Recent News

By Region: Asia/Pacific

Synthetic ‘upgrade’ for fruit fly’s DNA

(New Scientist) The genetic code of the fruit fly Drosophila has been hacked into, allowing it to make proteins with properties that don’t exist in the natural world. The advance could ultimately lead to the creation of new or “improved” life forms in the burgeoning field of synthetic biology. The four letters of the genetic Read More »

August 14, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Agriculture, Biotechnology, International, and Research
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In Europe, defenses rise against Asian mosquito peril – They include dengue

(Kuwait Times) Behind air-tight doors in a lab in a southern French city, scientists in protective coveralls wage war against a fingernail-sized danger. Lurking in net cages is their foe: the Asian tiger mosquito, capable of spreading dengue fever and other tropical diseases in temperate Europe. First spotted in Albania in 1979, the black-and-white striped Read More »

August 14, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Biotechnology, and Research
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Indonesia reports 9th birdflu death this year

(Xinhua) A 37-year Indonesian man has died of avian influenza in Yogyakarta province of Indonesia, bringing the total fatality to 9 this year, health ministry said on its website on Sunday. The man from Prambanan of Sleman district died on July 30 after being treated in hospitals, the ministry said. Two laboratory tests confirmed that Read More »

August 13, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, South Asia, Agents & Toxins, International, and Public Health
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Avian influenza – situation in Indonesia

(WHO) The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has notified WHO of a new case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus. The case is a 37 year old male from Yogyakarta province. He developed fever on 24 July 2012, was hospitalized on 27 July and died on 30 July. Epidemiological investigation on the case Read More »

August 10, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, International, and Public Health
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Book details Soviet plans to wage germ warfare with lethal ‘designer’ strains

(The Washington Post) In the Soviet playbook for all-out war with the United States, the wasting of U.S. cities by nuclear bombs was to be followed by something equally horrifying: waves of plagues to kill any survivors. Soviet scientists spent decades preparing for the second attack, concocting new kinds of biological weapons more lethal than Read More »