Earth
Madhya Pradesh: Crop Damage Due to Excessive Rain—What Could Be the Solution?
Excessive rains in Madhya Pradesh have destroyed crops across villages like Chirai and Kesli, leaving farmers’ livelihoods at risk. Experts suggest simple solutions like drainage channels and raised-bed sowing to protect fields and build resilience against erratic monsoons.
This year, too, the monsoon in India brought not the usual promise of prosperity but widespread destruction, as it has in recent years. Torrential rains flooded farmlands across several states, washing away livelihoods and submerging the hopes of millions of farmers. Instead of irrigating the fields, the rain turned into an unrelenting deluge. States like Punjab, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh experienced heavy flooding that claimed lives, displaced thousands, and devastated crops — a major blow to the country’s agricultural economy.
When rain becomes a curse
Madhya Pradesh, often called the “Heart of India,” has been particularly affected. Both floods and waterlogging have crippled agriculture. The monsoon began on June 16, and by the end of September, the state had received 119% of its average rainfall — 44.2 inches instead of the expected 37 inches, a 7.2-inch surplus.
In the Bundelkhand region, which spans parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, July’s rainfall broke a ten-year record. Sagar district recorded 471 mm, Tikamgarh 416 mm, Damoh 365 mm, Niwari 362 mm, and Chhatarpur 261 mm. The rain persisted through October, flooding villages and turning agricultural land into temporary lakes. Bundelkhand, already known for its fragile ecology and dependence on monsoon rains, saw crops submerged instead of nourished. The result: massive losses of yield and income.
The ground reality: Voices from the fields
A glimpse of the devastation can be seen in the rural belt of Sagar district, where a majority of the population depends on agriculture. Kesli Tehsil, located about 65 km from Sagar city, is known for its fertile soil and green cover. But this year, the sight is heartbreaking — bent paddy stalks, rotting soybean pods, and maize that never reached maturity.
“Even clearing the field costs more than what we’ll earn.” In Chirai village, farmers are counting their losses. Arjun, a natural farming practitioner who owns about 12 acres, says, “Agriculture is the livelihood for all communities here — Brahmin, Thakur, Adivasi, Harijan, and Chadhar. The rains destroyed everyone’s crops. Even the ‘murum’ (gravelly) soil areas are damaged, and crops on black and yellow soil have been wiped out. Until July–August, everything looked promising. Then the rain washed away the crops — and our hopes. The damage is so severe that we won’t even recover the cost of clearing the fields. Farmers will now have to borrow money for the next crop. I fear many small farmers will leave their fields unsown.”
He paused before adding, “A farmer’s income mainly depends on two or three crops a year. Money comes only when we sell them. If the crops are ruined, how will we survive?”
“Our maize only grew three feet”
Sachin Thakur, another farmer from Chirai with 15 acres of land, shares, “I sowed soybean and maize. The soybean was mostly spoiled by the rain, and what remained dried up. The maize plants only grew three to four feet. Some cobs developed, but most plants had none, and the few cobs that did grow had fewer kernels. Nearby villages like Jaruwa, Bamni, Patna, Samnapur, Kukwara, and Mahka are all suffering the same fate.”
“The biodiversity of our fields is dying”
Ramji Thakur, also from Chirai and a member of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (Indian Farmers’ Union), explains: “We five brothers cultivate about 40 acres. This year we sowed maize, paddy, and soybean. All have been hit badly. The soybean is completely ruined — we’ll have to plough it back into the soil. Apart from the rain, the biodiversity of our crops and fields is also in danger. The government must take steps for conservation, inspection, and field development to preserve soil fertility and crop purity.”
“Only a little hope left for maize”
In Utkata village, Suresh Kumar Mehra manages 12 acres (four owned, eight leased).
“I planted radish, sponge gourd, pigeon pea (tur), groundnut, and maize. Except for maize on two acres, everything was destroyed by rain and waterlogging. Only the maize gives me a little hope.”
“A fungus ruined our maize”
From Jetpur Doma village, Sitaram Patel says, “I have six acres, and my family has been farming for three generations. This time we grew bottle gourd and tomato, which survived. But maize around us is ruined. About 10% of it got a fungal disease because of waterlogging. The plants couldn’t withstand the rain.”
“Rs 40,000 gone—and nothing to show for it”
Govind Patel from Chauka village detailed his financial losses, “I sowed maize and pigeon pea on five acres. I spent around Rs 40,000 (approx. $480) on seeds, fertilizer, and chemicals. The pigeon pea is completely gone. Only maize might help me recover part of the cost. But most farmers nearby have maize that only grew two to two-and-a-half feet before turning yellow.”
“Only a third of our seeds sprouted”
Ajab Singh, a farmer from Kewlari Kalan, shares, “Here we have small and big farmers, and everyone’s crop is affected. We sowed paddy, soybean, and maize, but because of continuous rain and waterlogging, many seeds didn’t even sprout. In most fields, only about 25–30% of the seeds grew.”
He added that crops in surrounding villages like Kheri, Semra, Ghana, and Idalpur were also submerged.
“In low-lying areas, 90% of crops are gone”
Arvind Bhaiji, another Kesli farmer, says, “The flat and low-lying fields are more damaged, while crops in slightly elevated areas are better. Some crops are 50% damaged, others 70%, and some even 90% ruined. The rain caused root rot, and the urea fertilizer has been washed away. Farmers here have small landholdings and little money to manage rainwater.”
District Farmers’ Union: ‘Satellite surveys can’t see reality’
When contacted, Raghuvir Tomar, district president of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, says, “the situation of both crops and farmers is very bad. We are demanding that the government conduct an accurate survey and give compensation.”
He criticized the current assessment methods, “In some places, a satellite survey is being used, but it’s not accurate. It doesn’t show the condition of the kernels or the extent of the rot. The ground reality is much worse.”
Climate Change, adaptation, and farmer-led Solutions
As farmers struggle to rebuild, Akash Chaurasia, a nationally recognized innovator in sustainable agriculture, offers a hopeful path. Known for developing Multi-Layer Farming, Akash believes the situation is not hopeless — it just demands adaptation.
“This imbalance of excessive rain is a form of climate change,” he explains. “It’s a disruption that can destroy ecosystems if farmers don’t adapt. But solutions exist.”
His advice is straightforward and affordable:
1. Build Drainage Channels
“During heavy rain, farmers should dig a two-foot-deep and two-foot-wide drain around the raised boundary (med) of their field. This helps excess water escape into canals or pits. When water collects underground, it recharges groundwater and prevents soil erosion. Fertilizer won’t wash away, and waterlogging will end.”
2. Adopt Raised-Bed (Med) Sowing
“In the Med method, crops are sown four to five inches above the ground. When it rains, the water stays in the drains, not around the crop. This prevents root rot. Farmers can do this with their own labour — no extra money is needed. I’ve used it on my own farm, and our crops stay healthy even in heavy rain.”
Akash believes such simple practices, if widely adopted, could transform India’s vulnerability into resilience.
“If every farmer in waterlogged regions followed these two steps, we could save thousands of acres every year.”
Government Support — And What’s Still Missing
India has several schemes designed to protect farmers from disasters:
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (2016): Provides crop insurance and financial assistance during natural calamities.
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN, 2019): Offers Rs 6,000 (approx. $72) annually to farmers for basic support.
- Mukhyamantri Kisan Kalyan Yojana (2020): Adds another Rs 6,000 (approx. $72) per year from the state government.
Despite these, many farmers say the support arrives late or doesn’t cover losses. As Arjun pointed out, “We can’t wait months for relief when we have to buy seeds next week.”
Experts argue that while insurance and compensation help recovery, the real solution lies in prevention — teaching farmers low-cost water management, soil conservation, and climate-resilient methods.
Bringing science and policy Together
Agricultural scientists emphasize the importance of integrating climate-adaptive strategies into local farming practices. Soil moisture mapping, satellite-assisted flood prediction, and localized extension services can inform when to sow, which crops to prioritize, and how to manage water in extreme rainfall years.
What the farmers of Bundelkhand need is not just relief but resilience. Drainage systems, raised-bed cultivation, and better soil management can all help farmers cope with erratic rainfall
Bundelkhand’s case demonstrates a broader climate reality: traditional monsoon patterns no longer guarantee stable farming. What worked decades ago may fail today. Farmers, government agencies, and scientific institutions must collaborate to create resilient systems that protect crops, livelihoods, and the environment.
What the farmers of Bundelkhand need is not just relief but resilience. Drainage systems, raised-bed cultivation, and better soil management can all help farmers cope with erratic rainfall. Local governments could play a transformative role by integrating these ideas into training programs, agricultural extension services, and climate adaptation schemes.
The story of this year’s rain in Madhya Pradesh is one of loss — but also of learning. Farmers like Akash Chaurasia show that adaptation begins with awareness and small, practical steps. If those lessons spread across India’s rural heartland, future monsoons might once again bring prosperity, not panic. The monsoon, once India’s lifeline, is now becoming unpredictable under a changing climate. What farmers in Madhya Pradesh need most is not just compensation—but climate-smart solutions that can secure their future harvests.
(The story is part of EdPublica’s Solutions Journalism Initiative)
Plastic biodegradation is emerging as a critical solution to the global waste crisis, and new research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers important insights into how this process actually works in nature.
A new study by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shed fresh light on how bacteria in marine environments collaborate to break down biodegradable plastics—offering critical insights into tackling the global plastic waste crisis.
Biodegradable plastics have long been seen as a potential solution to mounting environmental pollution. However, scientists have struggled to determine how long these materials persist in real-world conditions and how microbial communities contribute to their breakdown.
The study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, marks one of the first efforts to identify the specific roles individual bacterial species play in plastic biodegradation.
“Plastic biodegradation is highly dependent on the microbial community where the plastic ends up,” says lead author Marc Foster, a PhD researcher in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program. “It’s also dependent on the chemistry of the plastic itself.”
Unlike earlier studies that focused on single microbes, the MIT team examined how multiple bacterial species work together—a more realistic representation of how plastics degrade in nature.
The researchers studied a widely used biodegradable plastic known as an aromatic aliphatic co-polyester, commonly found in shopping bags, food packaging, and agricultural films.
Samples of this plastic were first exposed to seawater in the Mediterranean, allowing natural bacterial communities to form biofilms on their surface. Scientists then isolated and analysed these microbes in the lab.
Key findings include:
- One bacterium, Pseudomonas pachastrellae, was able to break down the plastic polymer into smaller chemical components.
- Other bacterial species were needed to consume those individual chemicals, including terephthalic acid, sebacic acid, and butanediol.
- No single bacterium could complete the entire degradation process alone.
When researchers combined five complementary bacterial species, they were able to replicate the full degradation process observed in a larger microbial community.
“This complementary function was essential,” Foster explains. “None of the bacteria alone could achieve the same level of degradation as when they worked together.”
Why Plastic Biodegradation Rates Vary
The findings suggest that the speed and efficiency of plastic biodegradation depend on several key factors:
- Microbial diversity in the environment
- Chemical composition of the plastic
- Environmental conditions such as temperature and depth
Notably, the study also found that the same bacterial community could not degrade a different type of plastic, indicating that microbial systems may be highly material-specific.
Implications for Future Plastic Recycling Solutions
The research represents an important step toward developing microbial recycling systems that could convert plastic waste into useful materials.
By understanding how bacteria interact with plastics at a molecular level, scientists could:
- Design plastics that degrade more predictably
- Engineer microbial communities for faster plastic breakdown
- Develop biological recycling technologies
Foster notes that future work will explore how to optimise bacterial combinations and improve enzyme interactions with plastic surfaces.
A Step Forward in Tackling the Plastic Waste Crisis
With more than half of global plastic waste ending up in landfills or the environment, understanding plastic biodegradation is crucial for sustainable material design.
This study highlights a fundamental shift in perspective: plastic degradation is not driven by a single organism, but by complex microbial collaboration.
As research advances, such insights could help bridge the gap between biodegradable materials and real-world environmental outcomes—bringing science closer to solving one of the planet’s most pressing pollution challenges.The study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, marks one of the first efforts to identify the specific roles individual bacterial species play in plastic biodegradation.
“Plastic biodegradation is highly dependent on the microbial community where the plastic ends up,” says lead author Marc Foster, a PhD researcher in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program. “It’s also dependent on the chemistry of the plastic itself.”
Unlike earlier studies that focused on single microbes, the MIT team examined how multiple bacterial species work together—a more realistic representation of how plastics degrade in nature.
Earth
EP Investigation: Hidden Epidemic, Tuberculosis Spreads Among Kerala’s Captive Elephants
An EP Investigation into tuberculosis in Kerala’s captive elephants reveals human transmission risks, weak screening systems, and urgent policy gaps.
Tuberculosis in Kerala’s captive elephants has become a silent but persistent threat, driven largely by human-to-animal transmission, chronic stress, and systemic failures in veterinary public health. An EdPublica (EP) Investigation reveals how the absence of routine screening, weak governance, and prolonged neglect could turn a preventable disease into a far larger crisis in the years ahead.
By Lakshmi Narayanan | EP Investigation
Tuberculosis is quietly spreading among Kerala’s captive elephants, sustained not by wildlife exposure but by human contact, chronic stress, and systemic neglect. Long treated as a marginal veterinary issue, the disease represents a serious and largely ignored public health and animal welfare crisis—one that experts warn could intensify in the coming years if left unaddressed.
Kerala hosts one of the largest populations of captive Asian elephants in India, housed by temples, private owners, and festival organisers. According to a Forest Department survey concluded in February 2025, the state currently has 389 captive elephants, marking a steady decline from 521 in 2018 and over 700 in 2010, with the majority now owned by private individuals. This sharp reduction over the past decade reflects broader stresses within the captive elephant system, including ageing animals, declining ownership viability, and chronic health concerns.
Within this shrinking population, tuberculosis is neither new nor rare; it is endemic. Historical veterinary records and animal welfare documentation indicate that in earlier years, TB may have contributed to as many as 25 captive elephant deaths annually. Yet in recent times, detailed and transparent reporting on TB-related infections and fatalities has largely disappeared from public view, creating a misleading impression that the risk has diminished when, in reality, surveillance itself has weakened.
This absence of attention does not signal reduced risk. Tuberculosis is a slow, insidious disease that can remain latent or undiagnosed for years. Without mandatory screening or transparent surveillance, infection can circulate undetected within captive elephant populations—allowing animals to suffer prolonged illness and potentially function as silent reservoirs of infection.
The persistence of tuberculosis among captive elephants is not accidental. It is the result of a convergence of vulnerabilities: constant exposure to infected humans, immune suppression driven by captivity-related stress, and systemic failures in veterinary public health governance. Together, these factors have created ideal conditions for a preventable disease to endure—largely unseen, and largely unchallenged.
The Human–Elephant Interface: A Critical Transmission Pathway
The primary route of TB transmission among Kerala’s captive elephants is reverse zoonosis: the spread of infection from humans to animals. The causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a human-adapted pathogen transmitted through respiratory aerosols. In settings where elephants live and work in close proximity to people, this pathway becomes epidemiologically decisive.
Mahouts and handlers represent the most significant source of chronic exposure. Their daily routines—feeding, bathing, training, and transporting elephants—require prolonged, close physical contact. If a handler carries an active or latent TB infection, the opportunity for transmission to the animal is constant and cumulative.
In addition to handlers, the general public constitutes a secondary but important exposure source. Kerala’s festival culture routinely places elephants amid dense crowds, often for extended periods. These gatherings create intermittent but high-volume opportunities for transmission from undiagnosed or untreated individuals within the broader population. Together, these human reservoirs ensure that captive elephants are rarely insulated from the pathogen. Yet exposure alone does not fully explain disease persistence. The risk of infection is significantly magnified by conditions that undermine the elephants’ immune defenses.
“Tuberculosis in captive elephants is a severe and often underestimated disease. What is seen during post-mortem examinations is extensive, chronic organ damage that reflects prolonged suffering rather than sudden illness. These findings are consistent with long-term exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and delayed detection, Dr. Arun Vishvanathan, a veterinary expert based in Kerala’s Palakkad district, tells EdPublica.
“From a medical and public health perspective, this condition is particularly concerning because it is largely driven by human-to-animal transmission. Elephants living in close, continuous contact with people—especially under stressful captive conditions—experience immune suppression, which allows the infection to progress unchecked. This is not an unavoidable disease; it is a preventable one. Without routine screening of both handlers and elephants, early diagnosis, and strict biosecurity measures, such cases will continue to occur, resulting in needless animal suffering and ongoing public health risk,” Dr. Arun Vishvanathan adds.
Stress, Captivity, and Immune Compromise
Captive environments impose profound physiological and psychological stress on elephants, a species evolved for expansive movement, complex social structures, and environmental autonomy. Confinement to restricted spaces, prolonged chaining, limited exercise, and forced participation in noisy, crowded festivals all contribute to chronic stress.
Scientific evidence across species demonstrates that sustained stress suppresses immune function. In elephants, this immunosuppression reduces resistance to opportunistic infections such as TB and increases the likelihood that latent infections will progress to active disease.
Crowding further compounds the problem. Elephants housed in close quarters or transported frequently between venues are exposed not only to more humans but also to environments conducive to airborne disease transmission. In these conditions, respiratory pathogens can spread efficiently, especially when animals are already physiologically compromised.
”Tuberculosis in Kerala’s captive elephants spreads primarily through close, repeated contact with infected humans, and is sustained by conditions that weaken the animals’ natural defenses. Unlike many wildlife diseases, this is not an infection originating in forests—it is largely a human-driven disease cycle. Mahouts and handlers are the most significant transmission source. Daily activities such as feeding, bathing, chaining, and transport require close physical proximity, often for hours at a time. If a handler has active or undiagnosed TB, the elephant is repeatedly exposed to infectious aerosols,” says Manuprasad, an elephant welfare worker from Thrissur.
Festival crowds and tourists create additional exposure. During temple festivals and public events, elephants are surrounded by dense crowds, sometimes for entire days. In these settings, even brief exposure to multiple infected individuals can result in infection.
Systemic Gaps in Veterinary Public Health
Perhaps the most critical vulnerability lies not in biology but in governance. Kerala lacks a standardized, mandatory TB screening programme for captive elephants. As a result, infected animals—many of them asymptomatic—remain undiagnosed for years. This failure in routine surveillance effectively blinds any meaningful public health response and allows elephants to function as silent reservoirs of infection.
Experts warn that tuberculosis in Kerala’s captive elephants could expand if mandatory screening and biosecurity measures are not urgently implemented.
Nutritional inadequacy is another systemic issue. Economic pressures within the temple and festival ecosystem often translate into suboptimal feeding regimes. Poor nutrition weakens immune responses, lowering the infectious dose required for TB to establish and spread.
Compounding these challenges is a widespread lack of awareness among elephant owners and handlers regarding TB transmission and prevention. Clear, enforceable biosecurity protocols—covering quarantine, treatment, and movement restrictions for TB-positive animals—are largely absent or inconsistently applied. Without such measures, even identified cases pose an ongoing risk to other elephants and to humans.
”As an animal rights and welfare activist, I have personally witnessed the post-mortem of an elephant affected by tuberculosis, and it was deeply distressing. The extent of internal damage revealed the severe and prolonged suffering this animal endured—far beyond what most people realize. Seeing such devastation in an animal of immense strength and dignity is heartbreaking,” explains Ambili Purackal, founder of DAYA, a Kerala-based NGO known for its proactive role in the state’s animal rights movement.
What makes this suffering even harder to accept is that it is largely the result of human exposure. Elephants do not face tuberculosis at these levels in the wild; they contract it through forced, prolonged contact with humans under stressful captive conditions that weaken their immunity. This is not just a veterinary concern but a moral one. These elephants are silent victims of preventable disease, and their suffering is a consequence of human neglect and systemic failure,” Ambili Purackal says.
Secondary and Less-Documented Risks
While human-to-elephant transmission remains the dominant concern, other pathways cannot be entirely dismissed. Interactions with domestic livestock or wildlife in shared environments may contribute to transmission chains, though this remains poorly documented in the Indian context. These ancillary risks further underscore the need for comprehensive epidemiological research.
A Convergence of Vulnerabilities
Taken together, the vulnerabilities facing Kerala’s captive elephants form a self-reinforcing cycle. Constant exposure to a human TB reservoir, chronic immune compromise driven by captivity-related stress and poor nutrition, and systemic failures in disease detection and control create ideal conditions for TB persistence.
Breaking this cycle will require a multi-layered public health approach—one that integrates routine screening, improved nutrition, handler health monitoring, and enforceable management protocols. Without such intervention, tuberculosis will remain a silent epidemic, exacting a slow but devastating toll on one of Kerala’s most culturally significant animal populations.
Silence, in this case, is not neutrality—it is risk.
What Needs to Change
Addressing tuberculosis among Kerala’s captive elephants requires coordinated action across animal welfare, public health, and governance. Experts and welfare workers interviewed by EdPublica point to the following urgent priorities:
1. Mandatory TB Screening
· Routine, standardised tuberculosis testing for all captive elephants
· Regular TB screening for mahouts, handlers, and caretakers
· Immediate isolation and treatment protocols for positive cases
2. Handler Health Monitoring
· Integration of mahout health checks into public TB control programmes
· Confidential diagnosis and treatment access to reduce stigma and underreporting
3. Improved Living Conditions
· Reduced chaining and confinement
· Adequate daily exercise and social interaction
· Limits on festival exposure, crowd density, and noise-related stress
4. Nutritional Standards
· Enforced minimum nutrition guidelines
· Regular veterinary audits to ensure immune-supportive diets
5. Biosecurity and Movement Controls
· Quarantine protocols for newly acquired or transferred elephants
· Restrictions on inter-district or inter-state movement of TB-positive animals
6. Transparent Reporting and Oversight
· Publicly accessible data on TB cases and outcomes
· Independent audits of temple and private elephant management practices
7. Interdepartmental Coordination
· Formal collaboration between forest, animal husbandry, and public health departments
· Recognition of TB in captive elephants as a One Health issue—linking human, animal, and environmental health
Some sources in this investigation have requested anonymity due to professional or personal safety concerns. Their identities are known to EdPublica and their statements have been independently verified.
Early life on Earth has found an interetsing turning point. A new study by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests that some of Earth’s earliest life forms may have evolved the ability to use oxygen hundreds of millions of years before it became a permanent part of the planet’s atmosphere.
Oxygen is essential to most life on Earth today, but it was not always abundant. Scientists have long believed that oxygen only became a stable component of the atmosphere around 2.3 billion years ago, during a turning point known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). The new findings indicate that biological use of oxygen may have begun much earlier, potentially reshaping scientists’ understanding of how life evolved on Earth.
The study, published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, traces the evolutionary origins of a key enzyme that allows organisms to use oxygen for aerobic respiration. This enzyme is present in most oxygen-breathing life forms today, from bacteria to humans.
Scientists have long believed that oxygen only became a stable component of the atmosphere around 2.3 billion years ago, during a turning point known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). The new findings indicate that biological use of oxygen may have begun much earlier, potentially reshaping scientists’ understanding of how life evolved on Earth
MIT geobiologists found that the enzyme likely evolved during the Mesoarchean era, between 3.2 and 2.8 billion years ago—several hundred million years before the Great Oxidation Event.
The findings may help answer a long-standing mystery in Earth’s history: why it took so long for oxygen to accumulate in the atmosphere. Scientists know that cyanobacteria, the first organisms capable of producing oxygen through photosynthesis, emerged around 2.9 billion years ago. Yet atmospheric oxygen levels remained low for hundreds of millions of years after their appearance.
While geochemical reactions with rocks were previously thought to be the main reason oxygen failed to build up early on, the MIT study suggests biology itself may also have played a role. Early organisms that evolved the oxygen-using enzyme may have consumed small amounts of oxygen as soon as it was produced, limiting how much could accumulate in the atmosphere.
“This does dramatically change the story of aerobic respiration,” said Fatima Husain, postdoctoral researcher in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, said in a media statement. “Our study adds to this very recently emerging story that life may have used oxygen much earlier than previously thought. It shows us how incredibly innovative life is at all periods in Earth’s history.”
The research team analysed thousands of genetic sequences of heme-copper oxygen reductases—enzymes essential for aerobic respiration—across a wide range of modern organisms. By mapping these sequences onto an evolutionary tree and anchoring them with fossil and geological evidence, the researchers were able to estimate when the enzyme first emerged.
“The puzzle pieces are fitting together and really underscore how life was able to diversify and live in this new, oxygenated world
Tracing the enzyme back through time, the team concluded that oxygen use likely appeared soon after cyanobacteria began producing oxygen. Organisms living close to these microbes may have rapidly consumed the oxygen they released, delaying its escape into the atmosphere.
“Considered all together, MIT research has filled in the gaps in our knowledge of how Earth’s oxygenation proceeded,” Husain said. “The puzzle pieces are fitting together and really underscore how life was able to diversify and live in this new, oxygenated world.”
The study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that life on Earth adapted to oxygen far earlier than previously believed, offering new insights into how biological innovation shaped the planet’s atmosphere and the evolution of complex life.
How China Is Redrawing the Global Map of Critical Minerals
Magnetic Fields Found to Shape Star Formation Near Milky Way Disc
Researchers Use AI to Enable Robots to ‘See’ Through Walls
India’s Power Future: 70% Non-Fossil Capacity by 2035-36, But Grid Challenges Loom
EVs avoided oil equal to 70% of Iran’s exports in 2025
How the Iran–Israel–US Conflict Ripples Through India’s Economy and Energy Future
AI in Classrooms: Threat to Learning or Catalyst for Educational Transformation?
Climate change heat impact affected over 2.5 billion people
Weather, Not Just Emissions, Driving PM2.5 Pollution in Indian Cities: Study
Study Reveals How Ocean Bacteria Drive Plastic Biodegradation
-
Society3 months agoThe Ten-Rupee Doctor Who Sparked a Health Revolution in Kerala’s Tribal Highlands
-
COP305 months ago
Brazil Cuts Emissions by 17% in 2024—Biggest Drop in 16 Years, Yet Paris Target Out of Reach
-
Society3 months ago
From Qubits to Folk Puppetry: India’s Biggest Quantum Science Communication Conclave Wraps Up in Ahmedabad
-
Women In Science5 months ago
The Data Don’t Lie: Women Are Still Missing from Science — But Why?
-
Earth4 months ago
Data Becomes the New Oil: IEA Says AI Boom Driving Global Power Demand
-
COP304 months ago
Corporate Capture: Fossil Fuel Lobbyists at COP30 Hit Record High, Outnumbering Delegates from Climate-Vulnerable Nations
-
Space & Physics3 months ago
Indian Physicists Win 2025 ICTP Prize for Breakthroughs in Quantum Many-Body Physics
-
Health5 months ago
Air Pollution Claimed 1.7 Million Indian Lives and 9.5% of GDP, Finds The Lancet
