Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has created an alarming situation across the globe. Varieties of diagnostic protocols are being developed for the diagnosis of COVID-19. Many of these diagnostic protocols however, have limitations such as for example unacceptable no of false-positive and false-negative cases, particularly during the early stages of infection. At present, the real-time (quantitative) reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is considered the gold standard for COVID-19 diagnosis. However, RT-PCR based tests are complex, expensive, time consuming and involve pre-processing of samples. A swift, sensitive, inexpensive protocol for mass screening is urgently needed to contain this pandemic. There is urgent need to harness new powerful technologies for accurate detection not only of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) but also combating the emergence of pandemics of new viruses as well. To overcome the current challenges, the authors propose a diagnostic protocol based on surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) coupled with microfluidic devices containing integrated microchannels functionalized either with vertically aligned Au/Ag coated carbon nanotubes or with disposable electrospun micro/nano-filter membranes. These devices have the potential to successfully trap viruses from diverse biological fluids/secretions including saliva, nasopharyngeal, tear etc. These can thus enrich the viral titre and enable accurate identification of the viruses from their respective Raman signatures. If the device is successfully developed and proven to detect target viruses, it would facilitate rapid screening of symptomatic as well as asymptomatic individuals of COVID-19. This would be a valuable diagnostic tool not only for mass screening of current COVID -19 pandemic but also in viral pandemic outbreaks of future.

Glaucoma is in the top five age-related eye disorders with increasing prevalence globally. Past research has led to the understanding of glaucoma as a neurodegenerative disease. Glaucoma phenomics could be syndromic or non-syndromic. Globally primary open angle, primary angle closure and primary pseudoexfoliation glaucomas are widely present. The genetics and genomics of glaucoma are heterogeneous, both clinically and genetically. Glaucoma has heritability associations, particularly with central corneal thickness, retinal nerve fibre layer and peripapillary atrophy. Ocular embryogenesis genes when mutated could cause either local (in situ), pan-ocular or systemic syndromic glaucoma phenomics. In glaucoma, except for a few single gene causes, most of the associations have been shown with innumerable gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms and epigenetic factors. The biological mechanisms in glaucoma are mechanical strain, inflammation, oxidative stress, vascular dysregulation, and immune imbalance, which independently or collectively contribute to the neurodegeneration and visual morbidity. Biomarkers in glaucoma have experimental study biases and therefore today we cannot apply them effectively in clinical practice and henceforth that demands further research to understand the fundamental basis of the disease. However, the knowledge gained in research will translate into early detection and biomolecular interventional strategies, having traction toward personalised medicine.

Mucormycosis, commonly known as ‘Black Fungus’ which was then a rare fungal infection, has suddenly come to light post the COVID-19- pandemic, more so during the second wave in India. It thus becomes important not only for the medical fraternity but also the general population to build awareness about the same. The present review will focus on the pathophysiology, etiology, outcomes of some case studies, and current treatment methods of mucormycosis infection. Major focus of the current article is on rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis. All the studies included in the present review article was extracted from the PubMed database.

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