Tuesday July 22nd, 2014
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GeneTrends
Human
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White-Bread-Wheat
Bread wheat feeds about 30 percent of the human population, and thanks to two recent major genetic research developments, it just might be the answer to feeding a hotter, drier, more populous world. These developments have left agricultural scientists excited because of the potential this brings to the table, because while good bread tastes like heaven, bread wheat's DNA is hell to sequence and we are now very much close to be out of the seventh level.
Agriculture
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bee_pollen11
While neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics) may have some dire potential for health problems, there's little evidence to suggest that a neonic ban will be the silver bullet to resolve the bee crisis. "Silver bullet" thinking has already led to twisted paths to scientific controversy. On the other hand, the consequences of inaction are not pretty.
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Jan Hills, founder of leadership development consultancy Head Heart + Brain, sat down with IBTimes UK to talk about her new book, Brain-savvy HR: A Neuroscience Evidence Base.
Can you install a false memory in the brain? Researchers at MIT�s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have shown it�s possible, at least in lab animals.
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The ability to edit genomes may offer us the ability to build and release mosquitos resistant to malaria, ending the disease in human populations.
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Scientists reported a draft sequence of bread wheat's genetic blueprint last week, boosting efforts to produce new varieties of bread wheat through conventional breeding and genetic engineering that are high-yielding and resilient to threats like climate change and disease.
New data released by the USDA last week indicates that farmers in the U.S. continue to adopt genetically engineered corn, soy and cotton crops that are herbicide-tolerant, insect-resistant or a combination of both.
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Non-profits are usually considered trustworthy, especially compared to corporations and governments. But when it comes to genetically modified foods, they don't always stick to the truth.
Despite a great deal of hype, especially in the world of sports, the promised magic of stem cell therapy is not quite a proven reality. A Harvard Stem Cell Institute-affiliated research team has brought the promise one step closer; they have devised a way to improve reparative surgery for patients suffering from partial or complete blindness.
NASA says it's closer than ever to finding extraterrestrial life, but if and when scientists find life outside of Earth, how much like life as we know it will it be? Will it be built on the same DNA-based system as us? Or something else entirely?
Reductionism haunts modern genetics, but how has this approach � akin to taking apart a watch to see how it works � generated such mixed reactions in subjects as varied as human sexuality and mental health?
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