FREE LEARNING SERIES
Research: living systems and fair comparisons
Study crop trials, clinical evidence, genetic reference data and river-dolphin estimation through worked examples.
4 lessons · Learn at your own pace
Begin the first lesson →
Learn, practise, explain
Try the exercise before reading its explanation. Answer the self-check questions in your own words, then compare your reasoning with the answers. Revisit any difficult section before moving on. No account or payment is needed.
- 01
Genome-edited rice: from a gene to a field trial
On 4 May 2025, ICAR launched DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) and Pusa DST Rice 1. This lesson uses that dated announcement and a July 2025 parliamentary answer to explain how a targeted genetic change becomes a claim about crop performance.
Learning outcome: Explain the logic of CRISPR editing and field trials, calculate a yield advantage, and separate a launch, trial result and adoption claim.
Open lesson → - 02
The BBV152 trial: how to read vaccine efficacy
A percentage from a clinical trial describes a defined comparison, outcome and period. The Indian BBV152 phase 3 study provides a historical case for learning how randomisation, follow-up and uncertainty work together. This lesson concerns its 2021 research methods, not present vaccination decisions.
Learning outcome: Calculate relative and absolute differences, use person-time correctly and interpret a confidence interval without overstating a historical trial.
Open lesson → - 03
IndiGenomes: building and interpreting a genetic reference
A genetic variant can look rare because it is genuinely uncommon or because a reference database has sampled too few relevant people. The CSIR-led IndiGenomes project illustrates why producing a carefully described reference resource is a scientific achievement in its own right.
Learning outcome: Explain sequencing and variant calling, calculate allele frequency and overlapping database counts, and describe the limits of a reference sample.
Open lesson → - 04
Counting river dolphins: survey effort and uncertainty
How do researchers estimate animals that spend much of their time underwater? India's 2021–2023 river-dolphin assessment, publicly released on 3 March 2025, teaches a central ecological skill: account for animals that are present but missed. A January 2026 survey update also shows how monitoring develops over time.
Learning outcome: Calculate encounter rates and a simple two-list estimate, test their assumptions, and interpret a new survey without confusing expanded coverage with population growth.
Open lesson →