: Preeti Pawar

Bronze – Men’s +92kg: Narender Berwal

Bronze – Women’s 57kg: Parveen Hooda

BRIDGE (1 Silver) 01

Silver – Men’s team: Raju Tolani, Ajay Prabhakar Khare, Rajeshwar Tewari, Sumit Mukherjee, Jaggy Shivdasani, Sandeep Thakral

CANOE SPRINT (1 Bronze) 01

Bronze – Men’s canoe double 1000m: Arjun Singh, Sunil Singh Salam

CHESS (2 Silver) 02

Silver – Men’s team: Gukesh D, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa

Silver – Women’s team: Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agrawal, Savitha Shri B

CRICKET (2 Gold) 02

Gold – Women’s T20 cricket: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Pooja Vastrakar, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry, Anusha Bareddy

Gold – Men’s team: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh, Akash Deep

EQUESTRIAN (1 Gold, 1 Bronze) 02

Gold – Team dressage: Hriday Chheda, Anush Agarwalla, Divyakriti Singh, Sudipti Hajela

Bronze – Individual dressage: Anush Agarwalla

GOLF (1 Silver) 02

Silver – Women’s golf: Aditi Ashok

HOCKEY (1 Gold, 1 Bronze) 02

Gold – Men’s team: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Pathak, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Abhishek, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay

Bronze – Women’s team: Savita Punia, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Deepika, Lalremsiami, Monika, Navneet Kaur, Neha, Nisha, Sonika, Udita, Ishika Chaudhary, Deep Grace Ekka, Vandana Katariya, Sangita Kumari, Vaishnavi Vittal Phalke, Nikki Pradhan, Sushila Chanu, Salima Tete

KABADDI (2 Gold) 02

Gold – Women’s kabaddi: Akshima, Jyoti, Pooja, Pooja, Priyanka, Pushpa, Sakshi Kumari, Ritu Negi, Nidhi Sharma, Sushma Sharma, Snehal Pradeep Shinde, Sonali Vishnu Shingat

Gold – Men’s kabaddi: Nitesh Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Sachin, Surjeet Singh, Vishal Bhardwaj, Arjun Deshwal, Aslam Inamdar, Naveen Kumar, Pawan Sehrawat, Sunil Kumar, Nitin Rawal, Akash Shinde

ROLLER SKATING (2 Bronze) 02

Bronze – Women’s speed skating 3000m relay: Karthika Jagadeeswaran, Heeral Sadhu, Aarathy Kasturi Raj, Sanjana Bathula

Bronze – Men’s speed skating 3000m relay: Vikram Rajendra Ingale, Siddhant Rahul Kamble, Anandkumar Velkumar, Aryanpal Singh Ghuman

ROWING (2 Silver, 3 Bronze) 05

Silver – Men’s lightweight double sculls: Arjun Lal Jat, Arvind Singh

Silver     Men’s eight: Neeraj, Naresh Kalwaniya, Neetesh Kumar, Charanjeet Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Bheem Singh, Punit Kumar, Ashish, DU Pande

Bronze – Men’s pair: Babu Lal Yadav, Lekh Ram

Bronze – Men’s four: Jaswinder Singh, Bheem Singh, Punit Kumar, Ashish

Bronze – Men’s quadruple: Parminder Singh, Satnam Singh, Jakar Khan, Sukhmeet Singh

SAILING (1 Silver, 2 Bronze) 03             

Silver – Girl’s Dinghy – ILCA4: Neha Thakur

Bronze – Men’s Windsurfer – RS:X: Eabad Ali

Bronze – Men’s dinghy ICLA7: Vishnu Saravanan

SEPAKTAKRAW (1 Bronze) 01

Bronze – Women’s regu: Khushbu, Maipak Devi Ayekam, Leirentonbi Devi Elangbam, Priya Devi Elangbam, Chaoba Devi Oinam

SHOOTING (7 Gold, 9 Silver, 6 Bronze) 22

Gold – Men’s 10m air rifle team: Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Divyansh Singh Panwar

Gold – Women’s 25m pistol team: Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan, Esha Singh

Gold – Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Sift Kaur Samra

Gold – Men’s 10m air pistol team: Arjun Cheema, Sarabjot Singh, Shiva Narwal

Gold – Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions team: Swapnil Kushale, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Akhil Sheoran

Gold – Women’s 10m air pistol: Palak Gulia

Gold – Men’s trap team: Kynan Chenai, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Prithviraj Tondaiman

Silver – Women’s 10m air rifle team: Ashi Chouksey, Mehuli Ghosh, Ramita Jindal

Silver – Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions team: Ashi Chouksey, Manini Kaushik, Sift Kaur Samra

Silver – Women’s 25m pistol: Esha Singh

Silver – Men’s skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka

Silver – Women’s 10m air pistol team: Esha Singh, Divya TS, Palak Gulia

Silver – Women’s 10m air pistol: Esha Singh

Silver – Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar

Silver – Mixed team 10m air pistol: Sarabjot Singh, Divya TS

Silver – Women’s trap team: Manisha Keer, Preeti Rajak, Rajeshwari Kumari

Bronze – Women’s 10m air rifle: Ramita Jindal

Bronze – Men’s 10m air rifle: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar

Bronze – Men’s 25m rapid file pistol team: Vijayveer Sidhu, Adarsh Singh, Anish Bhanwala

Bronze – Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Ashi Chouksey

Bronze – Men’s skeet team: Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Gurjoat Singh Khangura, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa

Bronze – Men’s trap: Kynan Chenai

SQUASH (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze) 05

Gold – Men’s team: Saurav Ghosal, Abhay Singh, Harinder Pal Singh, Mahesh Mangaonkar

Gold – Mixed doubles: Dipika Pallikal, Harinder Pal Sandhu

Silver – Men’s singles: Saurav Ghosal

Bronze -Women’s team: Joshna Chinappa, Anahat Singh, Tanvi Khanna, Dipika Pallikal

Bronze – Mixed team: Anahat Singh, Abhay Singh

TABLE TENNIS (1 Bronze) 01

Bronze – Women’s doubles: Ayhika Mukherjee, Sutirtha Mukherjee

TENNIS (1 Gold, 1 Silver) 02

Gold – Mixed doubles: Rohan Bopanna, Rutuja Bhosale

Silver – Men’s doubles    Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan

WRESTLING (1 Silver, 5 Bronze) 06

Silver – Men’s freestyle 86kg: Deepak Punia

Bronze – Greco-Roman 87kg: Sunil Kumar

Bronze – Women’s 53kg: Antim Panghal

Bronze – Women’s 62kg: Sonam Malik

Bronze – Women’s 76kg: Kiran Bishnoi

Bronze – Men’s freestyle 57kg: Aman Sehrawat

WUSHU (1 Silver) 01  

Silver – Women’s 60kg sanda: Naorem Roshibina Devi

Scientists uncover tongue’s sixth basic taste

Our tongue does better than we imagine, as per fresh revelations from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. It can identify not five, but six tastes! USC Dornsife unveiled evidence of a potential sixth basic taste – Ammonium chloride, a compound well-acquainted with those in Scandinavian countries where it is an essential ingredient in salt licorice, a candy that dates to the early 20th century.

KnowALLedge Plus

> The five tastes that human tongue can detect are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami

> Umami was a late addition recognized in the early 1900s thanks to the work of Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda.

> Previously uncovered protein OTOP1, plays a pivotal role in detecting sour tastes. It functions as a channel for hydrogen ions when exposed to acidic sour foods, like lemonade and vinegar. Researchers hypothesised that ammonium chloride might also activate OTOP1 due to its impact on hydrogen ion concentration within cells.

Gear up to vroom above the traffic with a first of its kind flying car

A fully electric car you can drive on public roads and fly to skip traffic may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but San Mateo, California based Alef Aeronautics is making it a reality. The company revealed that its flying car, “Model A,” has become the first of its kind to receive legal approval to fly from the US government – a Special Airworthiness Certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

It is the first time a vehicle of this nature has been certified in the US. The flying car is being developed for driving on a “regular urban or rural road.” It can be parked in a regular parking space and inside a regular-sized garage.

KnowALLedge Plus

> The flying car is 100 per cent electric and can carry one or two occupants. The car costs roughly $300,000 as it can fly over stopped traffic and accidents on roadways.

> The car will not go faster than 25 miles per hour on a paved surface as it is a low-speed vehicle.

> In January, the company said that over 440 of its vehicles had been pre-ordered “from both individuals and corporate consumers.”

> The company hopes to begin delivering flying cars to customers by the end of 2025.

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