New classification of eukaryotes has implications for AIDS treatment, agriculture and beyond
New classification conveys important information about the biochemistry and metabolism of disease-causing organisms. The new classification recognizes 6 major clusters of organisms, rather than the 4 traditional Kingdoms. Here are three examples. 1) Pneumocystis, an opportunistic pathogen causing mortality in AIDS patients and immunocompromised individuals, is now known to be a fungus, in...Open Source Biotechnology alliance for international agriculture
CAMBIA & IRRI (The International Rice Research Institute) today announced a majorjoint venture to advance the BiOS Initiative - a new strategy that will galvanize agricultural research focused on poverty alleviation and hunger reduction. The ventureis catalyzed by a 2.55M USD grant to CAMBIA from The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. The BiOS Initiative ?Biological Innovation for...New book on rain forests, slash-and-burn agriculture
UC Davis economist Stephen Vosti is co-editor and co-author of a new book assessing the environmental, economic and social impacts of farming in tropical rain forests. "Slash-and-Burn Agriculture: The Search for Alternatives" details the causes and consequences of the annual destruction of 80,000 square miles of rain forest. The forests are cleared by rural farmers to feed their families a...Agriculture and tropical conservation: rethinking old ideas
It's a long-held view in conservation circles that rural peasant activities are at odds with efforts to preserve biodiversity in the tropics. In fact, the opposite is often true, argue University of Michigan researchers John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto. Combining case studies with ecological theory, Vandermeer and Perfecto found that the peasant farming practices encouraged by grassro...New study finds genetically engineered crops could play a role in sustainable agriculture
Genetically modified (GM) crops may contribute to increased productivity in sustainable agriculture, according to a groundbreaking study published in the June 8 issue of the journal Science. The study analyzes, for the first time, environmental impact data from field experiments all over the world, involving corn and cotton plants with a Bt gene inserted for its insecticidal properties. The...Bulgaria Agriculture Minister ban import of poultry from Macedonia and Croatia
Deputy Agriculture Minister Dimitar Peychev said that Bulgaria is to ban the imports of live birds, eggs and poultry meat from Macedonia and Croatia after both countries reported suspected bird flu outbreaks. The first case of bird flu in Europe has been reported from farm// in Balikesir province near the Aegean Sea in Western Turkey. Following the news of bird flu all farm animals and birds are...