EPA: Glyphosate has no human health risks
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHE United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the results of its regulatory review of glyphosate in January 2020 after receiving and considering public comments. In their interim decision, EPA continues to find that there are no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label. According […]
Origami -A world beyond paper folding
Reading Time: 9 minutesWhen did you realise that origami could be more than just a hobby? I started folding origami when I was eight, and at that time it never occurred to me that I would be where I am today – an origami scientist. I worked at this multinational company in Japan, the major origami industry of […]
Dog detectives sniff out pathogens
Reading Time: < 1 minuteRESEARCHERS trained 10 dog detectives to identify citrus huanglongbing, a pathogen that is spread by the Asian citrus psyllid and has devastated orchard production in Florida. The expert sniffers, including Boby, Szaboles, and Bello, could spot Valencia orange trees infected by psyllids roughly 99 percent of the time, according to a study published on February […]
Farmers upbeat about GM tapioca
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFARMERS from five districts in the West Nile region in North Western Uganda are upbeat about the prospect of growing genetically modified disease-resistant cassava following a recent training workshop organized by Uganda Biosciences Information Center (UBIC). “We have been misinformed and misled on the subject of GMOs by our political leaders and activists. I cannot […]
Huge bacteria-eating viruses
Reading Time: < 1 minuteScientists have discovered hundreds of unusually large, bacteria-killing viruses with capabilities normally associated with living organisms, blurring the line between living microbes and viral machines.These phages — short for bacteriophages, so called because they “eat” bacteria — are of a size and complexity considered typical of life, carry numerous genes normally found in bacteria and […]
Phantom genes keep diabetes at bay
Reading Time: 2 minutesUNLIKE what we commonly refer to as ‘genes’, these phantom genes or ‘Long noncoding RNA’ (LncRNAs) do not lead to the production of proteins that our cells, and thus our entire bodies are made of. Previously, it was believed that LncRNAs served no major purpose in cells, but new research now shows that one of […]
Video highlights Filipino farmers clamour for recognition of Bt brinjal
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSEARCA Biotechnology Information Center (SEARCA BIC) releases The Bt Eggplant Story, a new video series that documents the development of Bt eggplant in the Philippines and highlights the clamour of farmers for the release of the genetically modified (GM) crop. Eggplant farming is a major source of farmer income but the current situation puts farmers, […]
UN food agencies lend support to China over COVID-19 epidemic
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHE Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have jointly expressed solidarity with China and offered support to the country as it battles the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. In a joint letter to President Xi Jinping, the heads of […]