London | Reuters — Extreme weather such as intense storms, droughts and heatwaves will cause more frequent and severe food shortages as the global climate and food supply systems change, British and U.S. experts warned Friday. The pressure on the world’s food supplies is so great, and the increase in extreme weather events so rapid,
Severe ‘food shocks’ seen more likely due to extreme weather
Genetically modified diamondback moth offers pest control hope
The modified moths can mate as well as any other but they only produce male offspring
Scientists in Britain say they have developed a way of genetically modifying and controlling an invasive species of moth that causes serious pest damage to cabbages, kale, canola and other similar crops worldwide. In what they said could be a pesticide-free and environmentally friendly way to control insect pests, the scientists, from the Oxford University
Genetically modified diamondback moth offers pest control hope
London | Reuters –– Scientists in Britain say they have developed a way of genetically modifying and controlling an invasive species of moth that causes serious pest damage to cabbages, kale, canola and other similar crops worldwide. In what they said could be a pesticide-free and environmentally-friendly way to control insect pests, the scientists, from
WHO agency says insecticides lindane, DDT linked to cancer
London | Reuters — The insecticide lindane, once widely used in agriculture and to treat human lice and scabies, causes cancer and has been specifically linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also said that DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) probably causes cancer, with scientific
Cattle parasite study points to possible way to fight malaria
London | Reuters –– Herds of African cattle may hold the secret to new ways of fighting parasitic diseases such as malaria, which kills some 600,000 people a year, scientists said on Friday. The researchers from the University of Edinburgh found that cows are protected from a parasite that causes a deadly disease called East
Mutating H7N9 bird flu may pose pandemic threat, scientists warn
London | Reuters –– A wave of H7N9 bird flu in China that has spread into people may have the potential to emerge as a pandemic strain in humans, scientists said Wednesday. The H7N9 virus, one of several strains of bird flu known to be able to infect humans, has persisted, diversified and spread in
UN team investigates Saudi surge in deadly MERS virus
London | Reuters –– An international team of United Nations human and animal health experts has flown to Saudi Arabia to investigate a recent surge in cases of a deadly virus causing Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Speaking from Riyadh on Friday, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization-led team said it was worried by
New H7N9 bird flu resists drugs without losing ability to spread
Scientists have found that a mutation in a new strain of bird flu infecting people in China can render it resistant to a key first-line treatment drug without limiting its ability to spread in mammals. The discovery means that unlike seasonal flu strains, which often become less transmissible when they develop resistance to drugs like
Journal withdraws controversial GM corn study
The publisher of a controversial and much-criticized study suggesting genetically modified corn caused tumours in rats has withdrawn the paper after a year-long investigation found it did not meet scientific standards. Reed Elsevier’s Food and Chemical Toxicology (FCT) journal, which published the study by the French researcher Gilles-Eric Seralini in September 2012, said the retraction
New Taiwan bird flu shows animal virus risk to humans
A woman in Taiwan has become the first person in the world with a confirmed case of a new strain of bird flu, adding to a growing body of evidence of the potential threat from animal viruses that mutate to be able to infect people. Scientists from Taiwan said the infection — with a bird
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
