Bone-targeted estrogen delivery reverses postmenopausal osteoporosis in mice
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 18-Nov-2025 21:11 ET (19-Nov-2025 02:11 GMT/UTC)
Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a condition that weakens bones, making them brittle and prone to fracture. Taking the hormone estradiol can reverse these effects, but it may also increase endometrial and uterine cancer risks. Researchers publishing in ACS’ Nano Letters developed a two-layer shell to encapsulate the hormone so it bypasses the uterus and releases only within an osteoporotic bone. Tests of the drug-delivery system showed improved bone density in treated mice without uterine side effects.
2025 Tata Transformation Prize Winners
Food Security Winner: Padubidri V. Shivaprasad, PhD, National Centre for Biological Sciences
Padubidri V. Shivaprasad, PhD, addresses one of India’s greatest challenges: feeding a population projected to reach 1.5 billion by 2050 amid shrinking farmland and worsening climate stress. His groundbreaking work uses epigenetic engineering and small RNA–based modifications in rice, India’s primary staple crop, to enhance stress tolerance and nutritional quality. By precisely altering the expression of key genes, Prof. Shivaprasad’s approach surpasses the limits of conventional plant breeding, which can be slow and unpredictable. His engineered rice varieties promise to reduce fertilizer and pesticide dependence, lower production costs, and improve nutrition for millions. Beyond India, this innovation offers a sustainable blueprint for staple crops worldwide in the face of global climate change.
Sustainability Winner: Balasubramanian Gopal, PhD, Indian Institute of Science
India’s growing biomanufacturing sector urgently needs cleaner, cost-effective alternatives to traditional energy-intensive chemical synthesis methods. Balasubramanian Gopal, PhD, has developed a green chemistry platform that harnesses bioengineered E. coli bacteria to produce key chemicals used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and agriculture. Integrating artificial intelligence with experimental biology, his lab rapidly designs efficient enzymes and optimizes microbial strains for high yields, without antibiotics or harmful additives. This sustainable technology can replace traditional chemical manufacturing, thus reducing pollution, enhancing domestic production, and positioning India as a global leader in environmentally responsible biomanufacturing.
Healthcare Winner: Ambarish Ghosh, PhD, Indian Institute of Science Ambarish Ghosh, PhD, is pioneering a breakthrough in cancer treatment using magnetic nanorobots – tiny, helical devices that can be safely guided through the body using magnetic fields. These nanorobots are designed to navigate complex biological environments, deliver drugs directly to tumors, and distinguish cancerous tissue from healthy cells. His team is also creating real-time imaging tools to track and steer the nanorobots during treatment. This technology promises more precise, less invasive cancer therapies with fewer side effects, with the potential to revolutionize cancer care worldwide and make advanced treatments more accessible and affordable in India and other low- and middle-income countries.
Today the international LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration announces the completion of the fourth observation campaign of the international network of gravitational wave detectors. Launched in May 2023, this is the longest and richest period of coordinated observations with some 250 new signals detected: over two-thirds of the approximately 350 gravitational signals detected to date by LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA. Some of the most significant results of this latest observational cycle have already been announced and published, contributing to a further deepening of our understanding of certain fundamental physical processes in the universe.
Magnetic skyrmions are particle-like objects that can be used as information carriers in memory and computing devices. Researchers from Waseda University recently studied the flow behaviors of many skyrmions in structured magnets and found that skyrmions can behave like chiral fluids. They proposed that fully developed skyrmion flows can be used for fluidics, which significantly reduces complexity of skyrmion logic, as it eliminates the need for deterministic creation, precise control, and detection of individual skyrmions.