Skip to main content

SCIENTISTS DEVELOP SUPER BANANA

A genetically engineered banana to increase the levels of vitamin A in the body and improve the lives of millions of people in Africa has been developed by Australian researchers. The banana will soon have its first human trial to test its effect on vitamin A levels, the Queensland-based researchers said today. The researchers have been able to bend the banana genome which was being tested on humans for the first time, the AAP news agency reported. The aim was to stop thousands of children in Uganda and the surrounding countries from going blind and dying from vitamin A deficiency, the report said. The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers engineered bananas grown in far north Queensland to increase the levels of beta-carotene. About 10 kilogrammess of the yellow fruit - with orange flesh - grown near Innisfail have just been shipped to Iowa State University, where the trials are being conducted. Five Ugandan PhD students were working with James Dale on the nine-year project, on which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent USD 10 million. Dale said that by 2020 vitamin A-enriched banana varieties will be grown by farmers in Uganda, where about 70 per cent of the population survive on the fruit. "The Highland or East African cooking banana, which is chopped and steamed, is a staple food of many East African nations, but it has low levels of micronutrients, particularly pro-vitamin A and iron," Dale said. "We're aiming to increase the level of pro-vitamin A to a minimum level of 20 microgrammes per gram dry weight," he said. Dale said previous US trials using Mongolian gerbils had already proved successful on the bananas. When field trials in Uganda are in place, he said the same technology could be transferred to countries such as Rwanda and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GARBLED TEXT MESSAGE A SIGN OF STROKE

Difficulty or inability to write a coherent text message, even in people who have no problem speaking, may become a "vital" tool in diagnosing a type of crippling stroke, according to a new research. Scientists at Henry Ford Hospital focused on a 40-year-old man visiting the metro Detroit area on business who showed signs of "dystextia," a recently coined term for incoherent text messaging that can sometimes be confused with autocorrect garble. But in his case, the man saw nothing wrong with the garble. The patient had no problem with a routine bedside test of his language abilities - including fluency of speech, reading, writing, comprehension and other factors. However, when asked to type a simple text message, he not only produced garble, but he was unable to see it as such. Despite showing only slight facial asymmetry and no other symptoms, doctors determined the man had suffered an acute ischemic stroke, in which a clot or other blockage cuts off blood supply t...
Post a Comment
Read more

YOGA IN MID AIR

With the stage set for International Yoga Day this Sunday, yoga asanas were performed mid-air at 35,000 feet above the sea-level, arguably the first time ever! The asanas called Upayoga or useful yoga were performed as a trial-run aboard the Delhi-Guwahati and Guwahati-Delhi flights of budget airline SpiceJet with over 180 passengers and crew. The Gurgaon-based carrier has teamed up with Isha Foundation of Sadhguru to conduct mid-air yoga sessions on its select Boeing flights on Sunday, which is being observed as International Yoga Day. Talking about the yogic postures demonstrated, Gita, a teacher with the Isha Foundation said the session was designed to reduce stress for passengers who travel long hours. "These are safe, simple postures which can be done by anyone, and can be practiced anytime and anywhere. They help in relieving stress accumulated in the upper neck and spine region," Gita told PTI. The passengers on board, who had no clue about the onboard yoga demonstr...
Post a Comment
Read more

WILL NIFTY FALL BELOW 2000?

Correlating the ups and down in the Indian rupee with the stock market, Vijay Bhambwani, CEO, bsplindia.com, suggests that if the rupee continues with its downward fall, the Indian stock market may fall breach October lows and fall further. “If the rupee falls below the 53.0-53.50 mark vis-a-vis the USD, expect a mini meltdown atleast in the equity markets. In that case, the 2250 level (on Nifty) will be breached easily to form a new low. The possibility of that low being below the 2000 levels on the Nifty spot is fairly high,” he says. Bhambwani supports his outlook by comparing the value of rupee at the time of October lows. “The October 2008 lows were made with the INR at 51.20 - 51.40 band. The rupee has breached the 52 level since then. Clearly the nation’s ‘share price’ (currency) indicates weakness. The curency market is a far more accurate barometer of the nation’s health compared to the equity indices. Whether you like it or not, we are under siege. Had it not been March (NAV ...
Post a Comment
Read more