As global temperatures climb, a critical but often-overlooked component of our ecosystems is stepping into the spotlight: dissolved organic matter, or DOM. Found everywhere from river water to forest soils, DOM acts as a powerful mover of carbon, nutrients, and pollutants. A new review led by scientists from Kunming University of Science & Technology and international partners finds DOM to be both a buffer and a potential accelerator of climate change, playing a surprisingly complex role in the planet’s environmental balance.

A team of Colombian botanists has issued an urgent wake-up call after discovering a remarkable new orchid species, only to project its likely extinction within decades due to climate change.

Sudden shifts in the Southern Westerly Winds 15,000 years ago - after the last Ice Age - triggered a massive growth of peatland swamps.

Pikas, small mammals that are closely related to rabbits, often greet hikers in the Rocky Mountains with loud squeaks. A new study finds hints that warming temperatures may already be taking a toll on pikas living in one habitat in Colorado.

The IPCC has developed the Global Warming Potential metric, a unit that compares a specific gas’s contribution to climate change to that of carbon dioxide. Nitrogen trifluoride is particularly bad, with a GWP about 17,000 times higher than carbon dioxide. But NF3 is critical in the semiconductor industry for etching and cleaning, and its use has increased more than twentyfold over the past 30 years. In the JVST:B, researchers develop a machine learning framework to predict the GWP of potential alternative materials.

The Winners of the 2025 Tata Transformation Prize were announced today in Mumbai, India. Established to advance innovation and support visionary scientists in India who are developing breakthrough technologies to address the country’s most significant societal challenges in Food Security, Sustainability, and Healthcare, the Tata Transformation Prize aims to generate improved quality-of-life outcomes and scale up the implementation of high-reward research for India and beyond. Selected from a competitive pool of 212 nominations spanning 27 Indian states, the three Winners were chosen by an international jury of eminent scientists, clinicians, technologists, and engineers. Each Winner will receive INR 2 crores (approximately USD 228,000) to advance their research and scale its real-world impact.

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.