Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
New regulations regarding producing and using genetically modified ( gm ) farm products have been introduced in China. Under the new rules, companies will require government approval for conducting research and experiments on gm products. A committee has been set up to assess the safety of such experiments. Sellers of …
Sri Lanka has decided to suspend a ban on the use of genetically modified (GM) food, following a request made by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). But government officials maintain that strict restrictions would be imposed, which would allow them to study the health risks associated with GM foods. WTO …
Five South Korean companies have been using Starlink corn to make edible corn starch, despite a ban on its use, alleges the Korea Food and Drug Administration ( kfda ). Starlink, a genetically modified ( gm ) corn, causes allergy and its use for human consumption has been banned in …
until recently, most biologists classified cell deaths into two categories. In apoptosis, genetically programmed suicide shapes an organism or rids it of diseased cells. Necrosis, in contrast, includes cell deaths resulting from some outside force. But the simple classification is being challenged by new revelations. And the new classification emerging …
PRABHANJAN VERMAIt is a battle half-won by both the warring parties. The government has decided to go for another round of field trial of the controversial genetically modified (gm) cotton, known as Bt cotton before deciding in favour of its commercialisation. The commercialisation is being pursued by the Maharashtra Hybrid …
Caution is good but it should not take the place of good policy making. By refusing environmental clearance to genetically modified cotton from Monsanto, the government of India has treaded the path of caution but not necessarily the path of good science and good policy. This should also not be …
Environmental activists in Hong Kong recently staged a protest against Nestle, a multinational food corporation, alleging that the company had failed to keep its promise to stop the use of genetically-modified (gm) ingredients in its products. During the protest, a vehicle blocked the exit of the company's factory to stop …
Sri Lanka has imposed a ban on genetically modified (GM) foods to avoid any health risks that are associated with such crops. Officials said that the ban would give them more time to find out if GM foods are harmful to the environment. But the decision has been questioned by …
the first genetically altered human babies have been born and are healthy, claim researchers in the us . These babies have dna (deoxyribonucleic acid) of three parents, instead of two. The children were born to infertile mothers who were treated using a technique called ooplasmic transfer. This technique involves taking …
You were a professor of computer sciences at the University of Arizona, usa , how did you move to the field of genomics and bioinformatics? In 1994, I read about Craig Venter ( acknowledged as the guru of the shotgun sequencing approach ) and his team at The Institute of …
Genetic resources or biological materials derived from plants and animals remain the the basis for improvement of agricultural crops and for medicines for 75 per cent of the world's population. The biotechnology industry has harnessed living organisms to produce a variety of products, such as medicines and cosmetics. More controversially, …
A sealed card is at the heart of Japan's bid to unmask the genetics behind various diseases including arthritis and asthma. The Japanese Institute of Physical and Chemical Research plans to push Japan to the forefront of the global effort to interpret the human genome. The facility will use its …
the researchers in us have uncovered evidence of a new route by which dangerous antibiotic-resistance genes can spread. The bacteria in the soil and groundwater beneath farms seem to be acquiring tetracycline-resistant genes from bacteria originating in pig guts. Once transferred, the resistance genes can persist in the hardier soil …
celera genomics, the private company to map the human genome, has now come up with the map of the common laboratory mouse. The company has decided to sell the genetic information for a price, rather than putting it in the public domain. Eugene W Myers, the company's vice-president for informatics …
Consumer and environmental groups in Brazil who are trying to stop the government from legalising the cultivation of genetically modified (gm) soyabean have another confrontation ahead. The pro-gm lobby is appealing against a federal court's ruling that prevented the legalisation of gm soyabean cultivation in Brazil. The lawsuit was filed …
Monsanto has been given the nod by the Indian government to import certain lines of its genetically-engineered soyabean for testing under controlled laboratory conditions. This is subject to clearance by the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources after quarantine clearance in case they harbour exotic pathogens, that is pathogens not …
the presence of illegal genetically modified ( gm ) material in seeds is unavoidable, an European Union ( eu ) scientific committee has stated. The Scientific Committee on Plants ( scp ) in its report Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Plants concerning the adventitious presence of gm seeds in …
In an unprecedented judgement, a Canadian federal court has directed a farmer to pay US $85,000 to the biotech giant Monsanto for violating the company's patent over genetically modified (GM) canola seed. According to a Canadian patent law, it is illegal to reuse Monsanto's GM seed without signing a licensing …
The term biodiversity, had its origin in us bureaucratic literature in the early eighties. During this period, tremendous economic potential of biodiversity was beginning to become obvious. The far-sighted Americans, using their patriotic think-tanks and foreign aid mechanism advocated the need for a global treaty on biodiversity. Their objective was …
This book was initiated in 1989 and went into incubation for 11 long years. Over all, the book is good but has its share of imperfections. It successfully highlights the important relationship of birds and plants, but has many flaws. These, I hope will be removed in the next edition. …
