“She was just an unlucky person who had Dyscalculia in the society that she belonged to”. In a co-educational school in Lahore, a hardworking student, Ameenah, discreetly struggles with mathematics every day. Her confidence withers away slowly with each new mistake. Ameenah’s teachers would never forget to remark, calling her careless, while her classmates just considered her ‘lesser’ in terms of intelligence and would quietly move on.
Each day would pass with her dreading math lecture, the criticism she would get due to underperformance in math further deteriorating her overall grade in other subjects. To sweet and witty Ameenah, math was suffocating. She was expected to solve the complex equations in her tests when the 2 kept merging with 7, and she could never know how much time was left for the exam on the clock.
Ameenah wonders why her home isn’t a haven for her when it is for other people. Why did her parents take the unsolicited opinions of her relatives seriously? Relatives think that her being a girl is the reason behind her inability to understand numbers. “Girls simply aren’t made for tough subjects; her place is in homemaking,” they would whisper to her mother. Instilling the idea of a life of drudgery and underappreciated chores for her in her parents’ gullible minds. What these oblivious people failed to see was that Ameenah wasn’t slow-witted. She was just an unlucky person who had Dyscalculia in the society that she belonged to.
What is Dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a neurodevelopmental learning disorder that affects the brain’s ability to process numerical information. Much like dyslexia affects reading, dyscalculia disrupts the regions of the brain responsible for basic numeracy, time estimation, and mathematical application.
For all individuals like Ameenah, the struggle against math extends into daily life. Time Estimation, considering how important time estimation is, a blindness for it creates difficulties when it comes to reading clocks, and knowing how long a task will take. Remembering phone numbers, pin codes, and steps to any task, and being able to calculate change at a shop, is almost impossible.
A Gendered View Of Dyscalculia
There is a disproportionate occurrence of this disease in girls, almost 2% more than boys, while among individuals with any learning disability, 45% have dyscalculia along with it. These statistics are quoted from recent epidemiological research conducted in Lahore.
Many people feel that when a boy faces some difficulty with math, he will be reassured and tutored. However, when a girl faces the same situation, it’s taken as an opportunity to rid her of her studies and hand over domestic chores to her. Even if Pakistan is actively combating sexism, society misuses the circumstances of girls like Ameenah to prove their stereotypes right; many will put forward baseless claims, such as being a girl makes you inferior to men when it comes to intelligence. Before such blatantly ignorant ideas of people crush the confidence and integrity of women, drastic steps have to be taken.
After much pleading by Ameenah, her parents arranged for her a private teacher, Sarah. A couple of weeks in, the teacher noticed inconsistencies and unusual patterns in Ameenah’s learning. Ameenah easily understood concepts when they were explained verbally, yet somehow forgot the foundations of math the next hour. The teacher, taken aback by such a case, began researching multiple learning disorders. It was only when she discovered dyscalculia that Ameenah saw hope for her otherwise darkening future.
What is the next step?
We must ensure that no more cases like Ameenah’s occur and then get swept under the rug. It is a failure of the policy makers that dyscalculia is neglected to such an extent. To make a more inclusive and educated population, we must take steps for Teacher Training and parents’ understanding. The education departments of Pakistan must commence programs and workshops that help teachers detect such a condition in students early on, so that a treatment for them can be started when the chances of better treatment are higher.
Parents must understand that their child isn’t defective, and instead of using such derogatory terms, they ought to facilitate them with not just clinical help but words of affirmation and motivation. It is high time that dyscalculia gets voiced and the right people, such as policy makers and mental health experts, flag this issue. Students like Ameenah deserve to feel equal and live normal lives, and not feel like outcasts simply because their brains understand numbers differently.
‘A burial opens slowly. Soil comes away in thin layers. A brush touches bone, then a skull, then a fracture line across the surface. The person has no name beside the grave. No witness remains. Yet the body still carries evidence. Forensic archaeology studies death through bones, teeth, soil, and objects in context to locate and recover human remains and evidence.
The field joins archaeological recovery with forensic questions about identity, injury, time since death, and treatment after death. Archaeologist Dr. William describes the forensic value of excavation, context documentation, stratigraphy, soils, artifact conservation, and taphonomy, the study of changes after death. These skills matter because ancient deaths arrive broken, buried, disturbed, and incomplete [1].
What Forensic Archaeology Does?
Forensic archaeology treats the burial place as evidence. A modern crime scene loses value if a body is moved before it is recorded. An ancient burial faces the same risk. Once bones, tools, textiles, or grave goods shift from position, part of the record disappears. In Forensic archaeology, researchers record depth, orientation, soil color, bone position, objects, roots, stones, and signs of disturbance. A skeleton found face down raises different questions from a skeleton placed with grave goods. A mass burial raises questions about conflict, disease, punishment, disaster, or crisis.
Forensic taphonomy is the study of what happens to a body after death, and gives archaeologists’ work its caution. Heat, water, animals, plant roots, soil pressure, excavation tools, and later construction all damage remains. Some marks look violent, but come from the environment. Some violent injuries disappear because bone decays. Dirkmaat and colleagues describe forensic recovery as a multidisciplinary process linking the scene, skeletal analysis, and postmortem change, which helps researchers separate injury from damage after burial [2].
A forensic archaeologist reassessing a 33,000-year-old Cioclovina skull. Photo, AI-generated by Author
The Body as Evidence
Bones and teeth form a biological archive. They do not tell a full biography, yet they preserve selected facts about life and death. A healed fracture shows that a person survived an earlier injury. A fresh break near death suggests violence, accident, or collapse. A cut mark on bone records contact with a sharp edge. A depressed skull fracture points toward blunt force, although the full pattern still needs context.
Teeth add another record as enamel forms during childhood and often survives when other tissues disappear. Chemical signals in teeth and bones help researchers study diet and movement. Strontium and oxygen isotopes support studies of childhood residence and mobility. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes support broad dietary reconstruction. These methods do not give a street address or a menu. They give patterns, and patterns need careful reading.
Ancient DNA adds another layer. Researchers use genetic data to study biological sex, ancestry, kinship, and population history. This evidence has value, but extraction damages small portions of rare remains. Good research needs legal permission, a clear plan, minimal damage, transparency, and stakeholder engagement. The 2021 Nature guidance on ancient DNA ethics sets out five global principles for responsible work with human remains [3].
Violence Written in Bone
Violent death leaves patterns, not simple labels. A hole in a skull does not automatically mean murder. A broken arm does not always mean defense. A cut across a rib does not prove execution unless the mark, angle, timing, weapon pattern, body position, and burial context agree.
Forensic specialists ask precise questions. Did the bone show healing? Did the fracture behave like fresh bone? Did the injury occur around death or long after burial? Did the mark match a blade, club, projectile, fall, animal tooth, or tool damage?
The Cioclovina skull from Romania shows this method well. Researchers reassessed a skull dated to about 33,000 years ago through visual study, CT imaging, and experimental trauma simulations. The study argued the fractures represented fatal interpersonal violence, with impact patterns consistent with blows from a club-like object. The strength of the work lies in the testing of alternatives before any dramatic claim [4].
Case file: A Medieval Assassination Reopened
A very interesting and strong example comes from medieval Hungary. A skeleton found in 1915 at a Dominican monastery on Margaret Island in Budapest entered scientific focus again through bioarchaeology, genetics, isotope study, radiocarbon dating, and trauma analysis. Researchers identified the remains as Béla, Duke of Macsó, a 13th-century nobleman connected with royal lineages. Forensic Science International: Genetics published the study in its February 2026 issue [5].
Béla, Duke of Macsó, was stabbed more than two dozen times in the 13th century. Several views of the skull. Photo, Live Science
The case reads like a historical cold case because modern tools revisited an old find. The skeleton showed many sharp-force injuries from around the time of death. Reporting on the study described 26 injuries, including wounds to the skull and body, with a pattern consistent with a coordinated attack by several assailants using more than one weapon. The research team linked skeletal evidence with historical accounts of the duke’s violent death around 1272 [6].
The Béla case also shows why dating evidence needs caution. Radiocarbon results created tension with the historical timeline, and researchers considered diet-related reservoir effects as one explanation. High-status diets with more aquatic food sources sometimes shift radiocarbon readings. Here, forensic interpretation did not rest on one test. The team used DNA, dental clues, skeletal trauma, and history together [6].
The Grave as a Scene
A burial has more evidence than the bones alone. Body position, grave depth, stone lining, bindings, clothing traces, grave goods, cut marks, burning, and nearby objects all shape interpretation. A person buried with care in a formal grave tells a different social story from a body placed hurriedly in a pit.
Context also protects researchers from cultural bias. A modern reader might see unusual burial treatment and label the death cruel, criminal, or strange. An archaeologist must ask what the practice meant in its own setting. Decapitation, cremation, multiple burial, face-down placement, or removal of body parts have different meanings across periods and communities. Evidence must guide interpretation before modern emotion fills the gaps.
When Time Damages the Evidence
Forensic archaeology faces hard limits. Soil acidity destroys bone. Water moves fragments. Roots cut through skeletons. Animals scatter remains. Pressure cracks skulls and long bones. Later burials, roads, buildings, or looting disturb the scene.
Missing evidence reduces certainty. If the skull is absent, head trauma disappears from the record. If hands are missing, defense injuries become harder to assess. If the grave loses associated objects, social status and burial practice become harder to interpret. A researcher must say what the evidence supports, what the evidence rejects, and what stays unknown. A partial skeleton should not carry a full story. A single fracture should not carry a full accusation. A useful forensic report grades confidence, compares explanations, and avoids stronger language.
Ethics: The Dead are not Data Points
Human remains need respectful treatment. Every skeleton once belonged to a person with a body, relationships, fears, and social meaning. Ethical work includes legal permission, careful sampling, respectful storage, community consultation, and plain public communication.
Ancient DNA research makes this concern sharper because sampling removes material from bones or teeth. The 2021 global guidance asks researchers to follow local rules, prepare a study plan before sampling, minimize damage, share data for review after publication, and work with stakeholders from the start. These principles protect both science and dignity [7].
Why Old Cold Cases Matter Now?
Ancient death investigations help you read human history with evidence. Trauma patterns reveal conflict, interpersonal violence, punishment, warfare, and social control. Dietary study reflects access to resources. Isotope analysis traces movement. DNA research shows kinship and population links. Burial treatment shows how communities responded to death.
These studies also improve modern forensic practice. Methods tested across difficult ancient contexts strengthen recovery, documentation, trauma analysis, and taphonomic interpretation in present investigations. A burial from the past trains scientists to think carefully about scene context, missing evidence, contamination, and competing explanations.
Listening to Evidence Beneath the Surface
A 1000-year-old cold case rarely ends with a neat verdict. Some deaths gain strong explanations. Some keep their uncertainty. This does not weaken forensic archaeology. The field stays honest when researchers show both evidence and limits.
Bones record trauma, teeth preserve childhood signals, DNA links people to families and populations. Soil layers protect the sequence. Grave goods reveal cultural action. Together, they move the story from speculation toward evidence. The past does not speak in full sentences. Forensic archaeology gives you a method for listening with care. In old burials, science does not restore every name or every motive. The work returns measured truths to people whose history is almost erased.
References:
Dr. William, Archaeology and forensic death investigations. Hist Arch35, 26–34 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374524
Dirkmaat DC, Cabo LL. Forensic Archaeology and Forensic Taphonomy: Basic Considerations on how to Properly Process and Interpret the Outdoor Forensic Scene. Acad Forensic Pathol. 2016 Sep;6(3):439-454. doi: 10.23907/2016.045 Epub 2016 Sep 1. PMID: 31239919; PMCID: PMC6474560.
Alpaslan-Roodenberg, S., Anthony, D., Babiker, H. et al. Ethics of DNA research on human remains: five globally applicable guidelines. Nature599, 41–46 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04008-x
Kranioti EF, Grigorescu D, Harvati K (2019) State of the art forensic techniques reveal evidence of interpersonal violence ca. 30,000 years ago. PLOS ONE 14(7): e0216718. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216718
Hajdu T, Borbély N, Bernert Z, Murder in cold blood? Forensic and bioarchaeological identification of the skeletal remains of Béla, Duke of Macsó (c. 1245–1272), Forensic Science International: Genetics, 2025; 81
Alpaslan-Roodenberg, S., Anthony, D., Babiker, H. et al. Ethics of DNA research on human remains: five globally applicable guidelines. Nature599, 41–46 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04008-x
“It was a pleasant morning on March 23, 2003, when an acquaintance informed me that a priceless ivory fossil, millions of years old, had been hacked with axes. When I reached the site, a portion of the fossil was still visible. Mobile phones were not common at the time, but somehow the Department of Zoology at the University of the Punjab was contacted, and Dr. Abdul Ghaffar, along with Zubaidul Haq, arrived at the location,” recalls Abid Hussain.
Abid Hussain, a resident of the small village of Tatrot in Jhelum District, does not hold a formal degree in geology or zoology. Yet, inspired at a young age by stories of dinosaur fossils, he began searching for ancient remains on his own. Over the years, he has identified numerous prehistoric creatures and played a significant role in providing authentic scientific information about fossils discovered in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Fossilistan — A Significant Site for Paleontological Research
In Tatrot, fossils of animals millions of years old are scattered across the landscape. Geologically, the area is part of an important fossil-bearing region where remains dating back approximately 3.5 to 5 million years have been discovered. These fossils belong to species that emerged during a period of major environmental and evolutionary change on Earth, making Pakistan a significant site for paleontological research. Fossils continue to be unearthed in the region even today, with the earliest documented references to these discoveries dating back to the nineteenth century.
The home of Abid Hussain has become a gathering place for researchers and scholars, particularly during the winter months, when experts from Pakistan and around the world visit Tatrot in search of fossils. Photo, Suhail Yusuf
The home of Abid Hussain has become a gathering place for researchers and scholars, particularly during the winter months, when experts from Pakistan and around the world visit Tatrot in search of fossils. Through his field knowledge and assistance, 22 students have completed their PhD and MPhil research projects, and his contributions have been acknowledged in numerous scientific papers.
Dr. Abdul Ghaffar, a leading paleontologist in Pakistan and Dean of the Department of Zoology at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, said that he first met Abid Hussain in 1998.
“Not only Jhelum, but many areas of Chakwal District are rich in fossils, making the region an internationally significant natural museum,” he said. “New species of extinct giraffes, rhinoceroses, carnivores, deer, cattle, rodents, and elephants have been discovered here. In addition, the largest tusk of an ancient elephant found in Asia was unearthed in this region, measuring 8 feet 11 inches in length. But above all, Abid Hussain Pelli is as important to paleontology as the Jhelum region itself.”
The largest ancient elephant tusk in Asia has also been discovered in the village of Tatrot. Photo, Suhail Yusuf
New Chapters of Ancient Life
It is worth noting that the fossil-rich Siwalik Hills formations extend across both Pakistan and India and are regarded as one of South Asia’s most important paleontological regions. When jaw and skull fossils of the species Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus were discovered in both countries, scientists initially believed they belonged to early human ancestors. Later research, however, revealed that these primates were actually ancestors of modern orangutans — dark orange-haired apes that once stood between one and one-and-a-half meters tall.
Fossil discoveries in the region have also helped solve long-standing biological mysteries. Photo, Suhail Yusuf
Fossil discoveries in the region have also helped solve long-standing biological mysteries. Abid Hussain recalls one particularly fascinating incident: someone once brought him the horn of an unidentified animal, but he remained unconvinced about its origin. When Dr. Abdul Ghaffar and his colleagues examined it, they identified it as the horn of a prehistoric buffalo and advised him to search the same site for another specimen.
Following their guidance, Abid Hussain returned to the location and began excavating the area, eventually uncovering a second horn. Until then, buffalo fossils from that era had never been discovered in the region, and even foreign experts acknowledged the significance of the find. The discovery is now considered the first known buffalo fossil from that geological period in Asia.
Ancient species of hippos, elephants, and rhinos indicate that Tatrot’s past was highly suitable for wildlife. Photo, Suhail Yusuf
Tatrot: A Lost World Preserved in Stone
Viewed through the lens of imagination, the quiet village of Tatrot was once a dense and thriving forest millions of years ago. Ancient elephants roamed its plains, short-necked giraffes wandered among the trees, while deer, rodents, and other mammals moved through the undergrowth. Predators stalked the landscape as crocodiles and turtles inhabited nearby waters. Today, the remnants of that vanished world survive in the fossils embedded within its rocks.
More than a fossil site, Tatrot offers a window into extinct life, prehistoric climates, animal migration, and the biodiversity of ancient ecosystems. For decades, the region has attracted renowned Pakistani paleontologists, including Dr. Muhammad Zubair Abu Bakar, Dr. Abdul Ghaffar, and many other researchers whose work has contributed significantly to the understanding of South Asia’s prehistoric past.
Ancient species of hippos, elephants, and rhinos indicate that Tatrot’s past was highly suitable for wildlife. Photo, Suhail Yusuf
Scholars from Britain and the United States have also carried out important research in the area, helping establish the region as one of the world’s notable paleontological sites. Even today, scientists from across the globe continue to visit Tatrot, studying fossil collections, uncovering new specimens, and publishing research that adds fresh chapters to the story of ancient life.
Across the world, amateur fossil hunters have often played a crucial role in groundbreaking discoveries, and in Pakistan, Abid Hussain stands out as one of the most remarkable figures in this field. Despite lacking formal academic training, his lifelong dedication to fossil exploration has contributed immensely to paleontological research in Pakistan. His journey of discovery continues, and many believe his contributions deserve formal academic recognition, including an honorary doctorate.
Nowadays, water is more than simply a fundamental resource. It is subtly turning into a cause of stress, demonstrations, and occasionally open conflict in many regions of the world. The Pacific Institute’s Water Conflict Chronology, which was updated and published in a number of international publications, including The Guardian in January 2026, states that the number of violent incidents related to water increased dramatically after 2022, going from about 235 cases in 2022 to over 400 incidents by 2024.
Researchers were monitoring actual conflicts where water systems, access, or shortages directly contributed to political tensions, protests, or violence, and put together this data. This dread is no longer theoretical. It is a known worldwide trend associated with increased freshwater demand, poor governance, and climate stress.
Iran is among the most severe real-world examples, as water shortages there have gotten worse over the last ten years. Excessive groundwater extraction near Tehran has resulted in catastrophic land subsidence, according to scientific and environmental papers by Iranian groundwater researchers published between 2021 and 2024 and featured in international environmental journalism. According to reports, excessive exploitation of subterranean aquifers has caused the ground in some southern regions of Tehran province to sink by more than 20 centimeters annually.
Water Crisis in Conflicted Regions
Meanwhile, drought and poor dam management have caused rivers like Isfahan’s Zayandeh Rud to dry up for extended periods of time. When irrigation water was redirected, farmers in Isfahan demonstrated in public both in 2021 and later, demonstrating how social unrest was directly sparked by water constraints. If Tehran’s groundwater collapse persists, experts caution, it may have an impact on housing stability, infrastructure, and regional water security throughout central Iran and other regions.
Local disputes between farmers and pastoral populations have been closely associated with water scarcity in Africa, particularly in the Sahel area, which includes Mali, Niger, and Chad. Long-term drought and erratic rainfall patterns have made it harder to access freshwater resources and grazing areas, according to 2023 climate-security assessments released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). One such example is the Lake Chad Basin.
According to hydrological academics and UN organizations, Lake Chad has lost around 90% of its surface area since the 1960s, according to historical satellite data. Due to the shrinking environment, migration has become necessary, and competition for scarce water and farmland has intensified. Researchers examining the relationship between climate change and conflict in the Sahel observe that while resource shortage alone does not always lead to violence, it greatly increases the likelihood of local conflicts and instability when combined with poverty, poor governance, and population growth.
Severity of Crisis in Asia
One of Asia’s most delicate transboundary water disputes is still the water politics between India and Pakistan. Water sharing from rivers, including the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, is governed by the Indus Waters Treaty, which was signed in 1960 with assistance from the World Bank. However, issues with water flow and dam construction have frequently escalated tensions. In numerous policy talks and regional forums, Pakistani policymakers and water specialists have voiced their worries regarding upstream hydroelectric projects constructed by India on western rivers that are part of Pakistan’s territory under the terms of the treaty.
Debates concerning the timing of water releases and the transparency of data sharing intensify in public discourse during periods of severe rains and flooding. Due to changes in river flow patterns brought about by glacier melt in the Himalayas, climate change is complicating this problem. Due to its high population density, reliance on agriculture, and unpredictable climate, South Asia is among the world’s most water-stressed regions, according to research released by regional water policy institutes between 2020 and 2024.
Photo, UN- Water
The escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022 has also shown how water supplies are directly targeted during times of armed conflict. In numerous Ukrainian districts, including Kherson and Donetsk, dams, pumping stations, and water treatment facilities were reported damaged, according to reports from humanitarian organizations and infrastructure monitoring groups.
Millions of residents’ access to drinking water was disrupted in 2023 due to the devastation of the Kakhovka Dam, which also had an impact on irrigation systems throughout southern Ukraine. One of the worst water-related tragedies associated with contemporary conflict, this tragedy was extensively covered by international media and environmental experts. It demonstrated how, in times of conflict, water infrastructure can be both a strategic asset and a tragedy.
According to UN-Water and the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (with recent updates 2023–2025), over two billion people currently reside in nations with high or extremely high water stress. In the Middle East, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, climate change is increasing the frequency of droughts and changing the distribution of rainfall, according to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.
Over the past 20 years, there has been a notable loss of freshwater across northern India, areas of the Middle East, and Central Asia, according to groundwater depletion data released by NASA’s GRACE satellite mission. These scientific datasets are very reliable and frequently used in international environmental research since they are based on long-term climate monitoring, hydrological modeling, and satellite observations.
Devastating impacts on Agriculture and Food Security
Food security and agriculture are closely related to water scarcity. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), around 70% of freshwater withdrawals worldwide are related to agriculture. Groundwater extraction and river flows are crucial to irrigation systems in nations like Egypt, India, and Pakistan. Crop yields drop, and rural livelihoods are impacted when water availability becomes uncertain because of climate change or poor policy management.
The past ten years have seen recurrent drought conditions in Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan regions, which have decreased agricultural productivity and increased reliance on water tankers for daily consumption. Similar trends have been noted in the Tigris-Euphrates basin of Iraq, where decreasing river flows have affected farming communities and the stability of the food supply.
One of the most reliable international databases on water-related conflicts and violence is the Pacific Institute’s Water Conflict Chronology project, which was started in the early 2000s and is updated on a regular basis. The initiative monitors instances in which water is used as a weapon, a cause of conflict, or a war casualty. Major media, such as The Guardian (January 2026 environmental reporting), have mentioned the database’s 2024–2025 updates, which show a distinct rising trend in water-related violence since 2022. To assure accuracy and trustworthiness, the project’s researchers examine field-based documentation, confirmed reports, and historical records.
Ultimately, the majority of real professionals are now speaking in clear words and genuinely expressing the same thing. In his 2014 and subsequent policy briefings at the Pacific Institute in California, for instance, Dr. Peter Gleick made it abundantly evident that water stress is already serving as a “threat multiplier” in actual conflicts such as Syria and portions of the Middle East, not as a problem for the future but as a current one.
Similarly, in his 2019 study on planetary boundaries, Professor Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute noted that a number of locations in Asia and Africa have already surpassed acceptable freshwater limitations, particularly in river basins such as the Nile (Ethiopia–Sudan–Egypt) and the Indus (Pakistan–India).
At the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York, even UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that poorly managed water infrastructure, growing demand, and droughts brought on by climate change are providing “a clear pathway to instability” in nations already under political and economic strain. Simply put, these experts are emphasizing that the future is not just about water scarcity as an environmental problem, but also about political abuse, unequal distribution, and poor governance of water resources at very specific times and places.
Experts predict that cities like Tehran, Karachi, Cape Town, and Chennai may experience significant social disruption within the next 20 years if governments continue to implement delayed reforms, weak transboundary agreements, and unregulated groundwater extraction. This is not because water will suddenly disappear, but rather because regional cooperation, planning, and policy enforcement will not keep up with actual consumption patterns and climate variability.
NASA GRACE Mission – Groundwater Depletion Data https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/
Indus Waters Treaty – World Bank Overview https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water/resources/indus-waters-treaty
Original Treaty Text (World Bank Archive) https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20419/volume-419-I-6032-English.pdf
UNEP Vital Water Graphics (Lake Chad shrinkage data) https://www.unep.org/resources/report/vital-water-graphics-overview-state-worlds-fresh-and-marine-waters
World Resources Institute – Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (2023) https://www.wri.org/aqueduct
UN 2023 Water Conference (Official Statements & Documents) https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023
UN OCHA – Ukraine Situation Reports (Kakhovka Dam 2023) https://www.unocha.org/ukraine
What if the instructions for life could be written the same way we write code? In 2010, researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute reported a development that marked a shift in modern biology. They demonstrated that a bacterial cell could function under the control of a genome that had been designed on a computer and chemically synthesized in a laboratory. The cell itself was not entirely artificial, as it relied on an existing biological structure, but the experiment showed that genetic instructions could be constructed outside a living organism and used to direct cellular activity. This marked a shift in biology from studying life as it exists to exploring whether it can be deliberately designed or written.
J. Craig Venter was widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to genomics, including leading efforts to sequence the first draft of the human genome. Venter and his team’s successful creation of the first synthetic bacterial cell is considered pivotal to the field of synthetic biology.
Craig Venter is in his office with his dog, Darwin. Photo Credit: Eli Meir Kaplan/For The Washington Post via Getty/Nature
Decoding Life: The Foundation of Genomics
To understand why this was significant, it is necessary to consider how biology had evolved up to that point. For much of the 20th century, scientific efforts focused on understanding how life works at the molecular level. DNA was identified as the molecule responsible for storing genetic information, and subsequent research revealed how this information is organized into genes and genomes.
A major achievement in this effort was the Human Genome Project, which aimed to map the complete set of human genes. Alongside this, work associated with Craig Venter at Celera Genomics introduced faster sequencing strategies that relied on computational methods to assemble DNA from smaller fragments. These advances made it possible to read genetic information at a scale and speed that had not been previously achievable.
From Reading to Designing DNA
As genome sequencing became more efficient, a new line of inquiry emerged. If DNA could be read and analyzed, could it also be designed and constructed? This question led to the development of synthetic biology, a field that combines molecular biology with engineering principles. Instead of focusing solely on observing or modifying existing genes, synthetic biology seeks to design genetic sequences, synthesize them chemically, and introduce them into cells to control their behavior. In this framework, DNA is treated as a system that can be programmed, although it remains far more complex and less predictable than digital code.
The Synthetic Cell Experiment
The synthetic cell experiment provided an early demonstration of this concept. Scientists were able to construct a bacterial genome and insert it into a host cell, where it directed the functions of the cell, including growth and replication. This showed that genetic information alone could determine cellular activity, even when it was produced artificially. At the same time, the experiment highlighted important limitations, as the cell still depended on pre-existing biological components. The complete creation of life from non-living materials remains beyond current scientific capabilities.
Scientific Challenges and Limitations
Since then, synthetic biology has expanded into multiple areas of research. In medicine, engineered microorganisms are used to produce pharmaceuticals, including antimalarial compounds such as artemisinin, allowing for more stable and scalable production. In industrial biotechnology, researchers are exploring the use of modified microbes to produce fuels and chemicals, although challenges related to efficiency and cost continue to limit large-scale application.
Environmental research has also begun to incorporate synthetic biology, with efforts to design organisms capable of detecting or breaking down pollutants, offering potential tools for monitoring and remediation. Despite these advances, the field faces significant challenges. Living systems are highly complex, and genes do not operate independently but interact within intricate networks. As a result, predicting the outcome of genetic modifications remains difficult, and results obtained in laboratory conditions do not always translate effectively to real-world environments. Additionally, current approaches rely on existing cellular systems, and the construction of a fully independent synthetic organism has not yet been achieved.
Ethical and Safety Considerations
The ability to design and manipulate biological systems also raises important ethical and safety considerations. Synthetic biology is often described as a dual-use field because the same techniques that enable beneficial applications could also be misused. There are concerns about the potential release of engineered organisms into natural environments, where they could interact with ecosystems in unpredictable ways.
Regulatory frameworks are still developing and often struggle to keep pace with the rapid advancement of technology. The work associated with Craig Venter contributed to a broader transformation in how biological research is conducted. Biology has increasingly shifted from a discipline focused on observation to one that incorporates design and engineering. Computational tools, large-scale data analysis, and interdisciplinary approaches now play central roles in the study of life.
Synthetic biology represents an ongoing transition rather than a completed transformation. It has extended the ability to study genetic information into the ability to construct and modify it, opening new possibilities in medicine, industry, and environmental science. At the same time, it has introduced new scientific, ethical, and regulatory challenges that continue to shape the direction of the field.
Shampo, M. A., & Kyle, R. A. (2011). J. Craig Venter–The Human Genome Project. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 86(4), e26–e27. https://doi.org/10.4065/mcp.2011.0160
Ou, Y., & Guo, S. (2023). Safety risks and ethical governance of biomedical applications of synthetic biology. Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology, 11, 1292029. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1292029
The barely swinging fan in Hamida’s* home brought her no relief from the suffocating heat enveloping the two-roomed apartment she lived in with her family. With temperatures rising to 45° C, citizens were advised to diligently follow SOPs set by health experts, namely to stay indoors, drink plenty of fluids, and wear fully covering, light clothing to minimize the risk of heat-related health problems.
But Hamida struggled to understand how staying indoors could be of any help at all; her apartment seemed to swell with heat, the otherwise regular water supply to her home had been late for the past week, and she had spent most of her mornings parched. The migraines and dizziness brought on by the intensifying heat kept worsening day by day, despite the medication she took to stop them. According to Hamida, staying inside in her house “felt even worse. The heat inside seemed to cling to me, and my family couldn’t even sleep at night because of how hot it was”.
At her own home after her shift’s end, she had another list of chores to attend to. Her family’s dinner had to be made, their clothes had to be washed, and the house had to be set in order. By the time her head hit the pillow, the pounding and dizziness had increased to such a level that it was almost blinding. According to Hamida, the migraines and dizziness never stopped throughout the day and only got worse at night, as she described she “felt so dizzy and parched in the heat, and almost collapsed because of it”.
But still another day’s wages had to be earned, even if it meant venturing out in the relentless heat day after day. So, donning her black abaya and chappals, she went out on the unpaved road, hopping over sunlit patches more than manholes because, as she described, “it felt like being cooked inside when standing in the sun for even a few seconds”.
Hamida’s plight was one of several workers who face a similar situation every year during the intense heatwaves in Karachi. Sanam* another domestic worker employed in Gulshan e Iqbal town, an area that is extremely hot during summer, also struggled for her family’s daily wage. Her children’s mounting school fees and her husband’s physiotherapy for his paralysis had to be paid. So it fell on Sanam to take up the job of providing for her family.
Her skin marked with visible blisters and feet reddened in her fraying chappals, she had to take the packed public buses and stand amidst the sweating crowd every day to reach her employer’s house. Cloaked in her burqa, standing packed among strangers with little air coming in, she felt sick and nauseous on the way to work. The heat seemed to be buried inside her. Describing her everyday condition, “it felt like death.”
It was no easy task for Hamida and Sanam to earn their daily wages in this extreme heat. Even the regular hustle of various chores – laundry, sweeping, and cleaning – did not seem to exhaust as much as the sweltering, suffocating heat that was ever present. The air conditioning in their respective employers’ homes was not enough despite their cooling, and the myriad of health issues from migraines and frequent dizziness to skin rashes were increasing.
The link between heatwaves and women’s physiological health
In a 2023 article published by the Atlantic Council’s Climate Resilience Center on the effects of extreme heat on women’s health and income in India, Nigeria, and the US, it was reported that women are more prone to heat-related illnesses than men, as thermoregulation works differently in both genders. Notably for women, especially pregnant women, the risk to health from heatwaves is much higher, especially as they work in the kitchen heat indoors.
Women have lower metabolic activity than men, leading to colder body temperatures overall. Men are also able to thermoregulate faster than women, hence women are more at risk. Moreover, women, particularly from low-income families, also carry the dual burden of caring for their families and earning their livelihoods, in addition to carrying unpaid emotional labour in their families, so poverty worsens heatwave effects on women.
According to the 2023 UN Women report, around 340 million women and girls will be living in extreme poverty by 2030. An estimated 20.9% in just Central and Southeast Asia alone. In poverty-stricken circumstances where few resources for adequate protection and support for women exist, female domestic workers like Hamida and Sanam are more prone to health risks caused by heatwaves, such as anemia, hypertension, stress, and dehydration.
Poverty and unpaid labour further push women into stress-related issues, reproductive problems, and hypertension. Karachi is a heavily populated city whose uncoordinated urban planning is a clear physical mark of inequality in social classes. High-density, often industrial areas like Landhi and Korangi seem to bear the brunt of the heatwaves and the dangerous effects of heatwaves more than those with structured planning and greener spaces.
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) in 2021 reported how a lack of proper ventilation systems in residences and a lack of access to safe spaces during heatwaves further exacerbate the problems and burdens on poor women. As poverty-stricken areas in Karachi also suffer more loadshedding, these cooling appliances, such as ceiling fans that are also more often than not of low quality or not even working well, face constant interruption in their usage. Compared to the air-conditioned homes of urban areas, where people can afford to have better cooling facilities and use energy-saving equipment to combat loadshedding.
But why Karachi?
Karachi’s high temperatures during the summer are more than just due to climate change. Due to a phenomenon called the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI), the rising temperatures occur as a result of a combination of factors. The evident lack of greenery to absorb heat and provide shade, the hard materials of asphalt and concrete used in the city’s infrastructure that retain the day’s heat and radiate it at night, and the “urban canyons”, the poorly ventilated and congested streets, thanks to high-rise buildings. All of these cause heat to circulate in the city, essentially creating a hot, dense bubble that entraps Karachi and makes the weather feel hotter than it is.
In a densely populated city like Karachi, whose population reaches an astounding 20.3 million, city temperatures and heatwaves intensify with the growth of urbanization. The heat-absorbing materials like concrete and asphalt used to make the city’s infrastructure, combined with incredibly compact structures and little room for any open and green spaces, worsen the UHI. So Karachi homes emanate heat every summer. And combined with the heat radiation from machinery, vehicles, and industrial processes, you have an entire city cooking up during the summer.
Cloaked in her burqa, standing packed among strangers with little air coming in, she felt sick and nauseous on the way to work. Photo, The Guardian
The Necessity of a Heat Plan!
With the lack of proper heat-relieving spaces and equipment in most Karachi areas and the absence of greenery to absorb it, the extreme heat affected the health of citizens, particularly labourers and domestic workers earning their living wages, suffering more as most work under the direct sun without proper protective equipment. According to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2024, severe heat waves can cause illnesses and worsen already existing ones, ranging from respiratory distress, fainting, skin allergies, heart diseases, and even deaths.
The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and the Commissioner of Karachi worked on the Karachi Heatwave Management Plan in 2016-17, a project made to swiftly tackle the heatwave and its effects and prevent casualties, instead of the deadly heatwave of 2015, which affected up to 65,000 people and resulted in around 1,200 deaths. But while it focuses on increasing knowledge of effects in heatwaves in citizens, individual action, and lays out a long-term response including restoration, it does not adequately address the on-ground inequality in the city with regard to support being reached in certain areas.
It appears that without a consistent plan and action, the effects of heat strokes and the high temperatures have been persistent. Published in the Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association in 2025, it was reported that an alarming number of 500 people alone died in less than a week in the 2024 heatwaves of Karachi. With the lack of structural planning and proper implementation in Karachi to address the disastrous impact of heatwaves on the people, the problem worsens annually.
In today’s world, Type 2 diabetes has become one of the defining health challenges. According to the International Diabetes Federation, more than 537 million adults are living with diabetes, and the majority of these people have type 2 diabetes. That number is likely to increase sharply in the coming years.
Managing the condition is a daily balancing act for diabetic patients. Medications such as Metformin, commonly sold as Glucophage, help lower blood sugar. However, even with this treatment, people continue to struggle with weight gain, abnormal cholesterol levels, digestive discomfort, and altered glucose readings.
New research published in Microbiology Spectrum proposes that an ancient herbal approach may offer a new perspective, instead of directly targeting blood sugar, to improve the health of the gut. Think of your gut as a small ecosystem, like a garden. When helpful bacteria grow well, they support your health. When harmful bacteria take over, complications such as inflammation and blood sugar imbalance can develop. Bacteria are tiny living germs that are all around us and inside our bodies.
Now, new research published in Microbiology Spectrum suggests that an ancient herbal approach may offer a fresh perspective. It does not target blood sugar directly; instead improves the health of the gut.
Diabetes is Not Just About Sugar
For decades, it has been believed that type 2 diabetes is a problem of insulin, the hormone that helps move sugar from the bloodstream into the cells. But scientists are now recognizing another key factor: the gut microbiome. Scientists call the community of bacteria “gut microbiome”, a term that simply means the collection of bacteria and small, tiny creatures that cannot be seen with the naked eye, living in our digestive system.
A variety of bacteria live in our intestine, helping to digest food, affect fat storage, and even affect how sensitive our bodies are to insulin. When this ecosystem becomes imbalanced,
Inside our intestines lives a vast ecosystem of bacteria. These microbes help digest food, regulate inflammation, influence fat storage, and even affect how sensitive our bodies are to insulin. Just like a garden overrun with weeds, an unhealthy gut environment can make diabetes more difficult to manage.
Researchers studying the gut microbiome’s role in type 2 diabetes emphasize that the condition involves more than traditional hormonal dysregulation. “We believe that changes in the gut microbiome cause type 2 diabetes,”said Fenglei Wang, PhD, of the Broad Institute and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noting that microbial alterations may precede the development of diabetes and could be targets for future interventions.
Remarkably, researchers now know that metformin works partly and changes gut bacteria. This discovery raises an important question: if the gut plays such a powerful role, could fixing it help control diabetes?
The Herbal Formula Under Study
A team led by researcher Chengdong Xia studied a traditional Chinese herbal combination called CCM. The formula contains three natural plant ingredients that help improve digestion and convert food into energy.
Coptis root: sometimes called goldthread root (a bitter herb used in traditional medicine)
Cinnamon bark: just cinnamon (the common spice people use in food and drinks)
Mume fruit: Chinese plum or Japanese apricot (a small sour fruit used in pickles and traditional remedies)
Rather than trusting traditional claims, the researchers tested the formula under controlled experimental conditions in diabetic mice. After four weeks of treatment, the results were outstanding. The mice getting the herbal formula showed Lower blood sugar, Improved cholesterol levels, and reduced weight gain.
In several trials, the herbal treatment performed even better than metformin. “What makes this study interesting is that it focuses on reshaping the gut ecosystem rather than simply lowering glucose numbers,” says Dr. Natural Chu Hoi‑sing, a post‑doctoral researcher at the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong
A Powerful Shift in the Gut
The most convincing findings were not just about blood sugar levels but about what was happening inside the gut. The herbal formula increases levels of beneficial bacteria that help our body to use sugar, keeps swelling and irritation low, supports a healthy body weight, and keeps blood sugar levels steady.
In the study, as helpful gut bacteria improved, blood sugar and cholesterol levels improved too. While the diabetes medicine metformin also affected gut bacteria, the herbal formula seemed to create critical positive changes. In simple terms, the formula lowers glucose and also seems to reshape the gut environment in ways that support healthier digestion.
Why This Matters
This study reflects a larger shift in how scientists think about diseases like diabetes. Traditional treatments usually work, and help the body make more insulin or stop it from making too much sugar. A novel approach called microbiome-focused therapyinstead tries to balance the bacteria in your gut to support overall health. Rather than forcing the body to balance blood sugar levels, this approach may help the body to control itself more naturally by supporting beneficial bacteria.
While the results are promising, this study was conducted in mice. Human bodies are more complicated, so what works in animals doesn’t always work the same way in people. Researchers working on herbal formulas emphasized that human clinical trials will be essential before recommending any herbal formula as a standard treatment. So, for now, diabetic patients should not replace medications with herbal remedies without medical supervision.
Even though the herbal formula itself requires further study, the broader message is already clear: gut health plays a meaningful role in our health. Eat fiber-rich food, which includes vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, include fermented foods like yogurt, reduce highly processed foods and excess sugar, and follow medical advice regarding supplements, will help gut balance and blood sugar control.
As diabetes continues to increase worldwide, innovation is urgently needed. Sometimes, progress does not come from discovering something entirely new, but from re-examining traditional knowledge through the lens of modern science.
This study proposes that the future of diabetes treatment may extend beyond conventional drugs and into the complex world of living organisms within our intestines. The gut, once overlooked, may prove to fight against type 2 diabetes.
Reference:
Xia C, Yue L, Wang Y, et al. Gut microbiota’s role in the enhancement of type 2 diabetes treatment by a traditional Chinese herbal formula compared to metformin. Microbiology Spectrum. 2025.
International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 10th Edition, 2021.
Bailey CJ, Day C. Metformin: its mechanism of action and role in gut microbiota modulation. Diabetes Care research reviews.
Walking through residential areas in Karachi, the inviting aroma of street food is frequently overpowered by a harsh, acrid smell. Thick grey plumes of smoke routinely rise from empty plots wedged between apartment complexes. This is not an accidental blaze, but the deliberate burning of household garbage, such as diapers, plastic bags, and food wrappers, to manage waste overflow. While national environmental debates usually focus on industrial emissions or Punjab’s seasonal crop-burning smog, these hyper-local pollution zones are largely ignored. For residents in densely populated neighbourhoods like Scheme 33, this informal disposal method is a toxic daily reality.
The Economics Behind the Smoke
To understand why this hazard persists, we must examine municipal infrastructure gaps. Informal waste collectors explain that when municipal trucks fail to arrive for days, garbage piles up, prompting resident complaints about flies and odors. Without the fuel, carts, or authority to transport trash to official landfills, burning becomes the quickest way to make it disappear. This highlights a systemic failure. Waste collectors are not deliberately polluting the air; rather, a lack of sustainable infrastructure forces low-income workers into environmentally disastrous choices just to keep streets visually clean.
The Invisible Health Crisis
The convenience of disappearing trash comes at a severe cost for those living near these plots. Residents frequently report coughing fits, irritation, and the necessity of shutting windows during evening burning hours. Exposure leads to respiratory distress, worsened allergies, and a decline in overall well-being. Instead of enjoying the evening breeze, families are forced to seal their homes against toxic fumes. These experiences show how environmental hazards disproportionately impact vulnerable populations.
The smoke creates a localized micro-pollution zone where the Air Quality Index (AQI) spikes far above the city’s average, trapping toxic particulates at street level. During Karachi’s sweltering summers, these fires exacerbate the urban heat island effect by adding thermal stress to the stagnant air.
Local healthcare professionals confirm the severity of this issue. According to a DAWN report, senior chest physician Dr. Nadeem Rizvi stated that dust and smoke from local fires severely aggravate acute asthma and respiratory diseases. Another medical expert warned that dioxin emissions from open waste burning are dangerous even at extremely low levels and are linked to cancer, as well as developmental and reproductive disorders.
The Science of Toxic Smoke
Unlike burning wood or leaves, incinerating modern garbage, which is heavily laden with synthetic materials and low-grade plastics, releases a lethal cocktail of chemicals. A late-2023 World Health Organization (WHO) report corroborates this, emphasizing that highly toxic dioxins can damage the immune system, interfere with hormones, cause cancer, and lead to reproductive and developmental problems. Additionally, the remaining ash contaminates the soil and can seep into local groundwater. By burning waste, neighbourhoods trade a visible nuisance for a lingering, invisible killer.
The convenience of disappearing trash comes at a severe cost for those living near these plots. Image Credit: Haseeb Ali
Shifting the Narrative and Seeking Solutions
Residents often celebrate the disappearance of visible trash, unaware of the invisible dioxins left behind. This disconnect highlights a massive gap in public health literacy. Open burning must be recognized as a public health emergency rather than a practical jugaad (hack). Effective science communication is needed to translate complex toxicology into everyday language. When people realize the smoke is fundamentally altering their children’s lung capacity, they are more likely to demand better municipal services instead of settling for toxic compromises.
Fortunately, local NGOs are bridging this awareness gap. Organizations like GarbageCAN and Trashit actively work in Karachi to promote responsible source segregation and recycling over open burning. GarbageCAN’s CEO, Ahmad Shabbar, advocates treating waste management as an essential service, while Trashit focuses on community recycling initiatives. Furthermore, NGOs like Aik Qadam Aur teach citizens how to compost kitchen waste, demonstrating that community-led action can significantly reduce the volume of garbage burned in streets.
What Can We Do?
The sharp, acrid scent of burning plastic drifting through your window is a frustrating reality that many have resigned to as an unavoidable “local flavor”. To truly clear the air, housing societies must stop taking shortcuts and invest in reliable secondary transport systems that actually move trash out. Municipal authorities must be held strictly accountable for maintaining collection schedules.
Most importantly, the informal waste pickers who act as the backbone of the current system must be supported. By advocating for their integration into the formal workforce with designated routes and proper safety gear, we transform a desperate, hazardous practice into a dignified job.
Have you noticed open waste burning in your neighbourhood? The first step to solving the problem is documenting it. Share your experiences, and subscribe to Scientia Pakistan’s newsletter for more on-the-ground environmental reporting. Let’s work together to clear the air.
“Karachi stakeholders float, debate solutions to city’s solid waste woes.” Published Nov 29, 2025. https://www.dawn.com/news/1958169(Source for GarbageCAN, Trashit, and NGO initiatives).
On a cold morning in Peshawar, middle-school students gather around plastic cups of bright yellow turmeric water. When vinegar hits the liquid, it turns vivid red. Gasps ripple through the room. Whispers rise. “How did it change?” “Can we try again?” Eyes wide, hands pointing, voices overlapping, for many, it is the first time learning experience when science feels real, something to see, touch, and wonder about.
A science communicator conducting the session notes how the energy in the room shifts completely. “Students who normally sit quietly were leaning forward, speaking up, questioning everything,” she recalls.
Yet, as education researcher Nazir A. Jogezai points out, moments like this are rare. In much of Pakistan, science classrooms are dominated by rote learning and exam preparation, leaving little space for inquiry or experimentation. “Students often pass tests without ever handling a pipette or watching a chemical reaction,” he says. The system prioritises coverage over understanding, theory over hands-on experience, and curiosity suffers.
Even a simple turmeric experiment can feel revolutionary, hinting at what’s possible when students are free to explore and question.
But for most schools in Pakistan, such moments are a rare occurrence. The numbers tell a daunting story: only about 60–61% of the population is literate, with a sharp gender divide, roughly 68% of men versus 53% of women. Nearly 26.2 million children, around 38% of those aged 5–16, are out of school. Public spending on education has fallen to just 0.8% of GDP, far below the 4–6% UNESCO recommends.
These gaps help explain why classrooms like the one in Peshawar often go without basic needs: roughly one-third of schools lack electricity or clean water, and nearly a quarter of primary schools operate with just a single teacher for all grades. Decades of underfunding have left Pakistan lagging far behind global standards, making hands-on, inquiry-driven science a rare experience.
The figures mirror what teachers see in the classroom every day.
“Science education in Pakistan is still based mostly on the rote learning (ratta) system,” says Shagufta Naheed, a high-school principal in a remote village, in an interview with Scientia Magazine. She explains that students “memorize concepts from textbooks without being taught how or why those things work in the real world.” For example, pupils might copy the equation for a chemical reaction without ever witnessing one in a lab.
“It’s really hard for students to fully understand scientific concepts,” Shagufta adds, because lab work often stays on paper, “there just aren’t enough resources, proper labs, or trained staff” to make experiments happen. The result is predictable: little creativity, little critical questioning, and students who treat science only as exam material.
Teachers say textbooks and lectures lose children within minutes. In Karachi, headmistress Durdana Tabassum observed that students quickly disengage from traditional science classes until something hands-on begins. At a recent school science fair, she noted the boys “are enjoying themselves and participating happily” as experiments replaced lectures. A facilitator explained, “We make the students do the experiments with us so that they will learn it for a lifetime.” One fifth-grader agreed: “I never thought I could learn science from these experiments.” By engaging curiosity and the senses, such activities turn rote routines into lasting lessons.
Recognizing this gap, non-profits and science-focused initiatives have stepped in to bring science into classrooms and communities across Pakistan. Science Fuse, a social enterprise, runs after-school clubs, summer camps, teacher-training programs, and traveling science shows to introduce hands-on STEM learning to low-income schools. Since its launch in 2016, it has partnered with roughly 250 schools, reaching 45,000 children and training 650 teachers—helping transform rote classrooms into spaces where curiosity can thrive.
Similarly, organizations like the Khwarizmi Science Society have long worked to popularize science through public lectures, festivals, and educational outreach, fostering critical thinking beyond textbooks. Media platforms such as Kaainat Studios are also playing a vital role by producing engaging science content and storytelling that connects young audiences with real-world scientific ideas. Together, these efforts are gradually reshaping Pakistan’s science education landscape—making it more interactive, accessible, and curiosity-driven.
The impact of these hands-on sessions is clear. Young students who had never touched lab equipment suddenly watch chemical reactions and ask “why” and “how” instead of just copying. One report noted children were “enraptured by the experiments and ended up learning a lot.” By actively doing rather than just listening, kids remember lessons for years. Their work aims to make science “relevant and meaningful”, showing students role models and practical applications that defy the old stereotype that “science is a very tough subject only boys can do”, by engaging girls equally in experiments.
Photo, Pakistan Education
Education analysts at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) describe such initiatives as hopeful, but the scale of the crisis remains overwhelming. Serious underinvestment leaves most public schools without functioning labs or basic supplies. Without higher budgets and structural reform, Pakistan “will continue to struggle” with millions of undereducated youth. Nearly four in ten children still lack meaningful access to schooling, risking the country falling behind economically and socially. Writing in Dawn, columnist Nazir A. Jogezai argues that students “lose faith in what they are taught,” becoming “demotivated degree-holders rather than valuable human capital.”
Even so, signs of change emerge. In every makeshift lab, under a desk or in a borrowed hall, children who once stared at equations now eagerly mix vinegar and baking soda, curious about each reaction. “Learning happens when students do things, not just memorize them,” she notes, echoing Confucius: hear and forget, see and remember, do and understand. With more funding, trained teachers, and hands-on moments, even Pakistan’s poorest schools can nurture future scientists. Meanwhile, programs like Science Fuse are lighting a spark, one experiment at a time.
Assembly – Malala Fund. “Building the Next Generation of Pakistani Women Scientists.” https://assembly.malala.org/stories/building-the-next-generation-of-pakistani-women-scientists
UNICEF Pakistan. “Giving Every Child the Right to Education.” https://www.unicef.org/pakistan/education
It was 1:43 a.m. when Bilal, a 22-year-old university student in Karachi, finally gave up on sleep. This had become a pattern rather than an exception. For weeks, he had been sleeping no more than three to four hours a night, waking repeatedly with a tight chest and a racing mind. During the day, he struggled with persistent headaches, slowed thinking, stress, and an unshakable sense of alertness, as if his body were constantly preparing for something to go wrong.
“I feel exhausted all day,” he says. “But when I lie down, my brain starts racing. It’s like it doesn’t trust silence.”
After months of dismissing his symptoms as poor time management or a lack of resilience, Bilal sought medical help. Clinical evaluation revealed that he was experiencing moderate-to-severe chronic stress, a condition in which the body’s stress response system remains activated for prolonged periods. His doctor explained that his symptoms were neurological rather than psychological weakness: sustained cortisol elevation, sleep-cycle disruption, and heightened autonomic nervous system activity. He was advised structured sleep regulation, reduced stimulant intake, cognitive behavioral therapy, and lifestyle interventions aimed at calming an overactive stress response.
Chronic stress differs fundamentally from short-term stress. While acute stress is brief and often beneficial, chronic stress persists for weeks or months without adequate recovery. Clinicians broadly describe stress progression in stages: mild stress, marked by irritability and fatigue; moderate stress, involving sleep disturbance, impaired concentration, and physical symptoms; and severe or toxic stress, where prolonged exposure begins to impair brain function, immunity, and cardiovascular health. The most dangerous stage is sustained severe stress, as it increases the risk of anxiety disorders, depression, metabolic disease, and long-term cognitive decline.
Bilal’s condition fell into this intermediate yet critical zone—severe enough to disrupt neurological functioning, but still reversible with early intervention. What he had interpreted as personal failure was, in reality, his brain struggling under relentless physiological stress.
Across Pakistan and the globe, chronic stress is quietly reshaping brains—not metaphorically, but biologically.
When a Survival System Turns Against Us
Stress is a protective biological mechanism. When the brain perceives danger, the amygdala—an almond-shaped structure involved in threat detection—signals the hypothalamus, activating a cascade of hormones including cortisol and adrenaline. This response prepares the body to react quickly and is essential for survival.
However, mental health professionals warn that this system was not designed for constant activation. Dr. Bruce McEwen, a neuroscientist at Rockefeller University who spent decades studying stress and the brain, explained in his landmark work published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2013) that prolonged exposure to stress hormones disrupts normal brain functioning. His research showed that chronic cortisol elevation can impair the hippocampus, a region essential for learning and memory, while simultaneously overstimulating fear-related circuits in the brain.
Clinical psychologists and physicians affiliated with the American Psychological Association have echoed these findings in public health briefings and educational reports published in 2020. Drawing on decades of neurobiological research, the APA explained that long-term stress physically alters neural connections, reducing cognitive flexibility and making concentration and emotional regulation more difficult. This research matters because it reframes stress-related symptoms—such as forgetfulness, irritability, and mental fatigue—not as personal shortcomings, but as measurable biological effects.
According to these experts, chronic stress forces the brain to prioritize immediate threat detection over higher-order thinking. In practical terms, this means the brain becomes efficient at surviving, but less capable of planning, learning, or resting. As Dr. McEwen emphasized in interviews accompanying his research, “the brain adapts to stress—but adaptation comes at a cost when the stress never ends.”
“I couldn’t breathe,” she says. “My heart was racing, and I felt like the walls were closing in. I didn’t know what was happening to me, and it was terrifying.” Photo, The News International
Stress: Why are the Students on the Edge?
Accounts of student distress in Pakistan have emerged not from formal polling, but from clinical case reports, counseling centers, helplines, and media interviews documented by mental health professionals working with adolescents and young adults. Psychologists affiliated with university counseling services and organizations such as the Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning report recurring patterns among students seeking help across major urban centers.
A 19-year-old A-Level student from Lahore, who requested anonymity during a counseling intake interview reported by clinicians, recalls collapsing after an exam she felt unprepared for. “I couldn’t breathe,” she says. “My heart was racing, and I felt like the walls were closing in. I didn’t know what was happening to me, and it was terrifying.”
Similarly, a 21-year-old university student from Multan described symptoms during a mental health awareness session conducted on campus: “I skipped meals, stayed awake for 18 hours straight, and my friends stopped recognizing me. I thought constant stress was normal—it felt like everyone was trapped in the same cycle.”
Dr Ayesha Khan, who often treats mental illnesses in teenagers, notes that these experiences follow recognizable patterns. Adolescents and young adults experiencing chronic stress often show persistent irritability, social withdrawal, disrupted sleep schedules, appetite changes, frequent physical complaints such as headaches or stomach pain, and emotional numbness. These are not subtle symptoms—family members, teachers, and peers can often observe declining academic engagement, emotional volatility, or complete exhaustion long before a diagnosis is made.
She also emphasized that these signs are not temporary exam nerves. When sustained over weeks or months, they indicate a nervous system under prolonged stress, requiring intervention rather than endurance.
The Brain Under Constant Alarm
Evidence from brain-imaging research shows that chronic stress produces measurable changes in how the brain functions. One of the most influential bodies of work comes from Bruce McEwen, whose research at Rockefeller University combined neuroimaging, animal studies, and clinical observations to examine how prolonged stress affects the human brain.
In a widely cited 2013 review published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, McEwen and neuroscientist John Morrison summarized findings from MRI and PET scan studies showing heightened activity in the amygdala—the brain’s threat-detection center—alongside reduced connectivity and efficiency in the prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for rational thinking, impulse control, and emotional regulation. These studies demonstrated that under chronic stress, the brain becomes biologically biased toward fear and vigilance rather than reasoning and reflection.
Why does this matter outside a laboratory? Because these neural changes translate directly into everyday behavior. When the prefrontal cortex is less effective, individuals struggle with decision-making, concentration, and emotional control. At the same time, an overactive amygdala amplifies emotional reactions, making people more sensitive to pressure, criticism, or uncertainty.
In daily life, this imbalance often appears as sudden irritability, difficulty organizing thoughts, impulsive responses, constant worry, and fragmented or non-restorative sleep. These are not personality traits; they are observable outcomes of a brain operating under continuous alarm. Neuroscientists stress that while these changes are concerning, they are not necessarily permanent—early intervention and stress reduction can allow neural circuits to recover.
Global Surge in Chronic Stress
The scale of chronic stress is no longer anecdotal; it is visible at a population level. In 2022, the World Health Organization released an extensive assessment examining the mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on data from multiple countries, the report found a 25 percent global increase in anxiety and depression during the first year of the pandemic, particularly among young people and students. Public health experts emphasized that this surge did not occur in isolation but intensified pre-existing stressors such as economic insecurity, academic disruption, and social isolation.
Importantly, researchers noted that the pandemic did not create a mental health crisis so much as expose and accelerate one already underway. Lockdowns, uncertainty, and prolonged disruption placed millions of people in a state of sustained vigilance—conditions closely associated with chronic stress. For many, the stress response never fully deactivated even after restrictions eased, leaving lingering symptoms such as sleep disturbances, emotional exhaustion, and reduced concentration.
In low- and middle-income countries like Pakistan, these effects are magnified by structural limitations. Mental health services are scarce, unevenly distributed, and often financially inaccessible. According to WHO estimates, Pakistan has fewer than one psychiatrist per 100,000 people, a gap that leaves most stress-related conditions undiagnosed and untreated. Cultural stigma further compounds the problem, as stress and anxiety are frequently dismissed as weakness or lack of faith rather than recognized as biological responses to prolonged pressure.
Public health specialists warn that without early recognition and intervention, chronic stress can quietly progress into more severe mental and physical health conditions. What begins as sleeplessness or constant worry may evolve into anxiety disorders, depression, cardiovascular disease, or immune dysfunction. The global surge in mental stress is therefore not only a psychological concern but a long-term public health challenge with implications for education systems, healthcare capacity, and economic stability.
The Plastic Brain: Hope Through Neuroplasticity
Despite the neurological toll of chronic stress, neuroscientists emphasize that the brain is not static. It possesses neuroplasticity—the ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections in response to experience, behavior, and environment. This capacity is what allows stress-damaged circuits to recover when pressure is reduced.
One influential line of evidence comes from John J. Ratey, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, who has studied the effects of physical activity on brain health. In research summarized in his 2011 work on exercise and cognition, Ratey explained how regular aerobic activity increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports neuron growth and strengthens connections involved in learning and emotional regulation. This matters because chronic stress suppresses BDNF; movement helps reverse that effect, giving the brain the biological tools it needs to recover.
Similarly, neuroimaging research on mindfulness has demonstrated measurable changes in stress-related brain regions. In a 2011 study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard-affiliated institutions, neuroscientist Sara Lazar and psychologist Britta Hölzel used MRI scans to observe participants before and after an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Their findings showed reduced amygdala reactivity and increased gray matter density in areas associated with emotional regulation and self-awareness. In simple terms, the brain became less reactive to stress and better at managing it.
These findings are significant because they demonstrate that recovery from chronic stress is not merely psychological optimism—it is biologically observable. Structured routines, adequate sleep, exposure to daylight, social connection, and therapeutic support help signal safety to the nervous system, allowing stress circuits to deactivate. Experts caution, however, that while individual strategies are powerful, they cannot substitute for broader systemic support or accessible mental health care.
Beyond the Individual: A Public Health Concern
Chronic stress does not stop at the individual nervous system; its effects ripple outward into families, institutions, and national economies. When large segments of the population operate under sustained stress, the consequences appear as reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, higher healthcare costs, and long-term disability. Students struggle to learn efficiently, workers burn out earlier, and healthcare systems face rising demand for stress-related illnesses that could have been prevented with early intervention.
Public health researchers emphasize that chronic stress quietly amplifies inequality. Individuals from economically unstable households, conflict-affected regions, or under-resourced education systems experience prolonged exposure to uncertainty, making recovery far more difficult. Over time, this leads to disparities in academic achievement, workforce participation, and overall life expectancy. Stress, in this sense, becomes a social multiplier—deepening existing vulnerabilities rather than acting as an isolated medical issue.
The economic implications are substantial. The Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health warned in its 2018 report that untreated mental health conditions—including those driven by chronic stress—could cost the global economy trillions of dollars by 2030 through lost productivity and increased healthcare expenditure. Importantly, the commission stressed that these losses are largely preventable when mental health is addressed early and systematically.
In countries like Pakistan, where mental health infrastructure remains limited, the burden of chronic stress often goes unmeasured and therefore unaddressed. Without population-level screening, workplace protections, or school-based mental health programs, stress-related conditions progress silently until they manifest as severe illness or economic withdrawal. Public health experts argue that ignoring the neuroscience of stress is no longer viable; recognizing chronic stress as a biological and societal issue is essential for sustainable development.
Charting a Way Forward
Addressing chronic stress requires coordinated action that extends beyond individual coping strategies. Public health specialists and mental health practitioners recommend integrating routine mental health screening into primary healthcare, so stress-related conditions can be identified before they escalate. Expanding access to affordable counseling services, particularly within educational institutions and community health centers, is equally critical for early intervention.
Researchers also emphasize the need for increased public funding dedicated to mental health research and workforce training, ensuring that evidence-based care is accessible rather than limited to urban elites. Alongside clinical measures, public awareness campaigns play a vital role in explaining the neurobiology of stress to the general population, helping to dismantle stigma and reframe stress as a biological response rather than a personal failure.
Finally, implementing workplace and academic policies that limit chronic burnout—such as reasonable workloads, structured rest periods, and psychological support systems—can help create environments in which nervous systems are able to recover rather than remain in constant survival mode.
Bilal eventually sought therapy and adjusted his routine. Progress was gradual, but noticeable. “I thought something was wrong with me,” he says. “Now I understand my brain was just overwhelmed.”
Across Pakistan, students are beginning to recognize the same truth: stress is not a personal failing, but a biological response to relentless pressure. Awareness, support, and systemic change may be the first steps toward addressing this underrecognized public health challenge.
References:
American Psychological Association (2020). Stress effects on the body.
Hölzel, B. K., et al. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.
McEwen, B. S., & Morrison, J. H. (2013). The brain on stress: Vulnerability and plasticity of the prefrontal cortex. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Ratey, J. J., & Loehr, J. E. (2011). The positive impact of physical activity on cognition.
