Water quality under the changing climatic condition: a review of the Indian scenario

The current work reviews the state of Indian water quality under the climate change regime. Rising temperatures will lead to higher concentration of pollutants like nutrients (nitrates, phosphates etc.), persistent organic pollutants and pesticides. Probable negative consequences include increase in harmful algal blooms, toxicity hazards in people etc. Rising temperatures could lead to release of higher amounts of fluoride and uranium due to prevalence of drier oxic conditions, and also arsenic due to release from iron (hydr)oxides. Implications on emerging contaminants, a new class of pollutants without any regulatory status, is not clearly understood. Prevalence of microbes in water is also predicted to increase. Coastal aquifers appear to be at risk from salt water intrusion. Conflicts on the international and national platform is predicted to rise due to issues with sharing of water. Lastly, we also discuss the sustainability options for water in India under a changing climatic regime, under three broad subcategories signifying the roles of (1) science, (2) policies and legal framework and the (3) people perspective, while also highlighting the existing lacunae.by Nilotpal Das, Chandan Mahanta and Manish Kuma

Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology

Note: A full list of authors and affiliations appears at the end of the article. Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P 20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.</p