Biotech

GM industry puts human gene into rice

by Haitham Sabbah April 25, 2005

Scientists have begun putting genes from human beings into food crops in a dramatic extension of genetic modification. The move, which is causing disgust and revulsion among critics, is bound to strengthen accusations that GM technology is creating “Frankenstein foods” and drive the controversy surrounding it to new heights. Even before this development, many people, [...]

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When Viruses Attack

by Haitham Sabbah August 30, 2004

A bacteria-eating virus is the star of a new video that could help researchers learn the secrets of viral infection and thereby develop better gene therapies. Researchers at Purdue University combined traditional crystallography and cryoelectron microscopy with imaging software to create detailed pictures of a virus called T4. The Purdue scientists also made a video [...]

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Salmon Gives Birth to Trout

by Haitham Sabbah August 9, 2004

Salmon gives birth to trout in scientific leap that gives hope to endangered fish. Biology textbooks will never quite be the same again. Scientists have altered the reproductive organs of salmon so that they produce trout offspring. A “germ” tissue from young trout was put into young salmon so that when the salmon became sexually [...]

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Future Fashion

by Haitham Sabbah June 13, 2004

Biometric Bodysuits. A team of the Applied NanoBioscience Center at Arizona State University has built prototypes of biometric bodysuits. They can detect chemical attacks, deliver drugs to their wearers, or even perfume scents if your body temperature rises too much. The military version of the Scentsory Chameleon Bodysuit incorporates fuel cells to provide a lightweight [...]

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Biochip Makes Droplet Test Tubes

by Haitham Sabbah March 11, 2004

Pioneering scientists in the UK have decoded a record-breaking two billion letters of DNA, it has been revealed. Researchers who are developing biochips are taking two distinct approaches in devising ways to shunt tiny amounts of liquids around. One focuses on finding ways to form microscopic channels and tiny mechanical pumps. The other is aimed [...]

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Decoded DNA Would ‘Reach to Moon’

by Haitham Sabbah November 3, 2003

Pioneering scientists in the UK have decoded a record-breaking two billion letters of DNA, it has been revealed. The researchers at the Wellcome Trust’s Sanger Institute say that if this DNA was scaled up to the size of a spiral staircase it would stretch to the Moon. The “life code” found in cells contains information [...]

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