Gluten-free GM wheat for coeliac patients
Reading Time: 2 minutesSCIENTISTS have engineered a new strain of wheat that produces forms of gluten that decrease triggering of a dangerous immune reaction in as many as one in 100 people. All gluten is not created equal. Most immune reaction to gluten is caused by a component in gluten called gliadins. Scientists at the Institute for Sustainable […]
Chicken eggs with interferon beta whites will drive down costs
Reading Time: 2 minutesBY SETH AUGENSTEIN GENETICALLY modified chickens are laying eggs with interferon beta in their whites, a team of Japanese scientists reports. The three female chickens are producing enough of interferon beta – used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and hepatitis, and virus research – to drive down normally-high costs of making the precious and expensive […]
Green Urea – Fertiliser breakthrough for future sustainability
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe birth of the nitrogen fertiliser via the Haber-Bosch process is one of the world’s greatest contributions to modern agriculture. It has tremendously changed the face of agriculture since the days of the synthetic nitrogen fertiliser – known as an essential crop nutrient – made vastly available and affordable to grow more crops, which eventually […]
Fire ant venom may lead to psoriasis treatment
Reading Time: 2 minutesCompounds derived from fire ant venom can reduce skin thickening and inflammation in a mouse model of psoriasis, Emory and Case Western scientists have shown. The results were published recently in Scientific Reports. The findings could lead to new treatments for psoriasis, a common autoimmune skin disease. Topical steroids are now most frequently used for […]
Gene therapy shows promise for reversing blindness
Reading Time: < 1 minuteResearchers from Oxford have shown how it might be possible to reverse blindness using gene therapy to reprogramme cells at the back of the eye to become light sensitive. Most causes of untreatable blindness occur due to loss of the millions of light sensitive photoreceptor cells that line the retina, similar to the pixels in […]
Towards developing sustainable agriculture and food production
Reading Time: 2 minutesSEMARANG, INDONESIA: The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) participated in and supported the 2nd International Symposium on Food and Agrobiodiversity (ISFA). With the theme “Developing Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production,” the symposium was held from Sept 26-27 and was organised by the Diponegoro University and the Indonesian Food […]
Bio Bay to spearhead Selangor’s biotech wave
Reading Time: 2 minutesPULAU INDAH: The Selangor Bio Bay (SBB) was recently launched in the state by its Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali. The project developed by Central Spectrum (M) Sdn Bhd (CSSB) will host bioscience pursuits that include research institutes, laboratories, and biotech-related companies. Spanning 10,12 acres of land in Pulau Indah, SBB is to […]
Gravitational waves grab Nobel for physics
Reading Time: 2 minutes The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne for their detection of gravitational waves, a development scientists believe could give vital clues to the origins of the universe. The three American physicists “made decisive contributions” to LIGO, an observatory instrument that enabled scientists […]
How durian got its pungent stench
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe smell of durian has been described by some to turpentine and onions, garnished with a sweaty gym sock. The green, spiky fruit is banned from public transportation and many hotels in south-east Asia because of its characteristic and pungent smell. But where does it get its scent from? A team of researchers in Singapore, […]