Movie review: ‘Food Evolution’
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY KEVIN FOLTA LAST year a Pew Research poll gauged public sentiment toward genetic engineering of food crops (familiarly, ‘GMO’). The results showed that while the public is consumed with fear and suspicion, scientists view the technology as safe and effective. This divide may be due to the deep presence of non-scientific websites, books and […]
Why is blood red?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA small paper cut in the finger and we can see red blood oozing out. A common assumption is that the presence of haemoglobin causes the red colour of blood. However, the real reason is the shape of porphyrin that determines the redness of blood. Porphyrin is a ring of atoms in haemoglobin that binds […]
How GM crops can help us to feed a fast-growing world
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY STUART THOMPSON The United Nations forecasts global population to rise to more than nine billion people by 2050. Climate change may mean that the crops we depend on now may no longer be suited to the areas where they are currently cultivated and may increasingly be threatened by droughts, floods and the spread of plant […]
Abuse of antibiotics takes us one big circle to square one
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY SADEQUR RAHMAN The story of the discovery of penicillin is enchanting. An overworked microbiologist goes on holiday, opens plates with bacteria growing on them, a spore (or seed) landing on the plates and then the observation on return from the holiday that the mould growing from the spore could kill bacteria. The purification and […]
Who discovered the existence of galaxies other than our Milky Way?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIN the early 1900s, astronomers were debating the makeup of spiral nebulae — cloudy, spiral-shaped objects found throughout the night sky. Were they gas clouds located within our Milky Way galaxy, or were they vast groups of stars located far beyond our galaxy? In 1919, American astronomer Edwin Hubble tackled the question. His keen astronomical […]
Why are clownfishes not stung by sea anemones?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe partnership between clownfish and sea anemones is one of the most iconic in the animal world. Unlike in Pixar’s film Finding Nemo, clownfish seldom stray far from their anemone. The clownfish live within the sea anemone’s poisonous tentacles. Those tentacles keep would-be predators at bay, including morays, scorpionfishes and snappers. In return, the […]
Bangladesh agriculture leaders keen to adopt biotech cotton
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBangladesh,the first country to plant biotech eggplant, is ready to adopt biotech cotton. This was expressed by the research and development leaders of the country during the seminar launch of ISAAA’s Global Status of Commercialised Biotech/GM Crops for 2016, held on July 9, at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) in Dhaka. Chief Guest Additional […]
REMDII Sensitive helps in healing eczema
Reading Time: 2 minutesBY AZMAN ZAKARIA A group of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) researchers have successfully developed a product to treat skin disorder or eczema without involving the use of steroids and managed to reduce itchiness, flaking and intensively repair despaired skin conditions within just two weeks. The product, a deep moisturising cream – REMDII Sensitive, is formulated […]
Forensic scientists recover human DNA from mosquitos
Reading Time: 2 minutesA Nagoya University research team shows that human blood extracted from mosquitos remains viable for DNA analysis up to two days after feeding. Most people would agree that painful mosquito bites are an especially annoying part of summer. Except perhaps forensic scientists, who can examine human blood from a mosquito’s stomach and match the DNA to […]
Researchers discover new method to control bacteria growth
Reading Time: 2 minutesA team of researchers at Princeton has discovered a new method to control bacterial growth through special coating surfaces that can instruct or prevent bacterial growth. This new technology adopts the natural concept of bacterial growth – a process called quorum sensing whereby microbes release biomolecules that can stop or trigger their growth. Manipulation of […]