Editorial  

India's GE Free Soya Can Capture World Market (Click and read online)

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Food Security - Urgent Need To Monitor The Farm Loan Waiver

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Careful intervention and proper guidance is crucial at this time it to ensure that loans are used to increase productivity and the cycle of debt is not repeated. Farmers should be given easy access to critical agriculture inputs needed for productive agriculture. Read more.... Subscription required

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GM Issues - Concerns over field trials of GMOs in South Africa

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A recent report on the field trials of GMOs in South Africa has brought into focus the various issues of concern to the general public Based on the accumulated data of these trials over the past 2-3 years, the African Centre for Biosafety has releaseda biohazard map (Read Below) showing the  provinces/towns where the trials were conducted and with provisions of comparative data for field trials in consecutive years. The pros and cons of the report as assesed points out to the good and bad aspects both. Read complete.. Subscription required

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GM Issues -  The flip side

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GM crops to increase use of pesticides, weeds turning resistant. while crop biotechnology proponents claim that genetically modified (GM) crops reduce pesticide use and play a role in tackling poverty and hunger, a new report by Friends of the Earth International claims other wise.  Read complete

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LEGAL - Liability and Redress Regimes Across Countries: A Comparative View

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India needs to adopt a strong liability and redress national regime based on the precautionary principle. While the need to frame an India specific regime cannot bedenied, it would be worthwhile to borrow insights from other national and regional regimes.  Read complete.. Subscription required

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Bioresources - Improving the PBR Process

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The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) is inviting public comments on a revised and simplified methodology for documenting and creating People's Biodiversity Registers (PBR).Mandated under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and facilitated by the NBA at panchayat level, the PBRs are expected to ensure protection of India's biodiversity and traditional knowledge from misuse and biopiracy.....Read complete

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Genetics - Genetic Screening in India

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Despite the high incidence of genetic diseases in India, there is at present almost no established programme of genetic screening in the country. Both doctors and the general public need to be made aware of the enormity of the problem so that the issue of genetic birth defects can be addressed Subscription required

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FAQs -  Gene Flow

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Gene flow is the movement of genes from one location to another. In biological terms, that includes the movement of genes into a genome regardless of whether the receiving genome is of the same or different species as the donors genome. In ecological and agricultural terms, gene flow includes the movement of plants (or their propagules) into a new environment.  ..Read more...Subscription required

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Biofuels Update - Halting biofuels march

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African civil society organisations and environmental activists are calling for a moratorium on biofuels in order to protect food security, forests, water, land rights, farmersand indigenous peoples from the aggressive march of agrofuel development.. Read complete

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New Frontiers

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1.A successful attempt in using therapeutic cloning for curing Parkinson's disease

2.GE 'Enviropig' show promise of clearing the algal blooms..... Read complete

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IPRs

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 1.      Natco Invokes The Compulsory Licence Read more ...

2.      GI protection for Feni to localize economic control Read more...Subscription required

3.      A need to strike a balance between Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Human Rights Read more ...

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Nanotechnology -  Carbon carriers

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One important application is where CNTs are often used as carriers for transporting drugs into the body. Read complete

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Science News

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1.Genetic Historians Transfer RNA (tRNA) is central to every task a cell performs and thus essential to all life. A new study from the University of Illinois in the US revealed that it also stores historical evidences of life, preserving some of the earliest and most profound events of the evolutionary past in its structure.

2.Taming the terror Ricin toxin is feared for its bioterrorism potential because it can be easily purified from the waste of castor oil production and there are no known antidotes.

3.Biological rain Bacteria known to be associated with plants and causing disease in them may also be causing rain. Researchers have found evidence suggesting that airborne bacteria-- distributed globally in the atmosphere-- may play a large role in causing rain. The study led by Prof David Sands, plant pathologist at Montana State University in the US was published in journal Science.

4.Red seaweed extract offers a possible cure for osteoarthritis In a new study on algae,an important bioresources, a natural, multi-mineral ingredient derived from the red seaweed Lithothamnion corallioides has provided some relief (with a hope toimprove osteoarthritis symptoms by about 15 per cent ) to arthritis patients.

5.A portal on "proteomics" An online resource of scientific information called 'Human Proteinpedia' has been generated by 71 laboratories of proteomics worldwide. This would be the first ever opportunity for there searchers to share and integrate information regarding protein sequences expressed by the human genome without any cost.  Subscription required