Quantum dots—tiny, glowing nanoparticles, are reshaping India’s cancer research landscape. From fruit waste–derived diagnostics to targeted nanotherapies, researchers across the country are harnessing these tools to reveal disease earlier, improve precision, and reimagine accessible, innovative cancer care.

Researchers in India have developed a non-invasive way to stimulate neurons using a biocompatible semiconductor. By modulating calcium signalling without electrodes or magnets, this approach could open new paths for treating neurodegenerative disorders and for building biocomputing systems.

Open research in India is at a pivotal moment. There is a broad agreement that publicly funded knowledge must be more accessible, reusable, and trustworthy. However, structural, financial, and cultural barriers continue to slow progress. As India strengthens its life science ecosystem through data management infrastructures, evolving policies, and a rapidly expanding research community, the question is no longer whether openness is necessary, but how to implement it in ways that are equitable, practical, and suited to India’s diverse scientific landscape.

A recent breakthrough in China, where a diabetic woman regained insulin production through a stem cell transplant, highlights India’s urgent need to reflect on its own human stem cell research. Despite global advances, India lags behind in innovation and infrastructure. A nationwide survey now seeks to uncover why—and how to fix it.

The Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs 2030) proposed by the United Nations urges governments, businesses, and individuals to take collective action against pressing social, economic and environmental challenges by 2030. With a core emphasis on sustainability and climate action, Pune Knowledge Cluster, (PKC) which is one of the eight knowledge cluster initiatives backed by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India (GoI), supports India’s commitment to the 2030 agenda.