GM crop battle Feb 9, 2010
In October, India's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) approved the commercial cultivation of aubergines containing a gene from the Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) bacterium, designed to provide resistance against certain insects. The decision has sharply polarised opinion in the country, forcing the environment minister to step in. (BBC News -- South Asia)
Stimulation of a Mouse's Single Neu... Feb 9, 2010
Using genetic engineering the team enabled to introduce the gene in some of the mice's neurons. When such a cell is pointed with a laser beam, it triggers electrical activity in the neuron. (Suite101.com)
Does China Still Need U.S. Tech? Google Tiff Highlights Evolution Feb 9, 2010
It's pouring billions into R&D, graduating hundreds of thousands of engineers annually and rapidly catching up with advanced nations in fields like nanotech and genetic engineering. Decades of technology transfers have transformed China into a world-class player in carmaking, pharmaceuticals and consumer electronics. (Investors Business Daily)
Biotech wheat faces a divide Feb 9, 2010
I like the term genetic engineering because it is true ... Genetic engineering is trying to put something in place that has a purpose for use ... Mendel in the Kitchen: A Scientists View of Genetically Modified Foods, is a book co-authored by Nina Fedoroff, who passionately argues there are some things that require genetic engineering. (Williston Daily Herald, ND)
India divided over Bt Brinjal Feb 9, 2010
The government's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), which cleared Bt Brinjal for commercial release in October, said it will reduce the farmers' dependence on pesticides and enable higher yields. That point of view has been supported by Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Director General Samir Brahmachari and Department of Biotechnology Secretary M.K. Bhan, among others. (India Times)
Immortality lives in a test tube Feb 7, 2010
Not only do the HeLa cells share many common biological properties with noncancerous cells, but they can be tweaked with genetic engineering to act more like other types of cells, such as heart cells or neurons. For all their value -- HeLa cells have brought in millions of dollars over the years and a standard vial of them sells for more than $250 -- neither the Lacks family nor Johns Hopkins has received a penny. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Bt Brinjal exposes serious regulatory lapses Feb 6, 2010
Ramesh came up with the device of public consultations on October 15, 2009, just a day after the regulator in his ministry, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), had given its go-ahead to the commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal. The series of consultation meetings chaired by him, starting in Kolkata on January 13, have turned out to be as dramatic, given the manner in which pro and anti-GM lobbies sought to demonstrate not only the strength of their arguments but also their lung... (India Times)
Challenges posed by Bt Brinjal Feb 6, 2010
Ramesh came up with the device of public consultations on October 15, 2009, just a day after the regulator in his ministry, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), had given its go-ahead to the commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal ... Opponents of Bt brinjal, therefore, contend that genetic engineering should not be allowed in the "centre of origin" as it could lead to the loss of original varieties by transgenic cross-pollination. (India Times, India -- Community News)
Can Our Education Be Too Eurocentric? Feb 5, 2010
The fact is that, todays world and contemporary Ghanaian society are largely constructed on the platform of elements of European civilization: the English language, the very concept of statehood, Genetic Engineering, the Olympic Games, the Stock Exchange, liberal democracy, the common law etc. We cannot, no matter the depth of our African pride, disregard the overwhelming importance of these things if we want to develop. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Green Energy Management: How Plants Cope With Variable Light Conditions Feb 2, 2010
27, 2007) Using genetic engineering techniques, researchers have proven a long-standing theory of how many plants ship sugars from their leaves to flowers, roots, fruits and other parts of their. (Mar. (Science Daily)
Savants surf the population wave? Feb 2, 2010
The benefits of the green revolution, based on traditional plant breeding and intensive cultivation, were effaced within an average human lifetime, and even if a second revolution based on genetic engineering gives us another generation of breathing room, what even more fundamental scientific understanding will provide the next brief period of grace. And despite a global population of 6 billion, the only solution to the problem of the toxic wastes of nuclear fission energy, the next big thing in... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Genetically Modified Forest Planned for U.S. Southeast Jan 30, 2010
Genetic engineering is coming to the forests. While the practice of splicing foreign DNA into has become common in corn and soy, few companies or researchers have dared to apply to that provide an essential strut of the U.S. economy, trees. (Scientific American)
Conservation and Saving Endangered ... Jan 28, 2010
With advances being made in genetic engineering, the possibility of bringing back extinct species of animals may one day become a reality. For now, everything possible should be done to help existing wildlife survive and the best way to do that is through conservation. (Suite101.com)
Best Revenge Movies Jan 26, 2010
So when the product of late-20th Century genetic engineering and his pectoral muscles hijack a starship and start using Kirk and the Enterprise as target practice, the S gets R very quickly. The stakes are the highest they've ever been for and his crew; he furthers his aversion to the no-win scenario with a lesson in paying for the victory with his dearest blood, that of (non-spoiler alert. (IGN PC Games)
Babies' birth weights falling Jan 25, 2010
A team from MassBiologics, which is part of University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the New Jersey biotech company Medarex used genetic engineering to create human antibodies that would fight C. difficile. In a clinical trial led by Dr. Donna Ambrosino, the researchers randomly assigned 200 patients receiving standard antibiotics for C. difficile infections to get either a single infusion of the monoclonal antibodies or a placebo. (Boston Globe)
Tanzania: Tanzania to Grow New Maize Variety Jan 17, 2010
However, she feared that the Tanzania government may delay approval of the new seeds developed through genetic engineering whose regulatory framework is not yet in place in the country. Unlike Kenya and Uganda, its closest neighbours, Tanzania has not yet tested genetically engineered crops although some experts say it can benefit from the technology. (allAfrica.com)
Roundtable discussion highlights vital role for palliative care in health-care reform Jan 16, 2010
Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering chnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available at. (EurekAlert!)
Drought-Resistant Plants, Anyone? Jan 16, 2010
Africa Rice Centre's Manneh pointed out that institutes using genetic engineering could transfer the Arabidopsis genes implicated in this mechanism into rice cultivars, shortening the development process even more. However, he said it would take time for the findings to be assessed and made accessible to all the scientists, and "it could two or three years for farmers to have access to it.". (allAfrica.com)
Gladstone scientists identify role of key protein in ALS and frontotemporal dementia Jan 13, 2010
They used genetic engineering to add a fluorescent tag to normal or wildtype and mutant TDP-43 in rat neurons. The tag allowed them to easily see the intracellular location of the protein. (EurekAlert!)
Could Extinct Species Make a Comeback? Jan 11, 2010
Scientists say one option would be genetic engineering: take a living animal that's related to the mammoth, like the elephant, figure out all the places where its DNA differs from the mammoth's, and then alter the elephant's DNA to make it match. That's not possible just yet, but there may be another way: cloning. (CBS News)
Researchers discover molecular security system that protects cells from potentially harmful DNA Jan 10, 2010
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a molecular security system in human cells that deactivates and degrades foreign DNA. This discovery could open the door to major improvements in genetic engineering and gene therapy technologies ... The discovery of an analogous foreign DNA restriction mechanism in bacteria launched the field of genetic engineering during the 1970s. (EurekAlert!)
Arthur C. Clarke's 2010 still beyond reality Jan 10, 2010
Paleontologist Peter Ward at the University of Washington at Seattle even suggested genetic engineering humans for the types of brain or nervous systems that help one to go into hibernation. "My mind is going. I can feel it."In the novel, scientists reboot HAL, the psychotic that killed nearly all the astronauts in "2001." In just a few days, HAL not only regains speech, facial recognition, speech recognition and emotion recognition, but can also once more reason, understand and carry out... (MSNBC -- Technology)
