Genetic engineering, CRISPR and food: What the ‘revolution’ will bring in the near future
Reading Time: 6 minutesBY STEVEN CERIER HUMANKIND is on the verge of a genetic revolution that holds great promise and potential. It will change the ways food is grown, medicine is produced, animals are altered and will give rise to new ways of producing plastics, biofuels and chemicals. Many object to the genetic revolution, insisting we should not […]
Teach integrity and responsibility in research
Reading Time: 2 minutesBANDAR SUNWAY: Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, represented by Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching, called for research in Malaysia to be pursued with integrity and responsibility. He said researchers should adhere to the Malaysian Code of Responsible Conduct in Research which involves awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical […]
Why does grass stay green during frosty weather?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteEVER wonder why the grass stays green during winter while other plants do not? Higher plants even have their leaves fall off throughout the cold frosty weather. The major reason is pretty simple, grass has developed adaptations for survival purposes. To our knowledge, most grass is short, close to the ground and grow close to […]
How did human become intelligent?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteYOU might think that intelligence is the crowning of human evolution. It is true that it could be good if there were more intelligent creatures on the planet earth. But based on our knowledge, there is only one. Dinosaurs existed for roughly 200 million years, but no single dinosaur became intelligent. You must be wondering […]
Tis’ the season to be fruity, but where’s our tutti-frutti germplasm?
Reading Time: 3 minutesAT the time of writing this, the sounds of Chinese New Year (CNY) or the Spring Festival (and even so, the Lunar New Year) is ringing out loud and clear. Shopping malls around the country are bustling with people in a shopping frenzy as Chinese New Year jingles heighten the tempo of jollity. Of all […]
Scientists produce human intestinal lining that re-creates living tissue
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSCIENTISTS have demonstrated how cells of a human intestinal lining created outside an individual’s body mirror living tissue when placed inside microengineered Intestine-Chips, opening the door to personalised testing of drug treatments. The findings have the potential to change how patients are treated for debilitating, inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases with a genetic component, such as Crohn’s […]
PLAGUE RESISTANT TOMATOES…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteStudy conducted by researchers at the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Institute (IBMCP), a joint venture of the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), reveals how genetically modified tomato plants have increased resistance towards Tuta absoluta insect plagues. The researchers turned to genetic engineering to strengthen the tomato plant by […]
Minister: Brace up for 2050’s digital agriculture
Reading Time: 2 minutesSERDANG: The agriculture sector has to remain strategically important as a food provider and must keep pace with a fast changing world moving towards digital technology, says Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based industries, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek. “New digital and biotechnologies will impact on the livelihood of millions of farmers worldwide. We need to […]
How many stars are there in the night sky?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDO you ever look up at the dark night sky and wonder how many stars are there exactly? There are too many to count and it would definitely take a very long time! Astronomer Dorrit Hoffleit compiled her work, Yale Bright Star Catalog, which tabulates every visible star to the naked eye (mostly of stellar […]
What causes a volcano to erupt?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHERE are approximately 1500 potentially active volcanoes worldwide. Volcanoes occur as a result of the rise of magma (red-hot liquid rock inside the earth’s core) to the surface of the earth, causing bubbles of gas to appear which leads to pressure build up in the mountain that eventually erupts. The three predominant factors of volcano […]