Around the world, the last ten years have been monumental when it comes to research, and Pakistan is no exception to this rule. As a country with a huge student population, many of whom will carry their studies onto the post-graduate level, Pakistan creates a lot of research. Although the country may struggle with the kind of resources needed at advanced labs, Pakistani research still has an intrinsic value that epitomizes the struggle of every student to make the most out of their publication while facing a dire lack of materials and equipment. Such determination and strength warrant appreciation, and so, here are some of the most notable studies brought around by Pakistanis in the last decade:
In 2019, researchers from the Sindh Agricultural University collaborated with counterparts in China and Greece to discover how using pesticides was impacting women in Sindh, and how a lack of knowledge about personal protective measures places them at an even higher risk of developing severe infections. In recent years, studies like this one have been monumental in exploring how pesticides have negatively impacted the environment and the people using them in agricultural farms, leading to more extensive discussions on the role of pesticide companies, and even prompting a few lawsuits alleging that the chemicals are unsafe to use.
A breakthrough study in astronomical circles came by in 2019 when all of the chemicals inside grains of ice from Enceladus (Jupiter’s largest moon) was discovered. Using complicated techniques, scientist Dr. Nozair Khawaja (an alumnus of the Punjab University) and his team found chemicals that contain Nitrogen and Oxygen. This might not seem exciting, but it becomes quite the breakthrough when you realize these are the perfect precursor ingredients in the recipe needed to create a viable life. It may just be possible that there is a biological reaction happening on Enceladus right now.
Studies from Pakistan have shown that people typically have a lot of misconceptions about menstruation, the biological functioning of periods, and how best to access materials and resources when menstruating. A study in 2020 explored this further, and over seven months, collected information from students in universities across the Lahore. Their findings are pretty impressive – it seems information about menstruation is getting better and is more accessible to students. As such, they found a majority knew what menstruation was, and only a very few had a negative connotation attached to it (viewing it as the removal of dirt from the body of a woman) – however, much work still needs to be done about practices when experiencing periods. A lack of knowledge leads to corrupt practices, such as not eating or drinking the right things and not taking in enough water to sustain the body. They propose awareness campaigns to counter some existing misconceptions and allowing better access to sanitary materials for university students.
At the beginning of the last decade, in 2010, vast and extensive research was conducted in institutions across India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Australia. A single protein in some bacteria gives them the ability to resist most antibiotics – posing a potential health risk for people around the world. The protein was studied, and it was found that patients who carried this protein were mostly linked to Pakistan and India, or had traveled there in recent years. In the last ten years, antibiotic resistance has been a huge flag for the medical and public health community. In December 2014, a paper found that the estimate of deaths from antimicrobial resistance was at a whopping 700,000 people around the world. This crisis prompted global action and attention to this pervasive problem, including awareness campaigns and healthcare interventions.
One reason why a lot of genetic research finds its way to Pakistan is that a common trend in Pakistan is consanguineous marriages (marriages between cousins), which can be very useful when tracking genetic disorders and their movement through families. Vast researches have been conducted on Pakistani families or families originating in the region around the world. As such, a central database of genetic mutations was set up in April 2018, called the Pakistan Genetic Mutation Database. It has authentic applications in the field of healthcare. It can prove to be a highly useful resource for researchers working in this field.
A collaborative study in 2017 took on an exciting role – the idea was to study how patriarchal images and visuals in textbooks impact the kids that study them. Sindhi language books, for grades up to the 5th year, were analyzed, and it was found that most of them are pretty gendered – and this will inevitably have an effect on the children who are learning from them. How were these gendered, you ask? Most books depicted women carrying out traditional housekeeping and maternal roles.
In contrast, men were shown as the breadwinners and the ‘head’ of the family. These are the kind of gender roles, which, when pervasively depicted, can have a genuine impact on how children view themselves and the ‘opposite’ gender. However, textbooks in the country are no strangers to controversy. Pakistanis have long pointed out the structural problems in the books, such as inaccuracies in the physics curriculum, which detailed the creation of the universe using a Creationist perspective.
Research in the 2010s slowly explored the topic of green and renewable energy. There is no doubt about it – there is a climate crisis afoot. In such a case, researchers are hell-bent on discovering newer energy sources that can provide an alternative to non-renewable. One such study focused on biogas – mainly through the recycling of manure from livestock. It detailed the cost-effectiveness of using this resource and posed it as a modern resource. Of course, knowledge from existing in 2020 tells us that although biogas is eco-friendly and a renewable energy source, it still has a massive carbon footprint.
Pakistan produces a vast number of graduates in psychology every single year. It is only natural that the country provides high-quality research regarding psycho-social interactions. In 2018, one such study explored how Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) manifested in people who had undergone the pain and trauma of severe burns. The collaboration between universities in Lahore, Islamabad, and the prestigious Harvard Medical School in the United States found that a very high number of burn patients experience PTSD. The study went a step further and looked into what factors made someone more susceptible to developing PTSD – being unemployed, an ethnic minority, or lower education all made someone more likely to have those symptoms. On the flip side, the study also found a silver lining – patients who found supportive care and access to reconstructive surgery were less likely to develop symptoms, pointing to the genuine need for extensive and holistic community care, especially for patients who go through this very traumatic event. Read about Hajj.
Genome editing has been a buzzword in the last decade – let’s be real, the idea of being able to mess with human DNA is exciting and frightening, all at the same time. However, genome editing the way we imagine it from sci-fi films is a long way away – currently, scientists are still tackling ways of avoiding a phenomenon called cell death – when DNA is sent in, the cell dies and is no longer viable. A study in 2018 explored using red blood cells (which give our blood its vibrant color) for this very purpose. Their observations showed this method worked much better and actually didn’t result in cell death, making your Black Mirror fantasies just a little bit less fiction.
In the last decade, Pakistan has seen a rapid rise in prevalence rates for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). A key demographic that is at high risk for the spread of HIV are injection drug users (IDUs). The shared use of needles and a lack of sterilization techniques within drug users in Pakistan make them highly vulnerable. This relationship was explored in a study published in 2007, which also explores other high-risk populations, and warned that although the prevalence is concentrated in ‘smaller epidemics,’ there is bound to be a considerable shift leading to higher infection rates. This, coupled with almost no government response, could cause serious problems. With a broken health system, Pakistan may become a site for a considerable epidemic.
There is no doubt, Pakistani research is bringing a deep and vast knowledge out to the world – no amount of lack of resources or opportunities holds these talented scientists and researchers back. They are here to make their mark, one research paper at a time.
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