Japan launches world’s first genome-edited tomato
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE first direct consumption genome-edited tomato was launched in Japan by Sanatech Seed. The Japanese ministries in-charge have announced their determination that the genome-edited tomato will not be regulated as a genetically modified product. Sanatech Seed’s Sicilian Rouge High GABA tomato was developed using CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology. The tomato contains high levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an amino acid believed […]
Webinar Kenali Vaksin Covid-19
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMari kenali secara asas mengenai vaksin-vaksin COVID-19. Terlalu banyak informasi yang kompleks dan saintifik di luar sana hingga menyebabkan ramai yang keliru dan kurang faham. Webinar ini bertujuan untuk berkongsi maklumat tentang vaksin secara tepat dan dalam bahasa yang mudah untuk fahaman semua. Ikuti webinar secara langsung bersama barisan pakar kami di FB Live Science […]
Fruits help boost immunity!
Reading Time: 3 minutesBY DASHNI ANBUARASU The whole world is affected by the ongoing global pandemic in today’s Covid-19 era. Though the ongoing vaccination programme around the world has brought a flicker of hope, it is good to boost one’s immune system and keep it strong to combat all forms of infections including the current Covid-19 menace. The […]
Experts highlight the importance of scicom and farmer adoption in building knowledge on biotech
Reading Time: 2 minutesISAAA and La Trobe Institute for Agriculture and Food (LIAF) successfully launched the ISAAA report on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2019 on March 11, 2021, in the Asia Pacific and Oceania Region through a webinar hosted by the La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. ISAAA Chair Dr Paul Teng gave an overview of the […]
Made-in Malaysia vaccine? An urgent sigh of anticipation
Reading Time: 2 minutesDEMANDS for Covid-19 vaccines are outweighing supply with biotech companies struggling to increase production and more affluent countries stocking up their stock. It is against this scenario that Asian countries are scrambling to secure vaccines. Looks like it is time to shift our focus temporarily from food security to vaccine security. However, many Asian countries are waking up to this […]
Study of coronavirus variants predicts virus evolving to escape current vaccines
Reading Time: 3 minutesA NEW STUDY of the U.K. and South Africa variants of SARS-CoV-2 predicts that current vaccines and certain monoclonal antibodies may be less effective at neutralizing these variants and that the new variants raise the specter that reinfections could be more likely. The study was published in Nature on March 8, 2021. A preprint of the study was […]
COVID waste: Archaeologists have a role to play in informing environmental policy
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHE 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is creating a viral archive, an archaeological record of history in the making. One aspect of this archive is increased environmental pollution, not least through discarded face-masks and gloves, collectively known as PPE, that characterise the pandemic. These items of plastic waste have become symbolic of the pandemic and have now entered […]
Cloth face masks that can be disinfected by the sun
Reading Time: 2 minutesDURING the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have become accustomed to wearing cotton face masks in public places. However, viruses and bacteria that stick to the mask could be transferred elsewhere when the wearer removes or touches it. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed a special type of cotton face mask that kills […]
Communicating the art of ‘communicating science’ through FameLab
Reading Time: 5 minutesA SCIENCE COMMUNICATION session interestingly brought together a geneticist, a futurist, a microbiologist and an environmentalist on one virtual stage. On a virtual webinar platform, the four speakers from the four vastly contrasting fields of science delivered a highly-spirited discussion to an audience consisting of enthusiastic and aspiring science communicators. The Famelab Webinar hosted on March […]
Women of silk and steel tell how they became iconic researchers and leaders
Reading Time: 5 minutesTHE AGE of stupid, “Doraemon”, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” and Jurassic Park are not just entertaining movies or cartoons. To three women scientists, these movies and cartoon evoked their curiosity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and has led them to a career in research. Engineering Analyst at Petronas, Wei Vern Hor was enticed into the climate […]