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When Jagdish Chandra Bose, a renowned physicist, devoted himself entirely to research in the field of plant physiology post his superannuation at Presidency University, Kolkata, India (earlier known as Presidency College, Calcutta), it came as a surprise to many. The research on plant nervous system by JC Bose during this period was pioneering in nature, being recognized by recent plant biologists globally as the first in the field. His findings were so revolutionary at the time of their proclamation that these aroused disbelief and contradiction. Surprisingly, not many at that time took up such investigations and once accepted with reluctance, there was practically very little activity in the field for the next several decades. More than a hundred years later, recent advances in molecular biology, genomics, ecology and neurophysiology have led to renewed interest resulting in a flurry of activity, confirming most of Bose's observations. The present review describes this pioneering scientist's work and his immense contribution in the emergence of the discipline now designated as 'Plant Neurobiology'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prophetic warning by the Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg[[1]] that "the microbe that felled one child in a distant continent can reach yours today and seed a global pandemic tomorrow" has once again proved its relevance with the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as the latest pandemic that is affecting human health and economy across the world. The past three decades have seen emergence of almost 40 new pathogens, most of which are viruses including HIV, hepatitis C virus and coronaviruses that have caused pandemics, novel-influenza viruses, etc[[11]]. Both World Trade Organization (WTO) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have indicated COVID-19 pandemic as the biggest threat to global economy since the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19): The epidemic and the challenges. [Extracted from the article]