Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Social Safety Nets: Debunking Myths About Government Assistance

social safety nets
When it comes to social safety nets, many myths and half-truths about the efficacy of these programs exist among citizens and political leaders. Social safety nets are programs that aid the poor by increasing their incomes, improving school attendance, providing access to basic health care and implementing employment opportunities.

Even though some of these myths are inoffensive, they do have the potential to harm people who rely on governmental assistance programs. The New York Times reports that, “One billion people in developing countries participate in a social safety net. At least one type of unconditional cash assistance is used in 119 countries.”

Here are some of the top myths about social safety nets debunked:

Myth #1: The economy will do better if social programs are cut.

When governments decide to cut their social safety nets, many sectors of the economy begin to suffer. This is due to the fact, that by cutting social programs, governments inadvertently increase the unemployment rates within their countries.

For instance, in 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed the Recovery Act, which cut social programs, such as payments for individuals with disabilities and school-lunch programs. As a result, the largest projected deficit in U.S. history occurred, leading the U.S. economy to its worst recession since the Great Depression.

The American economy struggled to combat the resulting 14% inflation rate as well as the increased interest rates of the Federal Reserve Board.

With fewer citizens being able to afford goods and services, overall manufacturing decreased while layoffs and unpaid taxes increased. It is recorded that in 1982, those unemployed reached a staggering nine million, 17,000 businesses had failed, farmers across the nation began to lose land and the poor, elderly and sick became homeless.

Therefore instead of aiding the economy, social budget cuts on social safety nets result in a decrease in the overall finical health of a country’s economy.

Myth #2: Reducing government assistance benefits will make people get a job.

This myth is usually perpetrated by those who do not understand the demographics within social safety nets.

Over half of all people who are enrolled in government assistance programs are those who cannot physically or mentally work, such as the elderly and people with disabilities.

Even if governments were to reduce benefits for those who can work, it still would not make a significant difference in employment rates.

According to the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, many people who are working and receive housing assistance still live in homeless shelters simply because they still do not make enough currency for affording a place to live.

The Wall Street Journal further states that the four largest welfare recipients are those who labor as fast-food workers, home-care workers, child-care workers and part-time college faculty.

Thus, reducing government assistance will not make people get a job simply because those who receive these benefits are either unable to work or are currently working in a low-paying occupation.

Myth #3: Welfare makes people lazier.

Though the majority of persons benefiting from welfare are employed; surveys show that individuals from around the globe believe that social safety nets waste revenue and make people lazy.

However, in 2014, the World Bank reported that contrary to public opinion, individuals on financial assistance in countries such as Asia, Latin America and Africa rarely wasted money on alcohol and tobacco.

In addition, the director of the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Abhijit Banerjee, released a scholarly paper that tracked and documented the cash-transfer programs in seven countries. The results from this paper determined that out of the seven countries, Mexico, Nicaragua, Morocco, Honduras, Indonesia and the Philippines, these programs did not discourage people from working.

Moreover, people who receive benefits from social safety nets do not become lazy. Rather, people who did receive these benefits continued to work diligently while also not wasting funds on items such as tobacco and alcohol.

Myth #4: People can benefit from social safety nets for as long as they want.

Most government assistance programs have a limited amount of time that someone can use unemployment benefits.

For instance, the U.S. used to allow people 99 weeks of unemployment assistance. Though in recent years, states have limited the amount of time that citizens can use unemployment benefits to around 26-30 weeks. Currently, the only state that gives citizens 30 weeks of unemployment benefits is Massachusetts.

Myth #5: Certain demographics make social safety nets benefit one group and disadvantage the rest.

A majority of people believe that social safety nets benefit a particular kind of demographic while disadvantaging other groups within a society. Particularly, U.S. citizens feel that groups, comparatively liberals, benefit the most from social assistance programs.

Yet details from a 2012 survey from the Pew Research Center show that in regards to politics, liberals and conservatives used governmental assistance programs almost equally, with 42% of liberals and 40% of conservatives using at least one governmental assistance program.

Despite these myths being detrimental to those who rely on social safety nets, it is worth noting that the U.S. economy is slowly improving. As of August 2016, unemployment rates in the U.S. are as low as 4.9%. Additionally, average hourly wages have increased between 5 cents and $25.59, with average weekly wages at around $880.30.

However, the best way to eradicate these myths about social safety nets is to advocate for legislation that protects these programs. Pay attention to laws that pertain to social safety nets and meet with local representatives about how social safety nets benefit society. Information about U.S. elected officials can be found on the website commoncause.org.

– Shannon Warren

Photo: Flickr

Maternal Mortality in India: A Preventable Evil

Maternal Mortality in India: A Preventable Evil
India is a developing nation with a wealth of natural and man-made resources. Yet, with parameters of development such as maternal mortality, the country falls short. According to UNICEF, approximately 800 deaths occur each day due to avoidable causes linked to childbirth and pregnancy, and 20 percent of these deaths occur in India alone.

However, a stark reduction in maternal mortality in India has been observed over the past few years. This reduction can be mainly attributed to better health care for child-bearing women, increased monitoring of maternal death cases and increased alertness towards any medical complications or emergencies.

Strategies to reduce maternal mortality include increasing health care resources such as the number of hospitals and trained health care professionals. It is also essential to facilitate immediate referral to delivery services. Maintaining clean, sterile hospital environments and regulating the numbers of deliveries made at a given point of time can also ensure greater safety during childbirth.

Recently, a study in the British Medical Journal revealed that Assam, a state in North-East India, has approximately double the maternal mortality rate of India as a whole. This conspicuous disparity in maternal mortality rates can be explained by crowded, unclean and unfavorable hospital settings. These poor conditions can dissuade women from seeking immediate medical care and can even increase a risk of complications linked to pregnancy.

Another study reveals that approximately half of maternal deaths due to sepsis are caused by abortion through illegal means. This suggests that along with health factors, societal ideals also have an important role to play in observed maternal mortality.

Gender bias towards males can result in some families deciding to abort their children on the basis of gender. Poor households, in particular, are more likely to act in accordance with this bias as they believe that males have greater ability to obtain higher incomes and thus extract them out of their poverty. These societal stereotypes can be addressed by increasing a fairness of treatment of females in job sectors in terms of incomes and job responsibility.

Recently, UNICEF estimated that approximately 55,000 of all deaths due to maternal causes in India could have been prevented with better health care services. High levels of illiteracy are also deemed as a cause for these vast number of avoidable deaths.

Without proper knowledge of the precautionary methods for intercourse and the amount of resources required to support a child, poor households often have a higher number of children than average. This is based on the erroneous belief that more children will eventually result in greater incomes, but the costs of their upbringing are not taken into account.

Piyasree Mukherjee, CEO of the Foundation for Mother & Child Health, expresses her views on the situation by stating that, “In rural India, access to healthcare, specifically during delivery remains an issue, and there is also a lack of information.”

This comment potently underscores the paucity of available childbirth clinics and trained professionals in local communities. By increasing the number of delivery services and educational campaigns and improving the state of maternal and child care in India, there will hopefully come a time when maternal mortality in India is close to being eliminated.

– Tanvi Ambulkar

Photo: Flickr

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The Top Diseases in Germany and Poverty’s Effects on Health

he Top Diseases in Germany and Poverty's Effects on Health

Even the most prosperous countries struggle to combat epidemics, which often disproportionately affect the poor. The top diseases in Germany, where poverty is on the rise despite a growing economy, are heart and lung diseases.

Top Diseases in Germany: Facts and Figures

Although the prevalence of ischemic heart disease dropped by 8.2% from 2005-2015, it remains the leading cause of premature death in Germany, closely followed by lung cancer, which has risen by 3.6% in as many years.

Studies by the German Health Update (GEDA) support a correlation between poverty and disease, and more specifically, heart and lung disease. Women at risk of poverty statistically experience more bronchial asthma and higher blood lipid levels, which can lead to cardiac disease, than their high-income counterparts. Likewise, low-income men proved more susceptible to heart problems, among other ailments, than high-income men of the same age group.

The obvious question is why? Low-income Germans engage in more health-risk behavior than the upper-class. GEDA finds that men and women who are at-risk-of-poverty are 1.3 times more likely to smoke than those with high-incomes, and due to a lack of exercise and a higher consumption of budget foods like potatoes, white bread and sausages, the ratio of obesity for low-income to high-income women is 3.3 to 1, and for men 1.6 to 1.

But can this health disparity really be reduced to the habitual differences between Germany’s rich and the poor? The GEDA study also attributes increased disease incidence among the poor to psychosocial stress. Experiences of exclusion, social comparison and anxieties about the future, all of which are more common to the impoverished, cause health-impairing stress, which insufficient social support exacerbates.

In an interview with the Foreign Policy Group in February 2016, a low-income woman named Heike Wagner explains, “If you don’t have any money [in Berlin], it’s really hard to be part of the group. Going to a bar, to the movies, you can’t do it…If you have friends with a good job, it’s tough to keep up those friendships.” In addition to the inaccessibility of healthy foods, the absence of physical recreation, the prominence of dangerous habits and the general stress of financial insecurity, social isolation deteriorates the health of Germany’s poor.

Because of the tight entanglement of income and health, combatting poverty ought to further the cause of disease prevention. With poverty “at its highest level in Germany since reunification 25 years ago,” political efforts to protect citizens’ health are crucial.

Programs Designed to Reduce Disease and Poverty

Among several efforts to reduce the top diseases in Germany across all economic backgrounds, the Federal Center for Health Education coordinates the Health Promotion for the Socially Disadvantaged network. Meanwhile, Federal Health Reporting continuously monitors and publishes data on the link between poverty and health to educate the public and inspire political change.

The German Heart Foundation (GHF) sponsors school programs which aim to impart preventative habits early in life. Skipping Hearts teaches children rope skipping and educates them about their hearts’ reactions to exercise and diet. GHF also brings the European Non-Smoking Project’s “Be Smart — Do Not Start” program into German schools.

Every November, GHF hosts a national campaign called Heart Weeks to inform the public about heart health. Cardiologists and heart health professionals give more than 1,200 seminars in hospitals and clinics across Germany.

Additionally, the National Action Plan, IN FORM, spreads awareness about nutrition, physical activity and well-being to encourage citizens to adopt healthy lifestyles. The program began in 2008 and is set to conclude in 2020.

– Robin Lee

Photo: Flickr

Germany and Its Dedication to Improving Welfare Efforts

Germany and Its Dedication to Improving Welfare Efforts

Although Germany is experiencing record-low unemployment and the economy has been improving over the years, overall poverty in Germany is increasing. Since Germany’s reunification in 1990, the poverty rate has never been higher than its current state. Ulrich Schneider — chief executive of Germany’s Equal Welfare Organization — was quoted in an article by the “Deutsche Welle” saying “Poverty has never been as high and the regional disunity has never run as deep.”

In 2013, a survey titled “Living in Europe” released results showing that 16.2 million people in Germany were victims of poverty. That astounding number makes up 20.3% of the German population. As previously stated, poverty in Germany has been increasing over the years and the statistics only support that fact. The percentage of the impoverished German population has ranged from 19.6 to 21.9 since 2008. The poverty issue in Germany has affected men and women alike, but it has affected children more than anything.

In 2014, there were an estimated 1.9 million minors growing up in impoverished households in Germany. Surprisingly, that number shot up by 52,000 in the span of one year. This horrific statistic will haunt the lives of many for years to come. Statistics show “that 57.2 percent of children between the ages of seven and 15 had been supported by basic welfare for a period of at least three years.” Anette Stein — an expert working at the Bertelsmann Foundation — knows from work experience: “The longer that a child lives on welfare, the worse the consequences are.”

The consequences of welfare are horrible because welfare-dependent children are not just affected financially, but also physically and socially. Welfare dependent children have higher chances of struggling in social situations, struggling with health issues and struggling with education.

How Germany is Trying to Appease Poverty

Schneider is aware of Germany’s current status and has proposed to appease the situation by increasing welfare rates and creating more employment opportunities. It was decided in 2015 that in order to create thousands of new jobs for poverty-stricken German citizens, a substantial amount of money would have to be spent. Andre Nahles — a German Labor Minister — stated Germany “will use 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion) from the European Social Fund, plus 4.3 billion euros from within Germany.”

This plan will create 26 different programs within Germany and run until the year 2020. The German labor industry claims that almost 40% of the money will be invested in “the promotion of social integration and the battle against poverty.”

Although Germany is currently in a poor position, their current state does not come as much of a surprise. Statisticians have reported that the European Union as a whole is in worse shape than Germany. Twenty-four point five percent of the EU’s population is facing poverty and social exclusion. Additionally, “16.7 percent of the population was at risk of poverty, 9.6 percent significantly material-disadvantaged and 10.7 percent were living in households with very low labor market participation.”

Germany has a lot of improvements to make before it can get back on track as a country, but it is attacking its problems head-on. The Germans have not shied away from improving welfare efforts and have implemented plans for progression. With Germany’s economy on the rise and the unemployment rate on the decline, it should only be a matter of time before poverty in Germany takes a turn for the better.

– Terry J. Halloran

Photo: Flickr

America Has Strong Advocates for the Global Poor

America Has Strong Advocates for the Global PoorBy virtue of the democratic process in America, the country is one of the most influential allies to the global poor. The U.S. approaches foreign assistance through a multitude of dimensions. A critical body of which is the legislative component of the tripartite government system.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations possess the constitutional authority and resources to manage national security, international health crises, and address human rights abuses. On a daily basis, congressional members are strong advocates for the global poor.

To address the complexity of the international affairs, the governing bodies established regional subcommittees and assigned specific representatives to create solutions that are tailored to the unique needs of the diverse and multi-polar system.

Rep. Christopher Smith, with Rep. Karen Bass as the Ranking Member, chairs the U.S. House of Representative’s Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Human Rights, and International Organizations. Past actions of the committee include calls for the promotion of good governance in Eritrea; accountability in human rights reports; and cooperation with the U.N. to stabilize South Sudan.

Sen. Jeff Flake, with Sen. Edward J. Markey as its ranking member, chairs the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy. The committee has recently passed legislation highlighting their dedication to being an ally to the global poor. The legislation is called Electrify Africa, which partners with sub-Saharan governments to provide power services for at least 50 million people.

Other responsibilities of the Senate Subcommittee promote good government and identify threats for the intelligence and military community to further evaluate. These elected representatives work diligently to be effective advocates for the global poor.

However, congressional leaders are elected to serve the American people. If you are one of millions of Americans who care about the globally impoverished, then have your voice heard.

By emailing, calling or writing, individual Americans can lobby their representatives to support bills that demonstrate their allegiance to assisting the global poor. Often times, it does not take more than five constituents reaching out to make something become a topic of discussion. It’s amazing to think that individual American citizens can have a big impact by being influential advocates for the global poor.

There has never been a more important time to get involved. The world is at a pivotal point: continue improving the living conditions of those who live on less than a dollar a day or forfeit the hard work of generations. The choice is up to every American to become an ally of the global poor.

– Adam George

Photo: Flickr

DoctHers Strives for Accessible Health Care in Pakistan

Healthcare in Pakistan
The organization DoctHers, is working to provide more accessible health care in Pakistan. DoctHers uses cutting-edge technology to connect female doctors to those in Pakistan who have been historically underserved — namely, other women and children. Female patients in conservative areas often feel uncomfortable working with male doctors, and that is where this life changing organization hopes to step in.

DoctHers works by using a teleconference or video-chat software to put female doctors in touch with clinics in areas in need. Working with the clinic nurse, the doctor is able to check symptoms and prescribe necessary treatment. DoctHers is currently operating eight telemedicine centers across Pakistan. The goal is for the organization to empower Pakistani women in medicine, who often face severe cultural and social backlash. In many cases, these women are forced to stop working after marriage or pregnancy.

This was the case with two of DoctHer’s cofounders, Dr. Sara Khurram and Dr. Iffat Zafar. “My motivation was that I was terminated from my residency as I conceived the baby,” said Khurram in an interview with Al Jazeera.

Health care in developing countries like Pakistan is a serious issue. According to a study prepared for The Annual Review of Economics, 15 million people die of preventable and treatable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, many of them in impoverished nations where health care is lacking.

The study added, “In the absence of any proactive health behavior to prevent or treat these diseases, the likelihood of a child in a poor country living to the age of 5 and of an adult living to the age of 50 is significantly lower than in a rich country.” This data is augmented for women and children. The World Health Organization states that women in Pakistan continue to have limited access to reproductive health services and face relatively high-rates of pregnancy related illness.

By using technology to deliver more accessible health care in Pakistan, DoctHers hopes to reduce this number and de-stigmatize women’s reproductive health.

– Sabrina Santos

Photo: Flickr

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Uganda’s Struggling Universal Primary Education Policy

Universal Primary Education Policy
The Ugandan government spends roughly $300 million annually on universal primary education. Despite the government’s devotion to free public education, the universal primary education policy is enduring severe growing pains.

One main issue is that despite the government’s large expenditure, parents still pay for half of their students’ fees. According to Nelson Wanambi, an economist at Uganda’s Ministry of Education, parents now pay 46.9 percent for education whereas the government pays a mere 27.6 percent.

The high cost for families causes many children to drop out of school as education becomes burdensome for parents. This economic strain on families contributes to Uganda’s staggering 75.2 percent primary school dropout rate.

After the universal primary education was introduced in 1997, Ugandan schools grew at such a high rate that not enough teachers could be trained to accommodate the increased enrollment rate. Further, many teachers receive insufficient salaries, resulting in strikes and frequent teacher absenteeism.

Fortunately, the government has recently received financial support from the Global Partnership for Education. The most recent contribution was over $100 million to support Uganda’s Education Sector Strategic Plan (EESP). The ESSP originally ran from 2004-2015, and the Global Partnership for Education has made a pledge to continue the program from 2014-2018.

As in many developing nations, gender-related issues contribute to the high drop out rate. On average, Ugandan boys stay in school for two more years than girls — 6.3 compared to 4.5 years respectively. In Uganda, 30 percent of girls drop out of school when they start menstruating because they cannot afford sanitary pads.

Organizations like Afripads, which is headquartered in Uganda, work to increase accessibility to sanitary pads for young girls and provide job opportunities for Ugandan women. Some schools, such as Katwe primary school, are successfully implementing the universal primary education policy. At Katwe, the school provides sanitary pads for their female students.

In theory, the universal primary education program would relieve the burden for many families to pay tuition for their children and increase graduation rate. However, the program has faced many obstacles. With the help of organizations such as Global Partnership for Education and Afripads, Uganda’s future for education is bright once again.

– Sabrina Yates

Photo: Flickr

Dream Chaser to Bring Space Missions to the Developing World

Dream Chaser to Bring Space Missions to Developing WorldThe United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has partnered with Sierra Nevada Corporation to bring space missions to the developing world by 2021. The unmanned missions are intended to make space exploration affordable for developing nations while fostering peaceful collaboration between nations with no space program.

Dream Chaser will fly for two weeks in low Earth orbit with 20-25 lab stations containing microgravity experiments from countries around the world. The experiments will remain in orbit for the duration of the trip and will return to Earth intact.

UNOOSA plans to solicit proposals and select winning submissions via scientific panel by early 2018 for inclusion on Dream Chaser in 2021. Any U.N. member country is eligible to apply, but the program is aimed at developing countries.

Dreamer Chaser is 30-feet long and has been called a “mini-shuttle” with the ability to carry up to seven passengers. The aircraft has also been used by NASA for crewless missions such as resupply and trash disposal services for the International Space Station.

Sierra Nevada Corporation refers to Dream Chaser as a Space Utility Vehicle. It is the smaller, updated version of the Space Shuttle intended for smaller loads. It can land at any airport where a 737 can land. The Dream Chaser is not owned by NASA or the U.S. Government, so it can be leased to other countries or agencies interested in space exploration and experimentation.

UNOOSA and Sierra Nevada Corporation are seeking sponsors for the program. Countries submitting an experiment are charged a fee, but the goal is to make this fee affordable so that participation is accessible to countries with limited resources.

The goal is not only to design successful experiments but to also further the development and preparation process as a valuable scientific learning experience. According to Luc St-Pierre, the chief of UNOOSA’s Space Applications, the preparation for such an endeavor will leave a lasting impact on participating countries with the potential to foster an environment of exploration and development.

Programs and research in space can assist with human issues such as climate change, natural disasters, managing resources and global health. However, could investments in space programs also spur new types of development thereby reducing global poverty?

The goal of Dream Chaser is to bring space missions to the developing world. Space technology has the potential to support development in these areas contingent on partnerships rather than aid. Dream Chaser is an exciting project and could represent a new frontier in the developing world.

– Mandy Otis

Photo: Flickr

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6 Facts About Education in Romania

6 Facts About Education in Romania
Romania’s current education system is relatively new. Under communism, education in Romania was politically-fueled. The communist revolution in eastern Europe heavily influenced a nationalistic approach to education in Romania.

This meant that education was tailored to the Romanian majority. In the 1960’s Hungarian schools were merged with Romanian schools and virtually all classes that were once taught in Hungarian were now taught in Romanian.

This politicized education system was abolished in 1990 along with Romania’s communist regime. Today, Romania is a unitary republic with an education system that is constantly under reform. Here are six facts about education in Romania today:

  1. Kindergarten students can start school at three years of age. Although it is uncommon, it is legal to enroll a child into kindergarten as young as age three. Students can remain in kindergarten until they are six or seven, but they must complete at least one year of kindergarten to be eligible for enrollment in elementary school.
  2. Student admission to the high school is based on test scores. The Ministry of Romanian Education and Research administers nation-wide exams that determine where each child will attend high school. Performance on these exams dictates where each student will be able to attend high school. Certain private institutions, typically the more prestigious ones, also include their own attendance criteria on top of the test score requirements.
  3. Students attend specialty high schools. Unlike in the United States where every high school student is expected to gain a certain amount of credits in each subject, eighth-grade students in Romania decide between multiple areas of study in high school. Students can decide between attending an arts or science high school, a military college, economic college or professional school.
  4. High school students take up to 14 subjects at once. Most students take between 12 and 14 classes at once ranging from geography to Romanian literature. Students also take a minimum of two other languages, along with Romanian. Common languages taught include English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. High school teachers rotate between classrooms instead of the students. In most Romanian high schools, it is common that students have all of their lessons in the same classroom with the same classmates for all four or five years that they attend. This is intended to create a sense of community among students.
  5. Romanian women generally attend school longer than men. According to UNICEF, approximately 83 percent of women in Romania were enrolled in secondary education in 2012, compared with 81 percent of men.
  6. Romania’s education system is rapidly advancing. The literacy rate among those over the age of 15 rose from 96.7 percent in 1992 to 97.3 in 2002. Today, 98.8 percent of Romanians are literate.

Although these are major improvements, education in Romania still has room for improvement. Many people in rural communities do not have access to quality education and despite obtaining a higher level of education, there is a severe level of pay inequality between men and women in the workforce.

– Laura Cassin

Photo: Flickr

Cockroach Milk: The Superfood Game-Changer?

Cockroach Milk: The Superfood Game-Changer?You may want to think twice before killing your next cockroach. India’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, or InSTEM, has discovered that cockroach milk may be the greatest protein source of them all. Milk being produced by a specific species of cockroach is estimated to contain more than three times the energy of an equivalent mass of dairy milk.

Most cockroaches are oviparous, or egg-laying animals. However, the Pacific beetle cockroach, or Diploptera punctata species, gives birth to live young by carrying them in a fleshy brood sac. Only this certain species of cockroach is viviparous, meaning they are among animals that give birth to young and nourish its offspring with milk protein.

Surprisingly enough, this specific milk protein is the very liquid substance packed with nutritious fats, sugars and proteins that are taking the protein game by storm. The “so-called” milk gets converted into concentrated protein crystals that are stored in the gut of the embryos.

It all began with the curiosity of Nathan Coussens, a young researcher out of the University of Iowa, who noticed shiny crystals pouring out of a roach gut one day in the lab. This discovery took place 10 years ago.

International teams, including InSTEM, have since broken down the structure of these crystallized milk proteins. More often than not, protein crystals obtained from living systems tend to be small and limited in size by the volume of the cell they grow in. This leaves scientists little room for investigation.

Scientists try very hard to obtain pure proteins with which to make crystals for X-ray crystallography studies, a technique employed to elucidate protein structure. Peculiarly enough, the milk crystals within roach guts grow large enough to be used for this type of technique.

“The crystals are like a complete food – they have proteins, fats and sugars. If you look into the protein sequences, they have all the essential amino acids,” said Sanchari Banerjee, one of the postdoctoral fellows at InSTEM, in an interview with the Times of India.

Now equipped with the gene sequences for these milk proteins, InSTEM’s lead biochemist on the project, Subramanian Ramaswamy, and colleagues plan to use a yeast system to produce these crystals. “They’re very stable. They can be a fantastic protein supplement,” says Ramaswamy.

If everything goes according to plan, InSTEM will synthesize the protein-rich milk and market it as a supplemental food. The scaffolding in the milk protein crystals shows compelling characteristics — ones that could be used to design nanoparticles for drug delivery. It’ll be interesting to see if and how cockroach milk is rolled out over the next few years.

– Keaton McCalla
Photo: Flickr