GM crops’ impact create a halo effect, expert says
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST Graham Brookes of PG Economics is the latest expert featured in the ISAAA Webinar series. His recent talk focused on the latest PG Economics’ report on the economic and environmental impact of genetically modified (GM) crops globally for the past 23 years. “GM crop technology continues to make an important contribution to reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture and […]
Scientists spin novel idea to ‘mass produce’ spider silk
Reading Time: 2 minutesSILK threads from spiders have amazing mechanical properties such as superior toughness and elasticity. These make them a good candidate for applications in various fields – ranging from developing protective armour, like bullet proof vests to bandages for wound dressing to coatings for medical implants. Humans have been making use of spider silk [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” […]
Beautyberry leaf extract restores drug’s power to fight ‘superbug’
Reading Time: 3 minutesSCIENTISTS discovered a compound in the leaves of a common shrub, the American beautyberry, that boosts an antibiotic’s activity against antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria. Laboratory experiments showed that the plant compound works in combination with oxacillin to knock down the resistance to the drug of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The American Chemical Society’s Infectious Diseases published […]
Tropical endophytes yield beneficial compounds
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY ADELINE TING BELIEVE it or not, there is something growing in our plants! Inside the tissue of roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds, we can find tiny living microscopic organisms (microbes) known as endophytes. Endophytes, as the name suggests, refers to “internal or within” (endo) and “plants” (phyta). Therefore, endophytes can be bacteria or […]
Experimental COVID-19 vaccine safe, generates immune response
Reading Time: 2 minutesAN INVESTIGATIONAL vaccine, mRNA-1273, designed to protect against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was generally well tolerated and prompted neutralizing antibody activity in healthy adults, according to interim results published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The ongoing Phase 1 trial is supported by the National Institute of Allergy […]
Why are plants green?
Reading Time: 4 minutesWHEN sunlight shining on a leaf changes rapidly, plants must protect themselves from the ensuing sudden surges of solar energy. To cope with these changes, photosynthetic organisms -from plants to bacteria – have developed numerous tactics. Scientists have been unable, however, to identify the underlying design principle. An international team of scientists, led by physicist Nathaniel […]
What is Bombay Blood?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe A, B, AB and O are the four most common blood groups. Meanwhile, Bombay blood is the rarest blood group. This type of rare blood type is found only in the world at 0.0004 percent of the population. Only one person in [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] 10,000 people in India have Bombay Blood […]
How Useful is your Wisdom Tooth?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMOST people know a handful of things about wisdom tooth. The name comes from the late appearance of these teeth in a person’s life. These third set of molars usually show up during a person’s late teenage years or early twenties. We normally think of wisdom tooth only when they need to be removed and […]
Which hormones are released when you feel happy?
Reading Time: 2 minutesHUMANS are often known as complex creatures. Not only because many systems exist in our body for different metabolic processes, but often humans are also connected to having complicated feelings. You may get up out of bed this morning feeling anxious about starting a new day but find yourself feeling excited as it is nearing […]
Who is the geep?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteGeep refers to an animal which is born unexpectedly. A geep is the hybrid offspring of a goat and [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] a sheep. It is a chimera which resulted by combining the embryos of a goat and sheep. The first geep was born in Paddy Murphy’s farm in County Kildare. The crossbreeding […]