Nature India | Indigenus

NI Photo Contest 2018: Finalist #4

Time now to roll out the Nature India photo contest 2018 finalist number four:

Owais Rashid Hakiem, PhD student, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India

Photo caption: Nip them in the larva

Owais Rashid Hakiem

Owais Rashid Hakiem

Owais shot a series of pictures highlighting the menace of vector-borne diseases and probable solutions.

He took this picture of mosquito larva in the insectory of the National Institute of Immunology, Delhi, where they rear Anopheles mosquitoes to understand the molecular mechanism of progression of malaria. Owais says:

Plasmodium, a single cell parasite spreads to humans through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquito, also known as night-biting mosquito as it mostly bites between dusk and dawn.

The mosquito lays eggs mostly inside open containers. New vectors hatch when the containers are filled with water. Dirty surroundings, unsafe water and poor personal hygiene are some major socioeconomic factors that play a vital role in the spread of malaria. The key to prevent malaria and other such vector-borne diseases is cleanliness so as to scuttle any chance of the larvae to hatch. Not allowing water to accumulate in open containers and other spaces within the house, or in the backyard, is a key first step towards fighting the menace, or as they say, in nipping it in the bud.

Welcome to the top ten Owais!

The Nature India editorial and design teams will shortlist the top three from the ten stunning images we are rolling out now in no particular order of merit. Nature India’s final decision to chose the winner will be partly influenced by the engagement and reception these pictures receive here at the Indigenus blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. To give all finalists a fair chance, we will consider the social media engagement each picture gets only during the first seven days of its announcement. The final results will be announced sometime in late January 2019.

The winner of the Nature India photo contest 2018 will receive a cash award of $350, the second prize is worth $250 and the third $200. Photographs will be judged for novelty, creativity, quality and printability by a panel of Nature Research editors and photographers alongside a leading Indian scientist working in the area of vector-borne diseases. The winner and two runners-up will receive a copy of the Nature India Annual Volume 2017 and a bag of goodies (including Collector’s first issues of Nature and Scientific American and some other keepsakes) from the Nature Research. One of the winning entries also stands a chance of being featured on the cover a forthcoming print publication.

So watch out for our other finalists and feel free to promote, share and like your favourite entries with the hashtag #NatureIndphoto.

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