Indian scientists have helped rewrite a 50-year-old rule of biological gene regulation in bacteria, and have unveiled new pathways for understanding bacterial gene regulation and its evolution. The Ministry of Science and Technology stated that this could help in the design of better antibiotics or regulatory inhibitors that block infection mechanisms, and in the development of microorganisms that efficiently produce biofuels, biodegradable plastics, or therapeutic compounds. The Ministry also noted that for nearly 50 years, biology has related the story of how bacteria turn their genes on with the help of what is known as the "sigma cycle." The sigma cycle is a factor that binds to RNA polymerase to initiate transcription, and then dissociates to allow for elongation.