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. …
A gene related to deafness has been discovered in a Costa Rican family that may help understand why people become hard of hearing. E Lynch and his colleagues of the Department of Medicine and Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, say that low-frequency deafness in the family starts at nearly …
geneticists who gathered at a conference on human evolution in October at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, have come out with some estimates that could change our understanding of the evolution of our species. They say that as few as 500 individuals, who moved out of Africa some …
women who give birth to babies in their forties have a high chance of living a longer and less-disease prone life. A team of researchers led by Thomas T Perls at the Harvard Medical School, Boston, usa , reports that women who have babies after age 40, live longer than …
researchers have found a gene that may help combat cancer and degenerative diseases linked to ageing. The gene has been cloned by two teams of researchers separately - one led by Thomas Cech, a biochemist at the University of Colorado and the other by Robert Weinberg, a biochemist at the …
genes play a more important role than the environment in determining mental abilities of humans, even at a mature age, say researchers from the us , the uk and Sweden. Most behavioural scientists are surprised with the findings since it had generally been accepted that an individual's experience in different …
Researchers have discovered a group of genes that lead to some of the most common birth defects in humans. The defects range from heart problems to cleft palates (the roof of the mouth that also forms the floor of the nasal cavity). John Burn, professor of clinical genetics at the …
Gene therapy would help children get rid of Hurler's syndrome, an unusual disease that normally leads to death before age 10. Such patients lack an enzyme that clears out the molecular waste in cells. The increased waste results in mental retardation and visible deformities. A team of researchers led by …
scientists in Scotland have created a lamb that has a human gene in every cell of its body. Now animals with human genes could be used, in theory, to produce hormones or other biological products for treating human diseases, say cloning experts. By inserting human genetic diseases in the animals, …
the threat of neurological diseases may not persist for long in the wake of scientific advances in gene therapy. Some of the most ambitious research in neurology focuses on replacing cells lost in damaged tissue. This can be achieved by transplanting neurones (nerve cells) or by delivering growth factors
the future of Indian lions and tigers was said to be bleak. Some us scientists had reported extremely low genetic diversity in their populations, that made their conservation difficult. They would meet the same fate as that of the almost extinct African Cheetah, it was being said. But some Indian …
at a recent national consultation, the Union ministry of environment and forest's ( mef) draft bill proposing a legislation to check the piracy of Indian medicinal plants and microbes, was criticised by several experts. The latter found the bill's formulation to be inappropriate. While the ministry's draft bill seeks to …
BIOLOGISTS firmly believe that parents cannot transmit to their children the traits they acquire during their lifetimes. Though a language can be learnt and passed on to the younger generation, when it comes to heritable traits, the Darwinian theory of evolution remains the cornerstone of existing knowledge of evolution of …
A new study has revealed that some boxers are genetically predisposed to suffer brain damage due to blows taken on the head. The findings were presented at the World Boxing Council's first medical conference on boxing safety at the Caribbean island of Aruba by Barry JordAn, a neurologist at the …
RECENT research on a genetic mutation in Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as vinegar fly or fruit fly, has thrown new light on its effect on sexual orientation. This mutation, initially discovered more than 30 years ago, was found to convert normal heterosexual males into bisexuals. These males courted both males …
THE discovery that a DNA molecule can conduct electricity may help in repair of damage caused in the molecule by exposure to the sun. This was tested by attaching a chemical group at one end of the DNA molecule, which is situated some distance away from the chemically damaged part. …
In an effort to create more productive and disease-resistant strains of rice, Chinese researchers have created a gene 'map' that will eventually allow not only comparisons between different strains of rice but between other major grains as well. Scientists at Shanghai's Genetic Research Center have isolated and catalogued the individual …
At a recent conference on bio-ethics and-issues relating to new technologies, scientists and legal eagles of the country expressed concern about the recent experiment of the cloning of sheep and the future of genetic engineering. Participants at the meet said that there is a need to "guard diligently against the …
SCIENTISTS in the US have isolated a gene that controls the biological clock in mice. With this, they have moved closer to understanding the cause of a host of human ailments, 'from jet lag to sleep disorders related to aging, to manic depressive illness. Joseph S Takahashi and colleagues from …
Researchers in Israel say that the tendency to abuse heroin arises partly from one's genes. According to them, a handful of genes playa role in a wide variety of addictions and that there is a link between a specific gene mutation and opiate addiction. Richard Ebstein of the Sarah Herzog …
