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. …
SCIENTISTS have overcome the resistance offered by three species of Indian pulses to conventional genetic engineering techniques, literally at the point of a gun. S C Bhargava of the S K N College of Agriculture in Jobner in Rajasthan and A C Smigocki of the US Department of Agriculture report …
THE US firm Agracetus is at the centre of a controversy in its home country, too. In 1992, it was awarded a patent that gives it rights over all forms of genetically engineered cotton - even ones that are to be invented (New Scientist, Vol 141, No 1913). The consequences …
A RECENT move by the government of India should pacify sceptics of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and intellectual property rights (IPRs). In a remarkable step, it has begun the procedure for revoking a patent for a method of producing transgenic cotton granted in May 1991 to …
TWO RESEARCHERS have produced genetically altered potato tissue that can detect compounds like alcohol and drug products in body fluids. Garry Rechnitz and Ae-June Wang of the University of Hawaii in Manoa say the tissue contains an enzyme that produces a fluorescent product when exposed to the target molecule (New …
ADDING the genes of broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower to those of rapeseed could yield an oil that can be used to make superstrong plastics. Presently, rape-seed oil yields only 66 per cent erucic acid and is expensive to purify. Researchers at the National Research Council of Canada's Plant Biotechnology Institute …
OIL-EATING bacteria, useful in cleaning up slicks, will soon have water wings, helping to keep them afloat in water. Using gene-splicing techniques, researchers at the University of Massachusetts, USA, have isolated 13 genes responsible for producing air-filled sacs in a floating bacterium called Halobacterium halobium. This comes in the wake …
NEW RULES for approving experiments with altered genes will slash the red tape that British scientists claim obstructs research (New Scientist, Vol 140, No 1895). A report by the British parliament's science and technology committee says British and European laws governing genetically altered organisms are "excessively precautionary", "obsolescent" and "unscientific" …
A GROUP of 20 scientists at the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune has developed biotechnological tools to study the genetic diversity of rice. Says team leader P K Ranjekar, "We are interested in studying crops of special relevance to India, and so chose to work primarily on rice." In …
WITH THEIR earlier attempts to conquer malaria having fallen through, researchers are now toying with a novel approach -- altering the mosquito's genetic make-up so that it cannot carry the parasite it now transmits to humans. Exterminating mosquitoes to check the spread of malaria has been the main goal of …
GENETIC engineering -- the ability to manipulate the molecular blueprint of life -- is coming of age. Biotechnology is transforming medicine, agriculture and animal husbandry: In the not too distant future, cancer will no longer be a dreaded disease, crops will be able to resist pests and tomatoes will be …
AS A FRONTIER technology today, genetic engineering is attracting the best scientific minds the world over. The ability to manipulate the genetic make-up of living things has the potential, theoretically at least, to transform human health and world agriculture. It also has immense ethical and safety implications for humankind and …
Judicial history was made in India when a Bangalore sessions judge accepted DNA fingerprinting as evidence to convict the accused in a murder case. This is the first time the results of this technique have been accepted as valid proof of crime in an Indian court. Since 1989, the Karnataka …
SCIENTISTS claim to have unveiled through a DNA analysis the mystery about the fate of Czar Nicholas II and his family in the wake of the Russian Revolution. A team of British and Russian forensic experts matched the DNA from blood samples provided by three living relatives of the Czar's …
A tree testifying against a murder suspect? But that's exactly what happened recently in the US -- a "genetic fingerprint" from two seedpods found in the suspect's truck was found to be identical to that of a paloverde tree at the site of the murder (Science, Vol 260, No 5110). …
EUROPEAN Community (EC) experts are to report shortly whether the bovine somatotropin (BST) drug can be marketed freely. In making their recommendation, EC experts will not worry about safety reports, but will take into consideration the economic effects of BST-induced milk yields. The scientific evidence against BST, one of the …
SCIENTISTS are making headway in using genetic engineering techniques to develop commercial varieties of rice strains that are resistant to diseases. Initial trials by researchers in China and Japan of rice strains modified to fight the red stripe virus, which in southeast Asia has been known to destroy entire harvests, …
THE ANGLO-US pharmaceuticals group, SmithKline Beecham, has linked up with Human Genome Services of the US to convert DNA coding data into commercial products, especially new drugs. Glaxo and Roche have also made similar forays in the race for a new range of drugs and diagnostic products, which are natural …
RESEARCHERS in New York have given a fillip to the fight against malaria by breaking into the genes of the parasite. The scientists report they have made test-tube clones of the 14 chromosomes, which contain the genes of the microbe that mosquitoes transmit to humans. They have also shown the …
TWO ISRAELI scientists say by pitting fungus against fungus, they have come up with an environmentally benign pesticide. A B Oppenheim and Ilan Chet of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have found fungal enzymes called chitinases break down newly synthesised chitin, a major component of the cell wall of most …
NEARLY half the world's population depends on rice for food. Yet, it was only i.n the early :980~ thaHhe crop was Included in biotechnology research to enhance yield and quality. Since then, however, while the research has thrown up break-throughs, problems have cropped up that could hinder the development of …
