Counter affidavit on behalf of Chief Municipal Engineer, Patna Nagar Nigam in the matter of Saurav Narayan Vs Bihar Pollution Control Board & Others dated May 20, 2025. The report said that the corporation has been diligently performing its statutory duties within the limitations of the available resources and infrastructure. …
Its cleverness is marred by its destructiveness. Thankfully scientists have just cracked the nitty-gritty of its inner workings. Yes, microbe Agrobacterium tumefaciens's complete genetic code has been deciphered. A tumefaciens infects plants and gives them tumours that start producing chemicals on which the microbe likes to feed. Now that its …
in 2001, a great deal of publicity was generated by the announcement of the human genome being deciphered. Those who followed the announcement closely noticed that the claim was somewhat premature, as what had been accomplished was just a draft of the genome sequence. In other words, more than a …
everything is not black and white. It's all shades of grey. This has been proved by a recent genetic research according to which, except for the skin colour, humanity is remarkably similar. Though people from different parts of the globe differ genetically, the dissimilarities are insignificant when compared with variations …
Beauty might be just two molecules deep. This has been proved by a recent experiment, wherein, researchers caused chicken embryos to develop a second beak. To accomplish the feat, researchers from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, manipulated cells that become part of the beak's front end when …
does evolution occur through very small genetic changes involving a very large number of genes, or does it occur through changes associated with a smaller number of genes? This question has nagged researchers for decades now. They have been studying the possible mechanisms underlying evolution but the challenge has been …
today, the quest to eliminate obesity has more than a slim chance of succeeding. Thanks to the discovery of a gene that controls the growth of fat cells. The recent research published in the journal Genes and Development says that the gene, discovered by Harvard University and pharmaceutical company Pfizer …
in an apparent knee-jerk reaction to the farmers' demand to cultivate Bt cotton, the Union government plans to commercialise several genetically modified crops by the end of 2002. The government can meet this deadline only if it flouts its own procedures. Manju Sharma, secretary in the department of biotechnology, has …
Scientists in California and Finland have done what may be the first study that provides estimates of the strength of genetic influences on the size and shape of different parts of the brain. The study, which compared brain images of identical and fraternal twins, shows very high hereditary incidence for …
A researcher from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has observed homosexual behaviour among orangutans in Sumatra. This is the first time scientists have witnessed the activity among wild populations of these critically endangered great apes. "My study adds orangutans to the list of primates that demonstrate homosexual behaviour,' …
a number of cloned monkey embryos that look healthy are in reality a "gallery of horrors' deep within. This was revealed during a study done by a researcher of Advanced Cell Technology (act), a us-based company that recently cloned human embryos for the first time in the world history. The …
Africans may be deprived of a lot many things, but some of them are gifted with a gene that provides protection against malaria. A survey done by an international team of researchers recently revealed that every tenth person in Burkina Faso has a gene that provides defence against malaria. The …
it was an experiment waiting to happen ever since Dolly the sheep was born. Yet, when us-based biotechnology firm Advanced Cell Technology (act) cloned a human embryo, the breakthrough rekindled the debate on human cloning. This even as the objective of the test was not creating a human being, but …
they might well be the modern-day buccaneers. To further their research, agricultural and pharmaceutical companies often tap local communities for traditional knowledge relating to the use of biological resour ces. The conglomerates lose no time in appropriating this painstakingly assimilated information. And make a fast buck by developing products based …
a tiny mosquito is getting genetically altered in response to global warming, reveals a study. According to researchers at the University of Oregon in Eugene, usa , global warming has delayed breeding and development timings of Wyeomyia smithii , a tiny fragile mosquito that lives in the pitcher plant. The …
the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (irri) has admitted that it had allowed us rice-breeders to take out Thai jasmine rice seeds without signing the Material Transfer Agreement (mta). Not only has the institute's move drawn flak from jasmine rice farmers in Bangkok, it has led genetic conservators and farm …
The Argentine Movement for Organic Production (mapo), a group of 300 organic farmers, has recently filed a complaint against the Agriculture Department demanding that it should stop approving the use of and suspend all past authorisations of Bt corn, modified to resist insects. They are concerned over the potential long-term …
The Union government and the Gujarat government are at loggerheads over the damage control exercises to deal with the illegal cultivation of transgenic Bt cotton in the fields of Gujarat. The Union government has asked the Gujarat state government to take into custody all transgenic lint that has entered the …
The entire transgenic cotton episode has exposed the weak underbelly of the government. Dragging its feet on a crucial issue has now landed the authorities in an inextricable mess. And has brought the world crashing around the poor farmers. It simply shows that not only can the powers that be …
