Is Malaysia ready to face agri challenges through gene technologies?
Reading Time: 2 minutesIN RECENT months Malaysians have been experiencing a spike in vegetable prices, some more than 100 per cent. For an example, the price of tomatoes has gone up from RM3 per kg to RM6. Although there are multiple factors that influence price of food crops, one reason is the low farm production. Our golden crop, […]
Multiple factors determining policy decisions on science
Reading Time: 3 minutesTHIS is what I always tell my students: “Decisions on science are not solely made based on scientific facts but politics, emotions, ethics, religious norms and trade issues.” To understand this better, read the article on how nuclear energy reduces the CO2 footprint which we publish on page 3 of this issue. France reduced its […]
Call to boost education, S&T sectors in Muslim world
Reading Time: 3 minutesKARACHI: The 5th Science and Technology Exchange Programme (STEP5) in Islamic countries, a flagship programme of Mustafa Science & Technology Foundation (MSTF) was held at the University of Karachi from Feb 28 – March 2. This year’s theme was “Cutting Edge Pharmaceutical Approaches to Meet Health Challenges of Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases; with an emphasis […]
KL to host ‘significant’conference on Pseudomonas
Reading Time: 5 minutesParticipants from 30 countries will convene in Kuala Lumpur in July for the Pseudomonas 2019 Conference where speakers from 12 countries will take to the podium. The conference, co-hosted by the Academic Nexus for Global Scholastic Activities (ANGSA) and the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre is in a large sense unique, as it is entirely devoted […]
Selangor rides global halal bandwagon
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHE global halal market is projected to reach USD7.7 trillion to USD30.6 trillion. The countries on forefront capturing the halal economy pie are China, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia. Japan is strengthening its halal certification ahead of its 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. For Malaysia halal economy contributes 7.5% to its […]
‘Give science its rightful place at global summits’
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe Petri Dish Editor-in-Chief MAHALETCHUMY ARUJANAN who attended the recently concluded UN Biodiversity Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, says such meetings set the direction and basis for national laws, bilateral mechanisms and international trade in relation to modern biotechnology – but unwittingly cast science in the backseat. THE Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Cartagena Protocol […]
Patents and its WOW factors!
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Indonesia’s Bt sugarcane sees the light of day
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe Petri Dish editor-in-chief Dr Mahaletchumy Arujanan hosted an email Q&A with Prof Bambang Sugiharto (BS) and Dr Agus Pakpahan (AP) who were both involved in the development of the country’s first biotech crop. Bambang is from the Center for Development of Advanced Science and Technology (CDAST) and Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and […]
INFOGRAPHIC: Vaping vs smoking- Which is the lesser evil?
Reading Time: < 1 minute
US Agriculture paves the ‘New Normal’ for global agribusiness
Reading Time: 7 minutesI had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Southeast Asia US Agricultural Cooperators Conference organised by US Grains Council, US Department of Agriculture, and US Soybean Export Council in Kota Kinabalu recently. Themed “The new normal for global agribusiness”, the conference, aimed at bringing together US agriculture leaders, farmers, USDA officials, subject matter experts and […]